No more PlayStation games on PC? Today’s Xbox news explains everything
Of course Sony isn't going to launch PlayStation games on PC, when an Xbox/PC hybrid console is on the way.
Reports earlier this week suggesting Sony is reserving course on releasing PlayStation games on PC seemed to come out of the blue.
However, today the penny dropped. With Microsoft confirming the next Xbox hardware’s codename (Project Helix) and dropping the news the console will be capable of playing both PC and Xbox games, it makes perfect sense why Sony is pulling the plug on PlayStation PC ports.
In my opinion, it’s because Sony doesn’t want top franchises like The Last of Us being played on Xbox consoles. Petty? Yes. On brand for a company still acting like the console wars are alive and well? Also yes.
The cynic in me says Sony let word leak out about the end of PlayStation games on PC before Microsoft officially confirmed it was building an Xbox/PC hybrid gaming machine. That avoided any excitement and expectation brewing that there would finally be a way to play long-time PS5 exclusives on an Xbox console.
I’m not sure why this didn’t immediately occur to me, following Bloomberg’s reporting earlier this week. After all, previous speculation had spoken of a PC and Xbox hybrid for the next-generation home console.
Would it really hurt Sony to enable some of its older games to continue existing on PC? Especially considering Microsoft’s approach of ending exclusivity in favour of its Xbox Everywhere scheme. PS5 gamers are getting Forza and Indy and loads more. Xbox gamers won’t get a sniff of PlayStation exclusives unless they buy a PS5 or PS6. No-one’s asking for the next Naughty Dog game to go everywhere on day one. But a little quid pro quo wouldn’t go amiss.
Sony had been porting some of its popular franchises for gamers on Windows for around five years and back in 2021 had even purchased a games studio known for porting games onto the desktop platform. Since then Nixxes Software BV had been responsible for bringing games like God of War Ragnarok and Marvel’s Spider-Man to Windows gamers. But apparently, no more. Now it all makes sense.
Chris Smith
