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Sony PC Storefront makes too much sense

//DEVIL//

Member
IF games were a 1 one time purchase, you buy it on PC you play it on PS5, then yeah I would go for it.

but to make a storefront for 7 games on PC if that ? like why ?
 

Kacho

Gold Member
You're salty because another launcher will mean a more segmented market on PC, which you're desperate to avoid.

I'd challenge you to have some imagination and recognize at least that Sony has significantly more leverage to produce a compelling PC store than competitors like Microsoft, EA, Activision, Epic, and CD Projekt.

-More highly desired games than any of these individual companies (None of these companies have the quality of franchises to compete directly with Sony)
-Largest console market for 3rd party royalties currently at 30 percent (EA, Activision, and CDPR struggle to get 3rd party content)
-Ability to undercut the competition on price for 3rd party content (Microsoft could have done this)
I’m not salty at the thought of Sony having their own launcher because I don’t particularly care about their games. I just think it would be a stupid move from a business standpoint. Unless you are Blizzard, games that have been exclusive to other launchers basically vanish on PC. No one pays them any mind. It is what it is. EA eventually came back to Steam as did Call of Duty and the latter just posted record sales numbers. That says it all IMO.
 
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Topher

Gold Member
john turturro pete hogwallop GIF
 

Goalus

Member
-More highly desired games than any of these individual companies (None of these companies have the quality of franchises to compete directly with Sony)
Sony games are getting demolished by MS games on Steam. "Highly desired" appears to me as an assessment made by someone on drugs.
 
I’m not salty at the thought of Sony having their own launcher because I don’t particularly care about their games. I just think it would be a stupid move from a business standpoint. Unless you are Blizzard, games that have been exclusive to other launchers basically vanish on PC. No one pays them any mine. It is what it is. EA eventually came back to Steam as did Call of Duty and the latter just posted record sales numbers. That says it all IMO.

Again, your inability to realize that Sony isn't EA or Blizzard is staggering...

There's a reason why companies can't just jump into the console market easily. And that Microsoft after spending 20 years dumping money into Xbox is still far behind on unit sales of consoles.

Sony has far more leverage than you realize, especially now. They aren't just a random game developer or publisher.
 
Sony games are getting demolished by MS games on Steam. "Highly desired" appears to me as an assessment made by someone on drugs.

You're comparing a game that came out 6 years ago and received an up-rez port to games coming out this year? And you're actually serious... that's the funny thing...
 

Kacho

Gold Member
Again, your inability to realize that Sony isn't EA or Blizzard is staggering...

There's a reason why companies can't just jump into the console market easily. And that Microsoft after spending 20 years dumping money into Xbox is still far behind on unit sales of consoles.

Sony has far more leverage than you realize, especially now. They aren't just a random game developer or publisher.
You vastly overestimate the importance of Sony games in the PC market.
 
You vastly overestimate the importance of Sony games in the PC market.

I'm not at all, but evidence suggests they have the ability to sell very well on PC. Spider-Man and God of War specifically despite being 4 year old games sold very well.

The obvious reality is that Sony can leverage 3rd party royalty costs to direct as many publishers as possible to support their attempts at a PC store.

In reality, publishers would want as much competition in that space as possible as the more successful a Playstation store on PC would be the lower the royalties on Steam could be.

And gamers should want it as well as it could result in lower prices even on steam.
 

Goalus

Member
You're comparing a game that came out 6 years ago and received an up-rez port to games coming out this year? And you're actually serious... that's the funny thing...
I am comparing
Sea of Thieves, Halo MCC, FH4, FH5, Flight Simulator, Grounded, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Age of Empires 2, Age of Empires 3, Age of Empires 4
against
God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Days Gone, UC4, Sackboy, Spiderman, Death Stranding.
 
I am comparing
Sea of Thieves, Halo MCC, FH4, FH5, Flight Simulator, Grounded, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Age of Empires 2, Age of Empires 3, Age of Empires 4
against
God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Days Gone, UC4, Sackboy, Spiderman, Death Stranding.

So you're comparing a history of support for PC for Sony who has just recently begun porting their older titles to PC, fully aware that they're older titles and ignoring that the franchises Sony maintains are in general are far more successful than the franchises that you mentioned...
 

DaGwaphics

Member
Whether or not they'd make money at it in the sense of the storefront itself, who knows. But, if they could make PS+ Extra a thing on PC and allow PC users to buy into their subs, similar to GP, that could be something for them to look at.
 

