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Is the main war going forward PlayStation vs Steam? If so, will Sony still do PC ports?

Ask yourself. What makes Sony more money? Selling games on one platform to some customers? Or selling them on all platforms to all customers?

This isn't about platform competition. It's about what makes these companies the most money. Multiplatform is here to stay folks.
 
There are very few (if any) PS5 first party titles that would force a PC gamer to buy a console. If they keep pumping out third person sandbox action adventure games then that won't be changing anytime soon.
 
NeonDelta said:
Why does there have to be a war?
Click to expand...

There is no war. Only companies trying to make money. There sort of was back in 16 and 32 bit eras because the market was so small.

Now it's only a battle of staying relevant against the growing free to play user generated content games.

The next real battle for game companies is that there is going to be even more things like Roblox except with ai generated content.

Though I actually think that will be a good thing for vr at least.
 
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ValiantInstance said:
There are very few (if any) PS5 first party titles that would force a PC gamer to buy a console. If they keep pumping out third person sandbox action adventure games then that won't be changing anytime soon.
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At least some ppl at Sony aren't dumb. They know exactly how the console audience differs from the PC audience, and that their highly attractive console offerings aren't that attractive to the average PC gamer. They gladly take the sales they get from Steam but they sure as hell know they won't be converting any PC enthusiasts to their platform just because they have a cinematic third person shooter with quick time events.
 
Are you sure that Playstation hasn't become an Xbox? There's gonna be a lot of people playing Halo, Forza and Gears on it.

But yeah, the PS6 will have to be measured against PC hardware. There will probably be a bunch of little GALAX ULTRA PRO BLAZ set-top boxes with Bazite or something like the Ally X OS. Before when you were measuring a facet of the PS5 experience, it only had to beat the Series to get the W. These checklists are going to look rougher than they're used to. It really changes the conversation. Going to be interesting to see how they message it.
 
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Console warriors have to warrior. Where will all the old soldiers go, when the PS vs. Xbox war is over (in their minds) and they leave the field of battle? What crusade will they take up next?

I can't see the antagonism shifting to PS vs. Nintendo. I know they are competitors in some Venn diagram kind of way, but they mostly target different markets, and I've never sensed any real antipathy between their fandoms. I know there is a history of rivalry back in the ancient days, but I haven't seen any recently.

I can't see it shifting to PS vs. PC, either. Again, those seem like different markets to me, with some overlap. PC guys make their master race comments but no one takes them seriously (I don't anyhow), and I've never seen any real rivalry bust our between PS and PC fans. Steam would need to become a big player in the console arena before it put pressure on Sony. Maybe when PC hybrids can offer a console-like experience, then we might see it popping up.

Just my take.
 
Humdinger said:
Console warriors have to warrior. Where will all the old soldiers go, when the PS vs. Xbox war is over (in their minds) and they leave the field of battle? What crusade will they take up next?

I can't see the antagonism shifting to PS vs. Nintendo. I know they are competitors in some Venn diagram kind of way, but they mostly target different markets, and I've never sensed any real antipathy between their fandoms. I know there is a history of rivalry back in the ancient days, but I haven't seen any recently.

I can't see it shifting to PS vs. PC, either. Again, those seem like different markets to me, with some overlap. PC guys make their master race comments but no one takes them seriously (I don't anyhow), and I've never seen any real rivalry bust our between PS and PC fans. Steam would need to become a big player in the console arena before it put pressure on Sony. Maybe when PC hybrids can offer a console-like experience, then we might see it popping up.

Just my take.
Click to expand...

Best take in the thread
 
Once Sony puts out their games on Nintendo, the war is over and Nintendo has one.

Considering Lego Horizon, I think the winner is clear.
 
Parazels said:
The pc and Xbox audience is rapidly shrinking in Europe and probably worldwide. Those wandering souls will join Sony and Nintendo.
Therefore Sony will maintain and even increase their revenue without "pc ports"!
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That's definitely not true. China/Japan/India and others have seen major growth in the PC gaming space. I honestly think that why MS are fine with moving into that market and leaving the console behind as there is a much larger audience to explore imo.
https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/pc-gaming-market-113252
 
mayham2199 said:
Well current steamos can't play a lot of the most popular MP franchises which is a huge difference.
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The anti-cheat requirement and Linux?
I don't know the details on that but I assume that it's not unfixable.
I do think that Fortnite not being on Steam is a problem though. It's a big game for the mainstream market. But who knows that could be fixable too.
 
