The timing of the decision makes sense when you look around the gaming landscape. Nintendo is an indirect competitor, and Xbox seems pretty much done for with Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond leaving the outfit. Sony has no real rival except for PC, and with a global component crisis , even that seems to have sorted itself out for now. Valve 's upcoming console-esque Steam Machine is not even in the same price bracket.
With the next-gen Xbox essentially being a PC , PlayStation wants to stand tall as the only option (left) in its class. It wouldn't be unreasonable to assume the Japanese giant doesn't want people on the Green Team easily playing its first-party exclusives, no matter the nuances of the platform. The PS5-PC "Cross-Buy" feature we reported on earlier also seems to have been cancelled now . In addition, Sony recently shut down Bluepoint Games, its in-house remaster/remake specialist.
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Hassam Nasir is a die-hard hardware enthusiast with years of experience as a tech editor and writer, focusing on detailed CPU comparisons and general hardware news. When he\u2019s not working, you\u2019ll find him bending tubes for his ever-evolving custom water-loop gaming rig or benchmarking the latest CPUs and GPUs just for fun. ","collapsible":{"enabled":true,"maxHeight":250,"readMoreText":"Read more","readLessText":"Read less"}}), "https://slice.vanilla.futurecdn.net/13-4-17/js/authorBio.js"); } else { console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); } Hassam Nasir Social Links Navigation Contributing Writer Hassam Nasir is a die-hard hardware enthusiast with years of experience as a tech editor and writer, focusing on detailed CPU comparisons and general hardware news. When he’s not working, you’ll find him bending tubes for his ever-evolving custom water-loop gaming rig or benchmarking the latest CPUs and GPUs just for fun.
usertests If NextBox ends up as a PC with multiple storefronts instead of a walled garden, then competing directly with that offers no benefits to Sony. Reply
Dementoss I play on PC and, PC only. If Sony's games aren't available, meh, don't care. The last Sony game I played was Everquest 2 and, as Everquest Next never materialized, that's the way it has stayed. Reply
TerryLaze usertests said: If NextBox ends up as a PC with multiple storefronts instead of a walled garden, then competing directly with that offers no benefits to Sony. If that happens then sony doesn't have anything with which they could compete…a few exclusives are not going to change anything, on the other hand MS could stop releasing COD for the PS if sony tries to keep exclusives…. Reply
Blacksad999 Silly decision all around, if true. When those games release on PC, it's simply a ton extra revenue for them. They've already gone through their release cycle, and have largely sold what they're going to sell. 90% of game sales are within the first 90 days. They're just leaving money on the table, and getting a ROI for AAA games that cost 300-500 million to produce is difficult when you're relegated to only one corner of the gaming market. Sony's position with PC, and how they delay the releases, is flawed. Their stated goal is that those PC players will play one of their games, enjoy it, and then promptly rush out to purchase a Playstation. Never, ever going to happen, and it shows a fundamental lack of understanding about the PC gaming market. They should just release the games on PC as the same day/date that they do on Playstation so that they can capitalize on their excessively expensive marketing campaigns for both markets. Releasing their games a year, or sometimes years, after the fact once all hype has died down, people have moved on to other things and forgotten about said games, and at which point there are more new and interesting competing titles releasing was always a dumb proposition for getting the best return on investment in the PC market. Reply
usertests TerryLaze said: If that happens then sony doesn't have anything with which they could compete…a few exclusives are not going to change anything, on the other hand MS could stop releasing COD for the PS if sony tries to keep exclusives…. They're widely anticipated to hit a lower price point with the PS6. I expect a $600 PS6, and estimates for a PC-like Xbox Magnus are high, maybe $800-1200, even if sold at cost/loss. Probably in the higher half if the memory crisis is ongoing. Xbox is generally in turmoil, as seen with relatively low sales, the Game Pass vision not succeeding as they had hoped, and this week's change in leadership. Analyst declares new Xbox console dead, slamming Microsoft for Game Pass price increase Sony is in a position of strength, Xbox is going to try a hail mary. I wouldn't bet against exclusives being a good thing for Sony. On the other hand, I have no interest in buying the PS6, but I am interested in a subsidized Xbox gaming PC if Linux et al. can easily be installed on it with no rugpulls. Reply
Blacksad999 usertests said: They're widely anticipated to hit a lower price point with the PS6. I expect a $600 PS6, and estimates for a PC-like Xbox Magnus are high, maybe $800-1200, even if sold at cost/loss. Probably in the higher half if the memory crisis is ongoing. Xbox is generally in turmoil, as seen with relatively low sales, the Game Pass vision not succeeding as they had hoped, and this week's change in leadership. Analyst declares new Xbox console dead, slamming Microsoft for Game Pass price increase Sony is in a position of strength, Xbox is going to try a hail mary. I wouldn't bet against exclusives being a good thing for Sony. On the other hand, I have no interest in buying the PS6, but I am interested in a subsidized Xbox gaming PC if Linux et al. can easily be installed on it with no rugpulls. Yeah, I don't care about the console market or the lame "console wars". I haven't owned a console since the PS2, 26 years ago. This is a, fundamentally, PC gaming and hardware website, so I imagine most other people don't care either. Reply
LordVile usertests said: They're widely anticipated to hit a lower price point with the PS6. I expect a $600 PS6, and estimates for a PC-like Xbox Magnus are high, maybe $800-1200, even if sold at cost/loss. Probably in the higher half if the memory crisis is ongoing. Xbox is generally in turmoil, as seen with relatively low sales, the Game Pass vision not succeeding as they had hoped, and this week's change in leadership. Analyst declares new Xbox console dead, slamming Microsoft for Game Pass price increase Sony is in a position of strength, Xbox is going to try a hail mary. I wouldn't bet against exclusives being a good thing for Sony. On the other hand, I have no interest in buying the PS6, but I am interested in a subsidized Xbox gaming PC if Linux et al. can easily be installed on it with no rugpulls. If Xbox can release a competent PC at 800 I’d expect a lot of PC gamers would consider it considering he current cost of hardware. Reply
txfeinbergs If the games aren't available on PC, then Sony isn't going to get my money. Simple as that. I won't buy one of their inferior consoles. Reply
TerryLaze usertests said: They're widely anticipated to hit a lower price point with the PS6. I expect a $600 PS6, Maybe with a 10 year PSN+ subscription at full price… There is exactly 0% chance of a $600 PS6 otherwise, if sony could do that they would do it for the ps5 already to get more users and more sales. Well ok, second option if it's just a terminal and is streaming the games like the stadia. Reply
usertests TerryLaze said: Maybe with a 10 year PSN+ subscription at full price… There is exactly 0% chance of a $600 PS6 otherwise, if sony could do that they would do it for the ps5 already to get more users and more sales. Well ok, second option if it's just a terminal and is streaming the games like the stadia. Digital Edition has a $399 MSRP, and you're saying there's ZERO chance of $600 MSRP for the PS6? Nah. If it's delayed to 2028-2029 as some suggest, it could be released after RAM/storage prices decline. Reply
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/playstation/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/playstation/industry-murmurs-suggest-sony-will-no-longer-release-ps5-exclusives-on-pc-new-leadership-might-be-willing-to-forgo-pc-revenue-to-fortify-console-platform#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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