PlayStation live-service titles will release day and date on both PlayStation 5 and PC, PlayStation’s upcoming (co)CEO Hermen Hulst has said.
Hulst said as much during an interview as part of Sony’s Business Segment Meeting 2024 for its Game & Network Services Segment. While live-service titles (GAAS) from Sony’s first-party studios will be released simultaneously on PC and console, this won’t be the case for single-player narrative titles, according to the current PlayStation Studios head. As mentioned (via Tom Warren) by Hulst in the interview, Sony wants to tempt PC players to purchase and play sequels to single-player narrative games on a PlayStation console.
A rather ‘interesting’ strategy’ as this would require PC players to purchase a console (if they don’t own it already) to play a certain sequel to a game they liked. We’re not entirely sure how this strategy will pan out, but we guess only time will tell.
As part of the PlayStation business segment meeting, Hulst also revealed that the current console generation (PS5) is the most profitable generation to date. While the monthly active split between PS4 and PS5 is identical, total gameplay hours on Sony’s current-gen console are substantially higher. “PlayStation 5 has established a significant installed base four years into the cycle, and has increased to half of Monthly Active Consoles with higher engagement by gameplay hours”, the accompanied sheets read.
What are your thoughts on this? Releasing GAAS titles simultaneously on PS5 and PC seems to be the right route for Sony, especially given the tremendous success of Arrowhead’s Helldivers 2. What are your thoughts about Sony wanting to entice PC players to play certain sequels on a PlayStation console? Would you rather wait for the game to be released on PC instead of getting a console? Hit the comments below, but as always, play nicely.
We’ll update you as soon as more information about PlayStation’s business strategy comes in.
