By Shawn Layden "Where were you 20 years ago?
I was in Tokyo, already enjoying my PlayStation as it had launched over nine months earlier in Japan, December 3, 1994, and I am sure I was still chasing the final black racer in Ridge well into 1995. By the time the PlayStation launched in North America on 9/9/95, I was splitting my time between Tekken and Battle Arena Toshinden and trying to get a US copy of ESPN Street Games (incidentally, the first game I worked on at SCEI to localize for the Japanese market"
PlayStation PC revenue reached $300 million in 2023, but despite this success, it appears Sony may be pulling back from PC releases.
It's not a success unless we know the profit. It's the same reason I get on Xbox when they mention revenue.
If Sony is considering keeping their single player games exclusive to the PS systems despite the 300 million PC revenue, that means they didn't profit from the venture.
You are correct. Making 300 million doesn't mean anything if you have 299 million in operating costs. Clearly they are making some profit if they want to keep their multiplayer games on PC but what of their single player games?
How could they possibly not make a profit with $300M in revenue?
Nixxis only has about 90 employees. Let's go high and say each person on the payroll makes $200k per year; payroll would only be $18M. I believe the development time to port a game from PlayStation to PC is only about a year, so unless Sony is giving out Bentleys and 5 bedroom houses to each employee with payroll, they should be making a sizable profit.
See, the problem with what you said is we don't know what their operating costs were. So everything you're saying there is just speculation. What we do know is reported revenue and the rumored reporting that Sony is taking first party single player games out of the PC release cycle.
Not saying you're wrong, but we need to work with what we're given.
Here’s another angle of the argument. What if they saw a concerning decline in console sales and/or game sales on PS during this window of PC releases? It may be a crazy success on pc we don’t know but eating your own market share scare PlayStation for sure especially when they are trying to sell every new gen.
Ok, THIS makes sense. I don't know how I didn't think about that. And we know they'll want those PS6 sales to be off the charts. It's harder to do that if their in-house made blockbusters are shared with PC.
Given the recent price increase for their hardware... Sony should really rethink things. Having an additional revenue stream, even if the games come to PC a year after, is still money coming in. Those who wanted a 5 likely already got one, but that doesn't mean Sony should turn their backs on those who may still want to play their software on a PC.
Honestly, I think they are worried about PC piracy.... Getting their games on PC for free is... well its not hard at all. They have to know that and I am sure that goes into their calculus.
thats bogus. Early 2000's a lot of things got pirated sure, but most piracy that currently exists is because the companies themselves sell an inferior product than when you pirate it, denuvo, bad quality on movies/shows etc. It's not much anymore and other companies have been releasing their games on pc since the beginning of time and are doing fine and given the quality of sony's 1st party games they should have no issue making profit at all. Adding shit like having to log in to psn in order to play single players games because they wanna harvest your data, yes that's when I say people are in their right to pirate and sony can go suck a fatty.
We know exactly why they wouldn't want it, because they can't get people into their ecosystem and profit more off of them if they buy it for pc. Nothing more nothing less as with any other company it's only about money.
We buy more games than console gamers BTW. We have over 132 million users on steam so out of that if 2% pirate how can we all be labeled as pirates?
Real reason is sony probably didn't see the big benefits and that's on them because games come out a year later and costs full price
I disagree I think it's strategically in their best interest to remove PC as a pathway to access you need to encourage people to buy the console to play the games otherwise they won't
As soon as Xbox started putting games day one on PC sales of their consoles dropped off a cliff and piracy of their games went sky high
@michiel not true piracy exists because people want to play a game but don't want to pay for it. Piracy may have started really in the 80s but it's still going strong today if you look at any torrent and it's seed count you'll see just how strong the scene is
i specifically said "most piracy that currently exists", not all piracy that has ever existed.
I'm not believing that gamepass story, it's so counterintuitive. They didn't remove the option to be able to purchase a game and for short term they gave people a cheaper way to play it and THEN suddenly they started mass pirating them? yeah I'm not buying that.