BadBurger

Is 'That Pure Potato'
Sony games are getting demolished by MS games on Steam. "Highly desired" appears to me as an assessment made by someone on drugs.

Out of curiosity, which Microsoft games? Is there some chart someplace with comparisons?

I am guessing this is due to various factors. Such as all Microsoft games technically being PC games - so therefore PC gamers with capable systems are more likely to buy those games. Genre preference on PC aligning more with the output from Microsoft studios. That with so many people having owned PS4/Pro's these past nine-ish years, most have probably already played these games to death - all while MS has managed to only move about half as many consoles during the same time frame. I thinks it's fundamentally flawed to compare the sales of the two unless PlayStation also released their exclusives on PC day one. Until then it's a pointless exercise IMO.
 

feynoob

Banned
More highly desired games than any of these individual companies (None of these companies have the quality of franchises to compete directly with Sony)
False.
Most PC gamers are either shooter fans, or RPG fans. Add MMo to the mix, and RTS.

Sony games are just normal. PC gamers arent your forum people, who live with hybe.

-Largest console market for 3rd party royalties currently at 30 percent (EA, Activision, and CDPR struggle to get 3rd party content)
Means nothing in PC world. MS had since 2015. And look at their store.

Ability to undercut the competition on price for 3rd party content (Microsoft could have done this)
Wont work without spending massive money. Sony isnt that person.
 

feynoob

Banned
Out of curiosity, which Microsoft games? Is there some chart someplace with comparisons?

I am guessing this is due to various factors. Such as all Microsoft games technically being PC games - so therefore PC gamers with capable systems are more likely to buy those games. Genre preference on PC aligning more with the output from Microsoft studios. That with so many people having owned PS4/Pro's these past nine-ish years, most have probably already played these games to death - all while MS has managed to only move about half as many consoles during the same time frame. I thinks it's fundamentally flawed to compare the sales of the two unless PlayStation also released their exclusives on PC day one. Until then it's a pointless exercise IMO.
Most of MS games are generally a PC games.
Gears/Halo (FPS). Sea of theives (Exploration, and MP CO-OP), Forza (Racing), Flight sim a pc game.

Now you add bethesda, obsidian, and now with acitivision blizzard.

Their studios are pretty much PC oriented.
 
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ACESHIGH

Banned
Imagine PC gamers dealing with Sonys trash tier customer service... Not gonna happen.
Sony needs to up their game with these PC ports first and foremost.

What console players don't realize is that Sony titles are a drop in the ocean of PC games. There is not this massive hype this larger than life event that happens when they are released on console.

Strip these games out of their first party hype machine and turns out... they are good but not masterpieces.
Some folk will buy day one, others wait for a discount and others don't give a fuck. Look at sackboy and uncharted numbers...
 
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feynoob

Banned
So you're comparing a history of support for PC for Sony who has just recently begun porting their older titles to PC, fully aware that they're older titles and ignoring that the franchises Sony maintains are in general are far more successful than the franchises that you mentioned...

Day1 is very important for PC people. it helps you build up a community on PC, and feel like on level with console players. And we Know Sony isnt willing to do that right now.
 
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ReBurn

Gold Member
I love how you guys continue to ignore the leverage Sony has that game publishers do not.

Sony can leverage royalties on PS5 games to undercut Valve.

Sony currently charges 30% royalties on PS5 games sold. They could EASILY offer publishers deals for any games sold on both the PS5 and PC PS Stores a 20% royalty.

Can any other publisher do that?
If Sony could do those things they probably would already be doing them. The handful of console games they release per year doesn't give them any significant leverage in the PC space. Especially when they're not interested in releasing those games on PC until after a bunch of people have already played them on console.

They're also not going to cannibalize their console earnings to try to supplant Valve as the preferred PC game storefront. It wouldn't make sense. Sony just doesn't have the reputation with PC gamers. Too many people are too invested in Steam to switch. It's more likely that Sony can maximize their PC earnings just by taking advantage of Steam's economy of scale and paying Valve the 30% cut.
 
If Sony could do those things they probably would already be doing them. The handful of console games they release per year doesn't give them any significant leverage in the PC space. Especially when they're not interested in releasing those games on PC until after a bunch of people have already played them on console.

