Former head of PlayStation Studios Shuhei Yoshida has shared why releasing first-party games on PC day one is bad strategy for PlayStation.
During a recent interview with Back Pocket, former head of PlayStation Studios Shuhei Yoshida shared his perspective on Sony Interactive Entertainment’s decision to port PlayStation first-party games to PC. He doesn’t believe that this step has affected the adoption of PlayStation hardware in any way. He added that releasing these big-budget titles on PC after a couple of years has likely helped recoup their investment and helped their respective development teams as well as the company to reinvest that money into new releases. “So, from a business standpoint, I think it made sense for me,” he said.
However, Yoshida clarified that if Sony Interactive Entertainment was to launch its first-party games on PC the same day as PlayStation consoles, it would undermine the company’s position as a platform holder. “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,” he stated.
The former head of PlayStation Studios also noted that he has not seen evidence of Sony Interactive Entertainment shifting toward such a strategy in the current console generation. “I’m not seeing any proof of them changing the strategy… this generation,” he said, Still, he added that if the company was to pivot, it would raise questions about sustainability. “If they are changing, it’s going to be interesting how they are able to maintain the investment on the big budget games on [the] first party side going forward,” he mentioned.
Yoshida’s statements indicate concerns about the escalating costs of AAA development. Earlier during the interview, he said that the industry is grappling with the idea of the “bigger budget” model being sustainable long-term.
Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier and insider Nate the Hate have both reported a shift in Sony Interactive Entertainment’s strategy for PC releases, according to which the company will no longer port its single-player first-party games to the platform. Read about it here.