Just took a look at GoW Ragnarok and the seed counts are either single or double digits, with 3 out of like 30 having triple digits, 2 of those being basically double digits cause they're so close and the other one a bit above 200. So strong........
Pc sucks and xbox is dead because they stupidly put games on pc and game pass. You like this dumb idea because you want sony down to xbox pathetic level.
Error the price hike effects hardware as well. By all accounts ps6 is designed to be able to be made as cheap as possible. Which should mean it's cheaper than ps5 pro at the very least. Pc parts are effected by increased hardware costs too so they have an obvious market position as the more affordable alternative and once people are in their ecosystem they are unlikely to abandon libraries and switch
And people think they’re going to give that up 🤣🤣
And it’ll be way more than 300m by now
If they make billions in sales on the actual console sure this isn't gross profit either
The value to the brand is significantly more important. Plus is this before or after steam takes their cut?
@Jammit
Majority of the sales is more than like from live service games, so it makes sense why they're pulling away their single player games. Which is honestly a good idea for those games and the brand. Also, if the 300M is revenue, steam taking a 30% cut means Sony is only getting around 210M. Now take aways how much they spent to bring those games to PC and you're looking at less than 200M. With majority of the money coming from live service games.
So easy to spot I wonder HOW YOU GUYS keep falling for his first almost sensible comment then keep getting more and more deranged 🤦🏿 😩.
Death Stranding is owned by Kojima (he purchased the rights back from sony.) Hence the eventual xbox port of the original. Not exactly a good example. Lets see if/when Yotei comes to pc, as that should have been announced already if going by their last first party developed titles ps5 release to pc announce timeline. It's looking more and more like the rumors are correct and Helix has has Sony rethinking pc releases. And why wouldn't they when it would guarantee a competing "console" has access to all their games without their say so.
I'd argue that 300 mill revenue without even considering what part is profit, is not nearly enough money to risk giving xbox access to PlayStation games.
Thats not a lot but still successful,when you consider some games costs over 100 million. But I still think Helix has something to do with them pulling back too.
They’re definitely panicked by helix
Helix also marks the end of their party PS exclusives - Sony can’t afford to keep 3rd party games off PC
🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
Panicked by Helix? You probably also believed Xbox Games would never come to Playstation or Nintendo.
“They’re definitely panicked by helix” - 🤡🤡 I know you are a dumb little troll hurt by the demise of Xbox and the continued success of Playstation, but that is still a hell of a clown statement to make after Xbox series got whipped by Nex Playground in December… in 2026 Xbox doesn’t even show up as a skid mark next to PlayStation😬
Also, tech wise PlayStation is ahead of Xbox with PSSR. I can’t see Xbox coming up with anything that matches it. Ps6 is already WAY ahead of Helix
thegamerztheory.com: Former PlayStation CEO Shawn Layden declares: "There really is no major competition for PlayStation."
With Xbox fading and Nintendo on its own island, Sony dictates the console timeline - including PS6. Discover why PlayStation dominates the market unchallenged in this insightful analysis.
Agree with this completely and this is the problem. Its Xbox to blame, they need to get their shizzle together and fight back. I don't want Sony becoming that arrogant Sony we had back at the launch of PS3. Granted they turned it around by the end and we as gamers got another amazing generation of games. PS4 was the GOAT.
people say keep mentioning this fear of a return to arrogant sony, but with game dev having ballooned both in cost and turn around time, i don't think sony can afford to be arrogant anymore. the risk is too great.
How was Sony arrogant during PS3???
Just because of the price?? If it was a scam then I'd agree but PS3 was indeed worth the price it retailed at! Like the saying goes, dedicated Blu-ray players were the same price or more as the PS3 and you couldn't play games.
Compare that to Nintendo selling you a reheated $450 console when it's hardly worth half of that price.
Exactly! 100%.
I keep hearing about this so called ''Sony needs competition'' xbox has never been competition for PS, not on ps2, not on ps4, not on ps5 but they bring the 360 only because released a yr earlier and had sold 10mil units before PS3 hit the shelves. Still failed to sell more than PS3. When xbox most ''successful'' console ever couldn't beat the less ''successful'' console from Sony, you know it's game over.
