PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan says his company very much plans to stick to a staggered release plan and will not go ‘Day One’ with PC versions of its PS5-exclusive games.
At present, the company has been porting titles to PC around two to three years or longer after they launched on PlayStation 5 – something that has been working out well for Sony thus far.
“Horizon: Zero Dawn” and “God of War” arrived nearly four years after their console releases, “Marvel’s Spider-Man” hit four years after its initial release (and two after the remaster’s release), whilst “Returnal” and “Days Gone” arrived two years later.
In a recent interview with Famistu (translated by IGN Japan), Ryan says:
“We also fully understand the importance of PS5 exclusive titles. As I mentioned earlier, PlayStation Studios’ main responsibility is to make games for the latest PlayStation hardware that players will enjoy. We are increasing the number of PS5 exclusive games, and staggering the release of the PC versions.
I often have the opportunity to ask game fans for their opinions, and when I ask them how they feel about the time lag, they often say they feel the release of a PC version two or three years after the release of the PlayStation version is acceptable.”
With so many multiplatform AAA games in recent times having suffered from obviously not enough time for optimisation, especially on PC, a staggered delay gives the developer more time to focus both on the game itself before release and on polishing the PC port.
The recent launch of the PC port “The Last of Us Part 1” remake, a rare exception that arrived just seven months after it hit PS5, was heavily criticised for not being ‘sufficiently cooked’ and could potentially ensure longer windows for future releases.
Xbox chief Phil Spencer has criticised PlayStation for its staggered PC release schedule in the past as Xbox has pledged that when it does release first party exclusive games, such as the recent “Redfall,” they arrive Day One on its Game Pass service.
As to what PlayStation titles are next coming to PC, it’s not clear though could be announced as soon as the PlayStation showcase which is set to take place tomorrow afternoon. The widely speculated candidates include “Ghost of Tsushima” and “Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart”.