The war ended more than a year ago when Playstation won it, now there are 3 platforms left (PS, Steam and Switch2) each with its share of the pie and unless one of them messes things up, it will stay that way for a long time.
 
Humdinger said:
Console warriors have to warrior. Where will all the old soldiers go, when the PS vs. Xbox war is over (in their minds) and they leave the field of battle? What crusade will they take up next?

I can't see the antagonism shifting to PS vs. Nintendo. I know they are competitors in some Venn diagram kind of way, but they mostly target different markets, and I've never sensed any real antipathy between their fandoms. I know there is a history of rivalry back in the ancient days, but I haven't seen any recently.

I can't see it shifting to PS vs. PC, either. Again, those seem like different markets to me, with some overlap. PC guys make their master race comments but no one takes them seriously (I don't anyhow), and I've never seen any real rivalry bust our between PS and PC fans. Steam would need to become a big player in the console arena before it put pressure on Sony. Maybe when PC hybrids can offer a console-like experience, then we might see it popping up.

Just my take.
Click to expand...
Clapping Applause GIF
 
Horseganador said:
The war ended more than a year ago when Playstation won it, now there are 3 platforms left (PS, Steam and Switch2) each with its share of the pie and unless one of them messes things up, it will stay that way for a long time.
Click to expand...
PlayStation won the console battle, but Nintendo won the video games war.
 
MisterXDTV said:
Cracking Up Lol GIF by reactionseditor



NintendoSonySales_20250722_2.png
Click to expand...
Donald Trump News GIF by IMPAULSIVE

Doesn't account for exclusives, system sales or mobile profits. Then there's the direct wins:
  • PS1 beat N64
  • PS2 beat Gamecube
  • Wii beat PS3
  • DS beat PSP
  • 3DS beat Vita
  • Switch beat PS4
Switch 2 will likely beat PS5, but that remains to be seen. Then there's exclusives battle and their metascores and individual sales numbers to account for. Nintendo clearly beats PlayStation in overall victories.
 
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Topher said:
Best take in the thread
Click to expand...

Thank you, sir. I do wonder where all that console warrior energy will go, though. The First Law of Forum Dynamics states that console warrior energy can be neither created nor destroyed, but merely transformed from one form into another.

Or maybe there will be no wars, and we'll all just get along fine.


Surprised Kenan Thompson GIF
 
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UltimaKilo said:
You are probably very young based on your poor grammer and fanboyism. No, Xbox is not dead, but the amount of money Microsoft generates has nothing to do with the decision to kill XBOX. Microsoft also had the Zune, the Microsoft Band, Windows Phone on and on... All were killed. Can they kill XBOX after the huge acquisitions? It would be difficult. Will it survive as you know it? No.
Click to expand...
Thats all im going to say about your "poor grammAr" comment. Im not even sure what was so wrong about it but the fact that you think you can make an argument in your favor by being grammar police, sorry man you just ended up looking even more stupid. Also what fanboyism, I literally wrote I have a PS5 first, XsX and Steam Deck. So Im a fanboy of xbox??? even though I wrote I am a playstation fan first???. Either way, nice try at an argument but next time come with something more tangible before you call someone a fanboy without even reading what they are advocating. I dont care who is the winner, Im talking from a business perspective, business is good at MS. Your post wont make a dent in their financials.
 
Mortisfacio said:
If Sony makes a PC platform and forces use of it, even through Steam, Sony will just lose sales. Large sections of the PC community boycotts games that don't use Steam.
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I'm aware, but they don't need to force usage of it completely.

EA puts their games on Steam but their Day 1 sub EA Play Pro is only available via EA Desktop app.

Ubisoft puts their games on Steam but their Day 1 sub Ubisoft+ is only available on Ubisoft store.

MS puts their games on Steam but their Day 1 sub Gamepass Ultimate is on the Xbox app only.

Sony could do similar. I think they should do Day 1 on PC on their own store, with Cross Buy, Cross saves, including Cloud streaming then launch on other PC stores after 6 months, then add to PS+ Premium catalog after 12 months.

This way, Sony PC store and Sony PS+ Premium sub would both become available on nextgen Magnus hardware.
 
Sony is launching games on PC because it brings them a sizeable added revenue. Has nothing to do with Xbox and even if the latter would disappear nothing would change in Sony's decisions on PC.
 
ShadyAcshuns said:
PlayStation won the console battle, but Nintendo won the video games war.
Click to expand...

