Three anonymous sources from Sony have told Kotaku that the PlayStation 4 exclusive and 2017’s Game of the Year, Horizon Zero Dawn, will be available on PC. If true, then this would be an extraordinary step from Sony as they have never made PlayStation exclusives available on alternative platforms before.
A Big Title For A New Platform
Guerilla Games, a developer owned and operated by Sony, released Horizon Zero Dawn in February 2017 as a PlayStation exclusive. The expansion pack, Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds, was released in late 2017. The game is an open-world RPG that focuses on the journey of Aloy as she searches for answers while traveling across a post-apocalyptic, robot overwhelmed version of the United States.
There have also been reports of other exclusive games being released on PC, most notably, Death Stranding, Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human. Although, Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human are from an independent firm, not a Sony affiliate. The challenge for developers will lie in the graphics, as PCs are capable of a lot more frames per second than any console. If done successfully, this would be a new precedent for Sony as they have never taken a game that was produced for their consoles and made it available for PC.
Interesting Possibilities
This move would help Sony gain traction against Microsoft, whose Xbox games are all available on PC. Sony has recently made changes to its common practices with respect to its new console, the PS 5. The PS 5 will have backward compatibility, which is a feature that previous PlayStation consoles have never had. This certainly leads credence to the idea that Sony is making big changes in how it is choosing to market to a wider market. It will be interesting to see exactly how Sony proceeds with these reports as Sony has yet to provide any official comments.
