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Sony signal shift in strategy with new PlayStation PC label

A new PlayStation PC label has popped up on the Steam pages of various first-party Sony titles, essentially confirming their commitment to future PC ports.

PlayStation have long relied on the perceived superiority of their first-party game developers, and the fact you need a PlayStation console to play them. Over the years countless gamers have decided to purchase PlayStation consoles for this main reason. The introduction of the new PlayStation PC label might well change that.

Various Steam users recently noticed that the listed publisher for Horizon Zero Dawn, previously PlayStation Mobile, is now listed as PlayStation PC LLC.

playstation pc
Screenshot: Steam

This new label, when taken into account alongside recent announcements (God of War coming to PC in 2022), suggests that Sony is fully embracing the PlayStation PC market.

The underlying rationale is solid; Sony are already handily beating Microsoft’s Xbox Series X/S in terms of console sales. However, Microsoft’s Game Pass pivot has been a huge success, expanding the market for their first-party titles exponentially.

Sony have keenly observed this situation unfold, and now appear to have settled on a paradigm for PlayStation PC they are comfortable with. By releasing their most acclaimed titles on PC, after a decent period of console exclusivity, Sony think they can have their cake and eat it too. And it’s hard to see how it could seriously backfire.

However, it’s unclear how long Sony plan wait before bringing first-party titles to PC. Days Gone and Horizon Zero Dawn are already available, but didn’t become so until years after they were initially released on PS4.

god of war pc
Screenshot: God of War / Santa Monica Studio

God of War‘s scheduled PC release date falls almost four years after it came out on console; which begs the question, are people still keen to play these games so long after they first came out?

The answer seems to be a resounding yes. Judging by the constant clamour for a PC port of Bloodborne, a game that released in 2015, it seems PC gamers are still hungry for quality titles. Especially the ones that have been kept from them for so long.