Should Sony Release PS4 Exclusives on the PC 3 to 4 Years After Release?

[HStallion]

I was having a talk with some friends about this. One of them brought up the point that after 3 to 4 years they've most likely made a good majority of their sales on games like Bloodborne, Infamous Second Son, Killzone SF, etc. There are tons of copies for resale in most stores for super cheap. Why not make an attempt to port some of them for the PC maybe 3 to 4 years after they originally release?

I'm sure the PC crowd would eat up Bloodborne with many people no doubt double or triple dipping. Then you can imagine that a Neo patch might come out that will bump up the AA, the FPS to 60, and add some other bells and whistles like maybe better looking blood and such. These could just be settings on the PC for those with the stronger rigs needed to run them. Then on top of that Sony could do cross play between PS4/Neo and PC players and possibly reinvigorate a flagging MP scene on the console side.

Obviously there are porting costs as I'm sure some of the engines Sony first party developers are using would need some tweaking as would the game to run a wide gamut of PC gaming hardware. Though they already have excellent porting studios like Bluepoint and could no doubt find others to work with to help them do this. Anyways, what say you GAF?

So does this idea sound insane to you GAF or could it be a sensible move for Sony?Extend the life of their games, preserve and grow multiplayer player pools, and of course make them more money by selling to a crowd who might never had a chance to touch these games. And of course... modding but that could be the elephant in the room I Suppose.

 

[Deft Beck]

Why would they ever do that? It would dilute the value of PS exclusives.

 

[HyperBitHero]

They won't, but sure.
They won't because they could just sell you those exclusives again a few years later on their next console.

 

[Nintendoga]

No.
The point of an exclusive is to get people to buy the console it's on.

 

[jon bones]

No, it's too high a value-add for the console.

 

[Kudo]

And lose the trust of their customers? No.

 

[BadWolf]

Of course not.

 

[Ricky_R]

It wouldn't make sense for them right now.

 

[CCIE]

No. They aren't like MS trying to lock someone into a PC ecosystem walled garden like W10. It makes no business sense

 

[Enter the Dragon Punch]

It'd benefit consumers, but not Sony. They wouldn't do it.

 

[thuway]

I'd never buy another Playstation if they did this. So no.

 

[dresi]

No. Many people buy consoles at the end of their cycles when it's cheap and there is huge library of exclusives to play.

 

[jroc74]

I would love it. But yea don't see it happening anytime soon or ever.

 

[Purest 78]

3 to 4 years wouldn't affect people buying ps4. Why not I think it would be smart more money.

 

[deriks]

Maybe in the future when you just have to put a cheap USB-PlayStation-stick or something on your TV, but at least when consoles are consoles, no

 

[janoDX]

Or... PC people could buy a PS4 on the cheap and get those games for 10-20 bucks.

 

[Strangelove77]

It's not just about selling games, it's also about selling consoles.

 

[ctfg23]

No. Since MS is already putting all of their exclusives on PC, Sony doing it as well would defeat the purpose of owning either console.

 

[Warxard]

You know damn well they won't do it

 

[73V3N]

sure why not, but their fanboys would go too crazy since that's all they get excited about i mean, not the game themselves but arguing on the internet about how "their exclusives are better than your exclusives"

 

[Japanmanx3]

No.

 

[Black Pewter]

I mean, I'd love if they did, but it wouldn't be of much value to them to do so, especially if all their future consoles are actually backwards compatible with better performance.

No. Since MS is already putting all of their exclusives on PC, Sony doing it as well would defeat the purpose of owning either console.

Isn't that miles better for you as a consumer though? I don't see what you're getting at.

 

[Carn82]

This makes little sense business wise.

 

[LiK]

They'd do remasters for the next console generation instead.

 

[Face it Tiger..]

Or they could buy a used PS4.

 

[Jonneh3003]

No.
The point of an exclusive is to get people to buy the console it's on.

Yep, that's really all it comes down to.

 

[Tagyhag]

It'd be cool, but it would make no sense.

They'll sell a lot more on PC than they would from people buying them 4 years later on a PS4 but each one would be one less reason for someone to have a PS4.

For example, if the PC had Sony's exclusives, I wouldn't have a PS4 right now.

 

[Pupo]

No.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

which console manufacturer would ever be dumb enough to release their own games on pc

 

[RK9039]

Sure why not, MGO2 wouldn't have died like it did on the PS3.

