It’s just months after Sony executives spoke about shifting PlayStation toward a broader ‘platform’ business. But a new report suggests it may be doubling down on something much older: console exclusivity. According to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, Sony has ‘scrapped’ plans to bring major first-party games to PC, including last year’s hit Ghost of Yotei. This move would mark a pretty dramatic reversal for a strategy Sony spent the last six years building.
According to Schreier, Sony ‘no longer plans’ to release its big, single-player PlayStation 5 games on PC. That reportedly includes planned ports of Ghost of Yotei and Saros. While Marvel’s Wolverine wasn’t explicitly named, Schreier later hinted on ResetEra that the game falls into the same category.
However, not everything is doom and gloom for PC gamers. Multiplayer online games such as Marathon and Marvel Tokon are still expected to be released across multiple platforms. Meanwhile, externally developed projects such as Death Stranding 2 and Kena: Scars of Kosmora may also still be given the freedom to come to PC.
One major factor that reportedly contributed to PlayStation’s decision to ditch PC ports is purely economic. Several recent PlayStation ports arrived six to twelve months after their PS5 debuts; at that point, much of the hype had already faded.
Even when they perform well, the revenue is smaller than Sony’s own ecosystem. The company’s financial results show that PC and other non-PlayStation platforms generated roughly $650 million, compared to around $16.5 billion from the PlayStation Store alone. When 30% storefront cuts from platforms like Steam are factored in, well, the numbers speak for themselves.
This U-turn may also reflect shifting priorities inside Sony Interactive Entertainment itself. The early push toward PC started under former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden as a way to extend a game’s lifespan. His successor, Jim Ryan, then doubled down on the strategy by investing in porting support through studios like Nixxes Software.
Today, the company is led by Hideaki Nishino, formerly the CEO of PlayStation’s Platform Business Group. With a background in hardware and platform strategy, Nishino’s leadership could signal a return to the old console war playbook. Which means releasing exclusive AAAs primarily to sell consoles.
The timing, too, might not be accidental. Its popularity in Japan is waning while Nintendo is enjoying Switch 2’s success, backed by movie hype. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s strategy of turning everything with a screen into an Xbox hasn’t rewritten the market the way some expected.
If Sony wants to reinforce the value of the PlayStation ecosystem ahead of launching the PS6, then one thing is clear. It’ll have to tighten its grip on its biggest games and reignite the console war.