@Aloymetal
So you really trying to say Sony never saw Microsoft as competitors in the console space? So without Microsoft, Sony would have just decided to do timed exclusives all by themselves? To say the 360 did not compete agains the PS3 is lunacy at best. Microsoft came in a space dominated by Sony, and made a dent...you could easily tell by the behaviors of Sony.
@Huey_My_D_Long
Ken Kutaragi isn't Sony as a whole. He's just a guy who was certain he'd made the best console of all time. MS execs have said far worse arrogant things over and over again yet what people bring up as an example of arrogant Sony is the 20 year old PS3 launch and Kutaragi's words.
Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, at the end of the day these companies are not benevolant and they aren't your friend, they want to make MONEY. So yeah they'll sell you stuff, increase their prices and so on. They're no different from Walmart or Amazon.
So all of the issues Sony has are self-made issues? Not because of them reacting to competition? Man, not sure that's the best way to look at this.
Well, Shawn Layden was High up at PlayStation, he would know better then any of us, and what's really going down at Sony right? My favorite was Jack Trenton.
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The disagrees... There's no one who will say PS5 has been the best PS generation who's old enough to have played them all. It's by far their weakest. They haven't tried this generation and have had more announcements for special edition consoles, controllers, headsets and monitors than they have exclusive games. PS5 is a great console but the lack of competition has made Sony lazy.
Thanks you absolutely nailed it. Check out our other article currently on the N4G homepage. Our video and Article discuss this very issue you touched on. Your sentiment nails it, and we at EPG agree wholeheartedly.
ANYONE who has played PlayStation since the beginning and owned all of the consoles will agree this generation has been the worst. Its not the consoles fault, both the PS5 and PS5 pro are incredible machines with amazing tech, its more the direction Sony has taken and the decisions senior management have made.
Shawn Layden knows better than anyone what the issues are at PlayStation and what may be going on behind the scenes. They have amazing tech, but Sony just seems like they are stuck in second gear and don't care to push up and actually give us gamers another legendary gen. With no competition from Xbox, and sales bringing in the cash why would they. PlayStation fans are also not demanding better which is confusing for some of us old timers who have been around from the start.
The fact that PS6 is now already being spoken about, yet we only recently got the PS5 Pro and have not really seen anything close to the PS5/Pro being maxed out, we find ourselves asking again and again, where are the games! Not third party, we want the first party exclusive bangers PlayStation has been built on.
@Kyro
This has nothing to do with being lazy it’s a combination of games taking significantly longer to make, and Sony betting most of their eggs on live service games and basically canceling all of them.
God of war, twisted metal, the last of us, Spider-Man, Bungies destiny spin-off, Deviation games studio closure, London studio game, Neon Koi’s mobile/console game, and Bend Studios open-world game were all cancelled.
Jade Raymond’s game might be cancelled as well. If so that’s 10 games gone, and why it feels like “lazy”.
@EPG
The PS6 is being talked about in the same time frame the as the transition from PS4 to PS5.
PS4 launched 2013, PS4 Pro 2016, PS5 2020 (7 year cycle).
PS5 2020, PS5 Pro 2024, PS6 2027/2028 (7 - 8 year cycle).
The reason PS6 is being brought up is because the speculated APU is already in development with leaks pointing to it, and Xbox just officially announced Project Helix for their next PConsole.
Just because it's not the best generation doesn't mean Sony has been lazy. I think that trope is truly lazy analysis. People somehow conviently forget that when PlayStation was releasing TONS of exclusive games on the PS3, those games collectively did not sell a ton. They trimmed
Just because it's not the best generation doesn't mean Sony has been lazy. I think that trope is truly lazy analysis. People somehow conviently forget that when PlayStation was releasing TONS of exclusive games on the PS3, those games collectively did not sell a ton. They trimmed down the number of exclusive games tremendously in the PS4 generation and this generation they went after live service and that has not worked out. Canceling games isnt lazy. Game development takes longer these days and cost more. These reasons are not due to a company being lazy. There have been some bad bets made and unfortunately that has undoubtedly resulted in some of our favorite studios inability to release a game. And it seems that the Jim Ryan tenure had its flaws. Jim Ryan will absolutely get credit for being able to deliver a console during a pandemic, a great accomplishment. But the overly aggressive live service push, and studio acquisitions hae not worked out. Now they need to pivot. They are fortunate that XBOX refuses to get out of their own way, and can't make up their mind of their direction either. I love games, so I will take those XBOX exclusive games all day.
