Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida has shared his view on Sony’s former strategy for PS5 exclusives and PC releases, saying that launching major AAA games on PC on day one would likely be not “a good strategy” for PlayStation.
In a recent interview, Yoshida explained that keeping a period of console exclusivity is important for protecting the PlayStation ecosystem. Big single-player exclusives help give players a reason to buy PS5 hardware, and releasing them on other platforms at the same time could reduce the value of owning the console.
At the same time, he sees PC ports as an important part of Sony’s business. With the cost of making modern AAA games growing larger every year, bringing games to PC after one or two years helps recover those huge investments, and the extra revenue can then be used to support new projects and future game development.
He also said he has not seen any proof that Sony plans to leave the PC platform completely. While Bloomberg reports suggest Sony may slow down PC launches for major titles like Ghost of Yotei, the company is still expected to release multiplayer-focused games such as Marathon on PC and console at the same time.
For Yoshida, timing is the most important part. Releasing games on PC later helps Sony earn back development costs, but launching big PlayStation AAA games on every platform from day one could give people less reason to buy a PS5. As he said, “If they were releasing new AAA games on day one on other platforms, I don’t think that’s a good strategy for a platform holder like PlayStation.”
In other news, Shuhei Yoshida has spoken about his departure from Sony, saying that he was “fired” from his role in 2019 because he refused to comply with “ridiculous” requests from then-CEO Jim Ryan.