They're also not going to cannibalize their console earnings to try to supplant Valve as the preferred PC game storefront. It wouldn't make sense. Sony just doesn't have the reputation with PC gamers. Too many people are too invested in Steam to switch. It's more likely that Sony can maximize their PC earnings just by taking advantage of Steam's economy of scale and paying Valve the 30% cut.
That's a bit of a fallacy.

That's like saying if Sony could release PC games they would have already been doing things. Things change and so do priorities. Now that Sony is fully interested in supporting PC, it's only a matter of time until they pivot to retain and expand their revenue.

They release a handful of PC games now, but if you look at their long term strategy, they are going to expand tremendously more towards PC and mobile. You're being terribly short sighted in this post.

And again, they'd make MORE money from the PC storefront because it doesn't require being tied to a loss leading console while maintaining similar or the same royalties... The idea that you think Sony wants to keep paying Valve 30% is hilarious.
 
bingo.
Day1 is very important for PC people. it helps you build up a community on PC, and feel like on level with console players. And we Know Sony isnt willing to do that right now.
Day 1 is going to get more and more prominent even on Steam when it comes to GaaS games. The goalpost will continue to move until Sony is largely day 1 across storefronts. Obviously they aren't going to say that now while they're trying to push PS5 hardware, but when we get to the point in the cycle where PS5 hardware starts to slow, you'll see more and more day 1 on PC to maintain their revenue through dips in the console market.
 

clarky

Gold Member
please look up the word leverage... this can't be a difficult concept to understand...

What does Sony want... more revenue... how can they get it? from a PC store that generates revenue from 1st and 3rd party sales. How do they get 3rd party sales? They can leverage their existing business to generate new business.
So just like any other company out there then. I hate to break it to you but Sony isn't any different.
 

feynoob

Banned
Day 1 is going to get more and more prominent even on Steam when it comes to GaaS games. The goalpost will continue to move until Sony is largely day 1 across storefronts. Obviously they aren't going to say that now while they're trying to push PS5 hardware, but when we get to the point in the cycle where PS5 hardware starts to slow, you'll see more and more day 1 on PC to maintain their revenue through dips in the console market.
Well, a store launcher without day1 wont work on PC. It dead on arrival if there is no day1 game.
 

Crayon

Member
Selling their games on steam is what makes too much sense so hopefully they stick with that.

And steam is so much better than any other platforms that a game on there is practically a superior version thanks to steam's universal features. Console stores, epic, gog, and everything else is a wreck in comparison. I don't think Sony could come close. Ms is better that kind of thing and even their store is torture.
 
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feynoob

Banned
Selling their games on steam is what makes too much sense so hopefully they stick with that.

And steam is so much better than any other platforms that a game on their is practically a superior version thanks to steam's universal features. Console stores, epic, fog, and everything else is a wreck in comparison. I don't think Sony could come close. Ms is better that kind of thing and even their store is torture.
risk free with no worrying about userbase. I would take that in a heartbeat.
 
Sony don't need to compete with steam.

PSN is probably one of the highest revenue generator in video games, they could open their own storefront and move away from steam and losing some sales won't be a big deal.

It all comes down to if sony care enough to put out a storefront.
Why do you people want to sabotage my fun... Kindly go away. Seriously you realize a lot of us just bought a steam deck. The only portable to play AAA games. And you want them to take that a way with another stupid launcher, are you people on crack?

Launchers and non steam games don't work well or hardly at all on deck. I won't buy a single one. I hate ea, ubisoft, and epic.... Gah.. Steam and gog is enough.
 
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IFireflyl

Gold Member
Great response... not really though...

I'll concede that no other storefront has been as successful as Steam if you'll concede that

a) no other competitor has had the leverage that Sony has
b) that Sony can generate significant revenue without overtaking Steam's market leader position
  1. PC gamers tend to hate publishers who try to force them to choose their platform by using leverage (such as exclusivity agreements).
    • Additionally, Epic Games Store literally gives away 2+ games for free every single week. If they can't tear Steam gamers away from Valve with that kind of leverage then there is little to nothing that Sony is going to be able to do.
  2. Sony will generate more revenue by releasing their games on Steam. If 2 million people would have bought the game on Steam while only 1 million people buy the game on Sony then that additional savings of 30% still means that Sony made less money than they would have if the game released on Steam.
    • Steam
      • 2,000,000 sales at $60/sale, with 30% taken off of that would equate to $84,000,000.
    • Sony
      • 1,000,000 sales at $70/sale would equate to $70,000,000.
Using the above calculations, and assuming Sony would charge $10 more per game on their own platform (since they wouldn't be competing with Steam/Valve and could charge what they wanted) would still result in Sony making less money on their own platform than they would by releasing their game on Steam. And by the way, I am being extremely generous by saying that Sony would even reach half of the sales they would otherwise reach on Steam. You don't seem to understand the magnitude of the Steam store or why people use it. Microsoft had every advantage on their own OS and still isn't even a competitor for Steam.