Anyway, first party games this generation feel more like icing on a cake and I think many of us would like to see it be more of the cake. Even with that I have MORE games to play than this generation has time left to play them. There is nothing PlayStation can do about the situation other than realign their priorities which we see happening. Relative patience isn't something the gaming community exhibits. The changes will take time and at this point as a fan who prefers PlayStation, I want to see moves at the end of the generation that continue to signal their realignment. And a continuation once the PS6 gets here.
I feel like the same idea happened at the start of the ps3, but because they had real competition they were forced to turn around
Even ps4 had a weak start but at least it eventually got better
I agree that it’s weakest PS so far. Dave gave up on so many good franchisees it’s ridiculous.
Sony have lost it completely over the last few years. The past 12 months especially they’re in massive damage control mode.
To say they have no competition, especially now. Wow. That’s bold and a pretty embarrassingly stupid statement to make.
The United States' National Videogame Museum has acquired one of the earliest prototypes of the Nintendo PlayStation system that never came out.
Nintendo's biggest mistake was turning Sony down... the two of them together would have been a completely unstoppable force in the industry. Now they compete.
it would have been a very different landscape I think if those two had partnered. Who knows what the gaming world would look like. One of those "if I had a crystal ball" scenario to see what could have been.
Somehow, I think Sony would've branched off and released its own console. Nintendo's history with game licencing. more so with the NES would at some point of rocked the boat with Sony. Jumping Flash on the PlayStation was originally a Nintendo PlayStation game, plus a few others. I'm all for a single format that's never going to happen, but somehow, I'm glad Nintendo and Sony went their separate ways.
Sony went to SEGA and said they don't like games on cartridges (back then it was Sony Imagesoft), the Mega CD (SEGA CD) was born. SEGA still wasn't convinced about games on CD, the Mega Drive 32X was born as SEGA didn't agree with Sony on a 32bit CD console. Out pops the PlayStation which swallowed up the Saturn. After the Dreamcast, SEGA popped games on PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube. The Nintendo PlayStation, Nintendo didn't see eye to eye with Sony on game licencing and they parted company. Oddly, Nintendo ditched a CD console for the cartridge based Nintendo 64, games topping £70 hit console sales. Out pops the GameCube and it was still curtains for Nintendo. Nintendo's only successful disc console was the Wii.
I got my ps1 at launch and i STILL have it!
Sony really changed the industry for the better with the PlayStation!
I was enjoying the SNES. I didn't hop on board Sony's first console until the late 90s/early 2000's.
I didn't get a PS1 until 1996 but it was awesome! I remember absolutely having to get Crash Bandicoot and the anxiety of waiting for Crash 2 to come out.
Honestly can't believe it has been almost 20 years since the launch of the PS1 in the west.
I can't exactly remember getting one as I was only 5 when it came out. How ever I do remember playing Ridge Racer and Wipeout a lot. So am guessing sometime in 1996.
I remember playing the hell out of Gran Turismo and Point Blank, Metal Gear Solid, Ape Escape, Syphone Filter, Resident Evil, Aliens Trilogy, Mortal Kombat Trilogy good times.
Props to Sony. I grew up a Sega fanboy I guess, and picked up a Saturn, while my younger brother purchased a Playstation. I was envious of all the titles that flooded that system. Yeah I loved my Saturn, and still do, but Sony entered the market and dominated! If only Sega or Nintendo would've partnered with Sony for their disc system things may have been different. Both were approached by Sony, but opted to go a different direction. I'm sure they're kicking themselves for that one.