 

[poutmeter]

Many people I know, including myself, only buy consoles for their exclusive titles while mainly gaming on PC. I bet there is a decent number of PS4 owners who do the same, so I'd say nope.

 

[Zombie James]

Makes no sense to me.

 

[Dovahking]

No.
The point of an exclusive is to get people to buy the console it's on.

Couldn't agree more.

 

[cakely]

No. Sony still believes the following theory is true: Exclusive games attract customers to buy their consoles.

Just because Microsoft has given up on that idea doesn't make it false.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

We've had multiple variations of this conversation over the past few weeks. I'm not sure what it is that people don't get.

Microsoft is going after the PC port route because users migrating from Xbox to Windows is still users staying within their ecosystem.

Sony doesn't because users migrating from PlayStation to Windows is not users staying within their ecosystem. Same for Nintendo. If they don't have that ecosystem, say goodbye to at least some of their first party output (which I don't think is good for any consumer). Until they come up some kind of solution, it's not happening.

 

[Lord of Ostia]

which console manufacturer would ever be dumb enough to release their own games on pc

Have I got a story for you!

 

[GeoramA]

No. And people need to get over Bloodborne already.

 

[KoopaTheCasual]

Best case scenario is exclusive titles appear on PS Now 5-6 years after release, and no sooner.

But no, you're never getting exclusives on Steam or anything of the sort.

We've had multiple variations of this conversation over the past few weeks. I'm not sure what it is that people don't get.

Microsoft does it because users migrating from Xbox to Windows is still users staying within their ecosystem.

Sony doesn't because users migrating from PlayStation to Windows is not users staying within their ecosystem. Until they come up some kind of solution, it's not happening.

That's what PS Now is for. And that's the extent of their presence on 'PC' for the foreseeable future.

 

[ShutterMunster]

You'll be able to play Playstation "exclusives" on a PC in the future. You'll stream them via a PS Now app on your PC.

The traditional approach is out of the question though.

EDIT: And sorta beat.

 

[styl3s]

It doesn't make sense for Sony to do this so no.

It only makes sense for Microsoft because they own windows and it makes a lot of sense to merge those 2 things together to make a unified platform.

No. And people need to get over Bloodborne already.

The Bloodborne shit is reaching Red Dead port begging levels of annoying.

 

[DarkLordMalik]

No. Also what is with the port begging for PS4 recently? If you want to play the damn game, just get the damn system. It is not that hard. You can also rent/lend from someone if you don't want to own it.

 

[Acquiescence]

As long as PlayStation consoles keeps selling and PlayStation exclusives keep selling, they aren't going to the PC.

No. Also what is with the port begging for PS4 recently? If you want to play the damn game, just get the damn system.

"Microsoft's doing it, so why aren't Sony?!"

 

[michaelius]

I don't think it's that easy - they don't use modified DX libraries for console development so it would require a lot of coding to release on pc. That time can be used for making another Playstation game which helps Sony more.

 

[Jonneh3003]

No. And people need to get over Bloodborne already.

Or just buy a console if you want to play it's games instead of complaining. I'll never get over Bloodborne.

 

[Spaghetti]

Not right now. After the next few cycles of hardware arms race, then maybe. It'll probably make sense to start setting up for a transition into a PC digital storefront, or supplement overall income by putting the moneymakers (i.e software) into places they can, well, earn more money.

 

[MAX PAYMENT]

They should release them to PC sooner. There would be a bigger market to sell to. The de-valuing of exclusives is bullshit.

There will always be a huge market for console gamers. The pc enthusiast market is far smaller. And the market that games on both consoles and pc is even smaller.

 

[Fredrik]

Have I got a story for you!

I'm guessing you're thinking about MS, but PC is essentially their platform too so it makes perfect sense, Sony doing the same would be like giving away the exclusives to MS.

 

[biglittleps]

No. Many people can easily wait for 3 years to play and also loses value of owning a Playstation device if they are available on PC in future unless that game is 90+. Sony are doing great with their exclusives sales on their platform and its driving their hardware sales, so releasing their exclusives means it will kill their hardware sales (platform) slowly in long term.

 

[Pantaghana]

As someone that doesn't care for buying another box filled with electronics just to play a single digit number of games, I would very much like that. The time period proposed is still significant, so early adopters don't lose anything and Sony would get a new revenue stream.
Everybody wins.

 

[Harmen]

No, since they are going to do more powerful models to attract gamers used to better image quality/framerate. And it gives them a reason for eventual remasters on future platforms. It makes no sense for them to make PC ports at this point in time, businesswise.