PlayStation Veteran Admits Porting Sony Exclusives to PC Is ‘Almost Like Printing Money’

Former Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios CEO Shuhei Yoshida has shed light on the company’s decision to start bringing PlayStation exclusives to PC, confirming what everyone already knew but was afraid to say out loud.

Image source: ResetEra (Hispanicguy)

As a reminder, Sony began porting its exclusives to PC in 2020, several years behind the original release, while the simultaneous release of Helldivers 2 on PC and PS5 turned out to be a resounding success.

Yoshida admitted on the Sacred Symbols podcast that he wanted to do this before, but the company’s business model didn’t allow it. Over time, Sony came to believe that releasing games on PC now could entice gamers to buy a PlayStation in the future.

Sony’s first PC exclusive is Horizon Zero Dawn (Image source: PlayStation)

According to Yoshida, there are many advantages to releasing on PC. For example, a new audience – especially in places where consoles are unpopular, like China, where the PC gaming market is huge (see the regional sales breakdown of Black Myth: Wukong).

«”Porting to PC costs much less than creating a game from scratch. It’s almost like printing money. Also, [porting] helps finance new projects in the face of increased development costs,” Yoshida emphasized.

Bloodborne on PC is still a long way off for players (Image source: PlayStation)

Sony’s latest PC port remains the superhero action game Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (released January 31), and on the horizon is a remaster of the action adventure The Last of Us Part II (released April 3).

Sony has been irritating PC users in recent months by forcing PSN accounts into its games, but has recently made a move to accommodate the community. In Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and The Last of Us Part II, linking an account is optional.