Hi there, it’s your regular PC gamer and believer that all platforms are suitable for gaming, here. I suppose by now most people have realized that PlayStation games coming to PC is a thing and will be for the great future. PlayStation has delivered on its promise, releasing several titles that have sold as gangbusters on the PlayStation 4. With the most recent release Marvel’s Spider-Man, you’re missing out on some damn good gaming if you haven’t played it. But now that this has happened, the question on many people’s minds is, “Will PlayStation bring PlayStation 5 games to PC?”
Which shouldn’t be the question, not at all. The question should be, “When will PlayStation 5 games come to PC” because it’s only a matter of time before this happens. We just don’t know when that will happen. PlayStation has already said that we shouldn’t expect PlayStation 5 games to appear on console and PC at the same time. But I vaguely remember that the idea of a first party PlayStation 4 game was nothing but sweet dreams. Yet here we are.
It’s been a while since I got to play devil’s advocate, and I enjoy doing that, so let’s play around with the idea of PlayStation 5 games being released on both console and PC at the same time. I’m speculating here for those who like to grab things and run away with them. I have NO ties to PlayStation (they don’t even want to talk to us), nor do they have any inside information. It’s just a consumer and gamer looking at things from both perspectives.
Don’t come here completely salty either. It’s a speculative piece! It’s fun to speculate. It can’t hurt, and no one outside of PlayStation knows what’s going on.
Well, for starters, PlayStation could make a little more money if those games eventually disappear. Imagine those PlayStation 5 games netting the company $5 million during the initial sales period. By adding the PC, the company could potentially see another two to three million dollars or more. More money is great for any business, and PlayStation is a business, and I doubt the money would refuse.
Regardless of what anyone thinks, we’re not out of the loop of silicone being available to make all those fancy technological things. Thankfully, things have gotten a lot better, but the industry is far from done. While we’ve seen more PlayStation 5s for sale, millions of gamers still can’t get their hands on the consoles. No, we are not going to involve scalpers and resellers in this; let’s keep this reasonable.
Sponge Bob’s Mister Crabs loves money.
Who knows when this shortage will be over? Some said we could see it end by the end of 2022. Others said mid-2023. But the real answer is no one knows when it will be over. We could easily see another spike in the COVID-19 pandemic and suddenly all available silicone could be used to produce more medical and medical equipment. Which would be terrible for PlayStation (and everyone else).
Fewer PS5s in the hands of consumers means fewer games are sold, meaning PlayStation standards don’t make as much money selling games. So I don’t think it’s a bad idea to put those games on the PC sooner rather than later.
Day one PlayStation 5 game releases would also mean the PlayStation user base would grow. Much like what Xbox has done, we are now seeing Xbox 1st party games released alongside their console counterparts on the PC. Sure, it took Xbox a while to release this, but now that they’ve finally done it, it’s great for PC gamers who don’t own or want to own an Xbox, but wanted to play Xbox published games. There’s no reason PlayStation couldn’t or shouldn’t do the same.
As for those sexy DualSense controller features, the PC can do that too. We’ve already seen it in action with several third-party games. That wouldn’t be a problem and certainly an advantage.
The most obvious downside on everyone’s mind is that bringing PS5 games to PC at the same time as the console would mean fewer PS5s being sold. But anyone who believes that is fooling themselves. The PlayStation 5 would cost a fraction of what it costs for a gaming PC that would use those PS5 ports at a premium level. We’re talking about playing those games at a level close to the PlayStation 5, so those costs will add up.
Why else would you even buy them on PC? We’re talking a minimum of $500 dollars for the CPU. Another $300-400 for the processor. We haven’t even gotten to the RAM, the hard drive, the case, or the power supply. So the idea of the PS5 suddenly selling less because those games would be available for PC at the same time is humorous at best. We’re talking about playing those games at a level close to the PlayStation 5, so those costs will add up.
We all know that PlayStation designed Nixxes to work on those optimized PlayStation 4 ports. However, Nixxes is only one studio and cannot handle multiple ports at once. We’ve already ported a specific PlayStation 4 title, Horizon Zero Dawn, to PC. However, it needed multiple optimizations after its release. And there lies the main drawback, optimization.
Like any PC port or any native PC title, optimization is both the key and a sore spot. Why? There are tens of hundreds of configurations for gaming PCs. Different processors, GPUs, hard drives, memory, resolution types, and so on must be considered. There is no single hardware foundation for PC gaming. Not unless you count the Steam Deck or any number of existing and future portable gaming PCs. Or, for that matter, gaming laptops. When it comes to desktops, that’s a whole different matter.
It’s entirely possible that while a ported PS5 game will work great on my PC, it won’t work as well on yours. Then you get frustrated with both PS5 ports and PC gaming, and suddenly you start to wonder why PlayStation even considered this at all. That could be the biggest negative I can think of.
Let’s be real
There’s nothing stopping PlayStation 5 games from hitting PC on day one, or even shortly after, except PlayStation. People who fear that their favorite plastic box will suddenly disappear or become insignificant is a foolish idea that console loyalists should let go. I’m sure PlayStation has thought about making this a reality, but also doesn’t want to disappoint those who bought PlayStation 5s. As if that hasn’t already happened – PlayStation 5 games that were once exclusive are now available for the PlayStation 4, anyone?
I’m confident it will eventually happen, and when it does, PlayStation will realize it should have done this sooner. Just look at Spider-Man Remastered on PC. It is currently the best-selling game on Steam, despite people complaining that the game is too expensive. God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn and Days Gone all sold exceptionally well, and we’re all waiting for the next release of Uncharted. Yes, those are PlayStation 4 games, and that’s what matters.
If those older games sold that well, imagine how well the newer games will sell. Sure, call me out and disagree with me, but if it happens, well, it just will. There’s even a small rumor that a specific PS5 game is being prepared for a PC release. Granted, it’s just a rumor so I didn’t mention what game it is. However, the first PS4 to make its way to PC also started out as a rumor.
Until this happens, I’ll happily wonder what PlayStation has in store, and I won’t be as surprised as some of the others. Oh, and waiting for that final Bloodborne PC port.
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