PC gamers don't want the stupidity of what you're selling. In fact, we find your fanboyism rather repugnant. Keep that off of our platform.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
That's a bit of a fallacy.

That's like saying if Sony could release PC games they would have already been doing things. Things change and so do priorities. Now that Sony is fully interested in supporting PC, it's only a matter of time until they pivot to retain and expand their revenue.

They release a handful of PC games now, but if you look at their long term strategy, they are going to expand tremendously more towards PC and mobile. You're being terribly short sighted in this post.

And again, they'd make MORE money from the PC storefront because it doesn't require being tied to a loss leading console while maintaining similar or the same royalties... The idea that you think Sony wants to keep paying Valve 30% is hilarious.
It absolutely is not a fallacy. Your whole premise is that Sony should do this because they'll make the most money. You're completely ignoring that PC gamers have no incentive to move. They'll just not buy Sony games on PC before they move away from Steam.

Sony's long term strategy is no different than what they're doing right now. Trickle older games to PC after sales slow down on console so that they don't hurt their console business.

They will not make more with a PC storefront because they literally could not move people away from Steam if they tried. PC gamers do not have any reason to trust that Sony will do a better job for them than Valve. Epic Games has been burning money for years with one of the biggest games in the world trying to win people over and they're not even making a dent. Sony doesn't have a game with the popularity of Fortnite to dangle as a carrot to entice people. Nobody is leaving Steam for God of War.
 

ArtHands

Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
You're salty because another launcher will mean a more segmented market on PC, which you're desperate to avoid.

I'd challenge you to have some imagination and recognize at least that Sony has significantly more leverage to produce a compelling PC store than competitors like Microsoft, EA, Activision, Epic, and CD Projekt.

-More highly desired games than any of these individual companies (None of these companies have the quality of franchises to compete directly with Sony)
-Largest console market for 3rd party royalties currently at 30 percent (EA, Activision, and CDPR struggle to get 3rd party content)
-Ability to undercut the competition on price for 3rd party content (Microsoft could have done this)

Maybe this is the real reason for the thread
 

feynoob

Banned
Sony don't need to compete with steam.

PSN is probably one of the highest revenue generator in video games, they could open their own storefront and move away from steam and losing some sales won't be a big deal.

It all comes down to if sony care enough to put out a storefront.
Just because you have a high revenue, doesn't mean you can open pc launcher easily.

Pc launcher is a long term project, and money sink, if they want to compete with steam.

They can do like GOG, and enjoy the ride. But that won't get them alot of big games on their platform.
 

feynoob

Banned
Yup, and whatever number left over that gets you to that 200 million are people just there grabbing the free games. I fall into the latter group.
Epic is expensive and doesn't cheap cd keys like steam. Another reason, why people don't bother with that store.
 

coffinbirth

Member
You're salty because another launcher will mean a more segmented market on PC, which you're desperate to avoid.

I'd challenge you to have some imagination and recognize at least that Sony has significantly more leverage to produce a compelling PC store than competitors like Microsoft, EA, Activision, Epic, and CD Projekt.

-None of these companies have the quality of franchises to compete directly with More highly desired games than any of these individual companies (Sony)
-Largest console market for 3rd party royalties currently at 30 percent (EA, Activision, and CDPR struggle to get 3rd party content)
-Ability to undercut the competition on price for 3rd party content (Microsoft could have done this)
200w.gif
 
  1. PC gamers tend to hate publishers who try to force them to choose their platform by using leverage (such as exclusivity agreements).
    • Additionally, Epic Games Store literally gives away 2+ games for free every single week. If they can't tear Steam gamers away from Valve with that kind of leverage then there is little to nothing that Sony is going to be able to do.
  2. Sony will generate more revenue by releasing their games on Steam. If 2 million people would have bought the game on Steam while only 1 million people buy the game on Sony then that additional savings of 30% still means that Sony made less money than they would have if the game released on Steam.
    • Steam
      • 2,000,000 sales at $60/sale, with 30% taken off of that would equate to $84,000,000.
    • Sony
      • 1,000,000 sales at $70/sale would equate to $70,000,000.
Using the above calculations, and assuming Sony would charge $10 more per game on their own platform (since they wouldn't be competing with Steam/Valve and could charge what they wanted) would still result in Sony making less money on their own platform than they would by releasing their game on Steam. And by the way, I am being extremely generous by saying that Sony would even reach half of the sales they would otherwise reach on Steam. You don't seem to understand the magnitude of the Steam store or why people use it. Microsoft had every advantage on their own OS and still isn't even a competitor for Steam.