FY25 FCT (Bln Yen)
PlayStation Sales 4,320 / OI 500
Nintendo Sales 1,900 / OI 320

Buggy Loop said:
Sony is one of the least efficient around when it comes to that
Click to expand...

PlayStation grows a lot, takes little capital, achieves a high Return on Invested Capital (ROIC) and generates substantial cash, thanks to its low profit margins.

FY24 (Return on Invested Capital)
PlayStation 18.5%
Music 10.2%
Pictures 5.7%


Free Cash Flow (Bln Yen)
PlayStation 714.2
Music -95.4
Pictures 131.7
Physiognomonics said:
Again, it's not that simple. Their whole GAAS strategy was pushed BECAUSE of them wanting that PC market. This is why they spoiled the whole generation and why we didn't get any Factions 2, Bluepoint game and lack of investment into more Single player games because their effort was on PC porting / GAAS studios. Also them focusing on a more diverse and broad audience (more players, more money, right?) gave us disappointing games like GoW Ragnarok.

You need to look at the whole picture. Without them focusing on PC, we would have plenty of awesome single players games, remakes, sequels and new IPs. Remember that they were making more 1st party money (profits) from only one platform, PS4, just before the PS5 generation.
Click to expand...

The "fixed pie fallacy" refers to the mistaken belief that resources are a fixed amount that must be divided (one side's gain is necessarily the other's loss)

PS5 has made more profit than all previous PlayStation combined: is Totoki reinvesting profits or buying his own shares and wasting billions on underperforming segments?

Totoki is the reason PS is stuck in 1-2 tentpole games per year.

Sony has extracted 2 trillion yen from PlayStation since 2014. It needs to stop, or certain standalone firms will take advantage.
 
Single year profits are just one aspect in the grand scheme of everything, so why do PlayStation fans keep throwing that one year profit chart out there? Because it's all they have right now.
 
zedinen said:
The "fixed pie fallacy" refers to the mistaken belief that resources are a fixed amount that must be divided (one side's gain is necessarily the other's loss)

PS5 has made more profit than all previous PlayStation combined: is Totoki reinvesting profits or buying his own shares and wasting billions on underperforming segments?

Totoki is the reason PS is stuck in 1-2 tentpole games per year.

Sony has extracted 2 trillion yen from PlayStation since 2014. It needs to stop, or certain standalone firms will take advantage.
Click to expand...
They made all those profits on 3rd party (ironically all through their own Store). All their investment was mostly made on 1st party GAAS / PC and they are making less money than what they were in the end of 2019 where they did record profits on their own games only sold on PS4.

From some years (not sure since when) they are likely losing plenty of money on their 1st party initiative (the billions they invested into Bungie and all those GAAS / PC studios). Thankfully for them they are making bank with 3rd party games / DLC which is helped by the failure of Xbox Series consoles.

At this point they would make much more profits if they completely ditched their 1st party initiative and sold all their studios.
 
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Humdinger said:
Console warriors have to warrior. Where will all the old soldiers go, when the PS vs. Xbox war is over (in their minds) and they leave the field of battle? What crusade will they take up next?

I can't see the antagonism shifting to PS vs. Nintendo. I know they are competitors in some Venn diagram kind of way, but they mostly target different markets, and I've never sensed any real antipathy between their fandoms. I know there is a history of rivalry back in the ancient days, but I haven't seen any recently.

I can't see it shifting to PS vs. PC, either. Again, those seem like different markets to me, with some overlap. PC guys make their master race comments but no one takes them seriously (I don't anyhow), and I've never seen any real rivalry bust our between PS and PC fans. Steam would need to become a big player in the console arena before it put pressure on Sony. Maybe when PC hybrids can offer a console-like experience, then we might see it popping up.

Just my take.
Click to expand...
SteamOS vs WindowsOS.
Although I'm not sure if it'll be a war or a massacre.
 
Mister Wolf said:
Do you suggest their games be exclusive to that store?
Click to expand...
Nah, but they need a strong PC presence, do it similar to how Xbox does it. Certain benefits for PSN ecosystem users like trophies, cross buy, cross saves, Cloud service, subscription catalog after 12 months maybe.
 
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Tobimacoss said:
Nah, but they need a strong PC presence, do it similar to how Xbox does it. Certain benefits for PSN ecosystem users like trophies, cross buy, cross saves, Cloud service, subscription catalog after 12 months maybe.
Click to expand...
Steam has PC on lock, Sony trying to compete would be a waste of time and money.
 
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