PC gamers don't want the stupidity of what you're selling. In fact, we find your fanboyism rather repugnant. Keep that off of our platform.

Yeah I'm not really sure you can call someone out for fanboyism when you just pointed out you won't even consider buying a game that isn't on your favourite store. And that the mere idea of another company trying to challenge their monopoly shouldn't be entertained.
 

Graciaus

Member
I'm not at all, but evidence suggests they have the ability to sell very well on PC. Spider-Man and God of War specifically despite being 4 year old games sold very well.

The obvious reality is that Sony can leverage 3rd party royalty costs to direct as many publishers as possible to support their attempts at a PC store.

In reality, publishers would want as much competition in that space as possible as the more successful a Playstation store on PC would be the lower the royalties on Steam could be.

And gamers should want it as well as it could result in lower prices even on steam.
Those games sold what they did because they were on Steam. See EGS year end sales for reference. Or any publisher that left and came back to huge sales increases.

You also don't seem to know that Steam is just the place the key is activated. You can buy official keys from 3rd party usually 20%+ off day one.
 

feynoob

Banned
Yeah I'm not really sure you can call someone out for fanboyism when you just pointed out you won't even consider buying a game that isn't on your favourite store. And that the mere idea of another company trying to challenge their monopoly shouldn't be entertained.
No one offers what steam offers.

If you want PC people, give them cd keys from 3rd party and mods. That is how you attract them.

Otherwise, good luck.
 

BeardGawd

Banned
Yeah I'm not really sure you can call someone out for fanboyism when you just pointed out you won't even consider buying a game that isn't on your favourite store. And that the mere idea of another company trying to challenge their monopoly shouldn't be entertained.
PC gamers don't owe Sony a thing. If anything Sony has treated them like second class citizens and continues to.

Sony needs to garner far more good will before they can even think about opening their own store.
 

ergem

Member
b) that Sony can generate significant revenue without overtaking Steam's market leader position

I'd agree with you with this. The only reason Epic is losing money is because of they are literally paying publishers for exclusivity.

I don't think a PC store front for Sony would be a losing end for them. Maybe not as big as steam but it will be profitable and will only gain traction as time goes by.

That's not saying I'd like it to happpen. I'd prefer if Sony keeps their games exclusive to Playstation just like Nintendo. But I also recognize that them releasing games to PC would hardly diminish the playstation brand.
 

Foilz

Banned
Sony could absolutely make their own launcher and save that 30% tax but they won't be able to compete with steam ,epic, humble, gog and all of the others unless they offer something unique. Steam has the platform as a whole and the base, epic has the low fees, gof is drm.free, humble is a charity thingy that has bundles. Sony would need some that the others don't have any their own exclusives won't entice others
 

feynoob

Banned
So they'd just need to implement those two features and it would be a viable competitor? Seems doable, in that case why shouldn't they give it a shot?
Because it's not easy thing to do.

3rd party vendors minimizes their sales cut on the store.

As for mods, most launcher companies seems to be anti modding. Even MS was anti mod for their windows store, until recently.
 

DaGwaphics

Member
They're also not going to cannibalize their console earnings to try to supplant Valve as the preferred PC game storefront. It wouldn't make sense. Sony just doesn't have the reputation with PC gamers. Too many people are too invested in Steam to switch. It's more likely that Sony can maximize their PC earnings just by taking advantage of Steam's economy of scale and paying Valve the 30% cut.

A Sony launcher would be be a mistake if they made that the exclusive home of their software. But if they worked it like MS and created a launcher in addition to putting games on Steam/Epic, it could work nicely for them. Assuming they worked on bringing PS+ extra/premium to the launcher as well. Probably be a case just like with MS where the only people using the store are sub holders and the only third-party games getting added on there are a part of the sub at some point. Would definitely give them a new group of users to sell subscriptions to.
 
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