Ghost of Tsushima took 4 years to come to pc and sold better than all ports that only took 2. Ports should take longer.

[Jim Ryan]

After over 4 years, pc gamers finally got the chance to buy Ghost of Tsushima on steam.

The game has hit over 77k concurrent players, passing GOW and several other bigger and more established IP's.

This proves that bringing ports closer to the console launch, usually within 2 years has no positive effect on sales.

There is therefore no impitus to put games day and date for pc and i would argue that ports should take longer as it detaches the release from being a late port in a pc gamers mind and they just feel like it's something they may have really missed out on rather than some "gatekeeping" by Sony.

 

[Systemshock2023]

So desperate

 

[Bryank75]

Good points. They should definitely try to see if more games benefit from longer waits till PC.

Much like how they saw Horizon sales suffered from PS+ inclusion, yet had very little benefit for PS+... it could be a similar issue for PC.

 

[mibu no ookami]

After over 4 years, pc gamers finally got the chance to buy Ghost of Tsushima on steam.

The game has hit over 77k concurrent players, passing GOW and several other bigger and more established IP's.

This proves that bringing ports closer to the console launch, usually within 2 years has no positive effect on sales.

There is therefore no impitus to put games day and date for pc and i would argue that ports should take longer as it detaches the release from being a late port in a pc gamers mind and they just feel like it's something they may have really missed out on rather than some "gatekeeping" by Sony.

Once again you're learning the wrong lessons.

Ghost performed well on PC because it is a game that leans more PC than many of Sony's 3rd person action shooters.

TLOU P1 probably would have sold better if it had been ported better and released earlier.

Uncharted is a pretty linear game and it was an old game. The really only similar example of a game like that having success on PC was Resident Evil 2 remake, but that game received a better port and more marketing and it was a more modern game, coming out like 3 years after Uncharted 4.

Then you have to consider price. Uncharted is still selling for 50 dollars. I think RE2 remake launched for 40. Price matters a lot on PC.

I think Sony needs to find their sweetspot, but I don't think waiting 4 years is necessarily the answer. I think not working with Iron Galaxy would probably be a good start. They have two good PC porters Nixxes and independent Jetpack Interactive.

They could slow down and use only them or they could keep trying to find another and risk poor quality ports that won't sell well out of the gate.

 

[Jivesh1995]

There's other factors to consider too tho. It did better than Horizon because it's a better game.

It did better than God of War because PC players tend to prefer open world games.

I think Sony should be prioritising ports differently. Sackboy and Uncharted shouldn't have been at the top.

 

[Jim Ryan]

There's other factors to consider too tho. It did better than Horizon because it's a better game.

It did better than God of War because PC players tend to prefer open world games.

I think Sony should be prioritising ports differently. Sackboy and Uncharted shouldn't have been at the top.

Many were pointless in my eyes.

Sackboy, Ratchet, uncharted and even GOW.

They should have a smaller focus for the two tj three year window and then leave the rest till the generation ends.

 

[TrishaCat]

As a PC gamer, I'd ideally like to play games sooner rather than later. Don't really like late ports. Ports taking even longer seems like it'd just kinda suck, from my perspective? Though, there haven't really been any ports of games I badly want to play as of yet; I'd really prefer to play the more Japanese-oriented games from Sony's catalogue, like Gravity Rush, Bloodborne, or even Vita stuff like Freedom Wars. Gosh I love Freedom Wars.

If I had to guess, I think Ghost of Tsushima's strong performance is probably just the fact that its a really high quality game. Like don't get me wrong I'm sure its fine but do the vast majority of people even really care about Sackboy? And I was under the impression Uncharted was at its peak in popularity during the PS3 days.

 

[Evil Aloy]

Like I said, five years minimum. Better yet, port when the generation ends. Ideally, don't port at all.

 

[Etifilio]

i agree, only port a game once the sequel is ready to be announced, the hype is created for Console fans and also for PC fans to play the predecessor

 

[Etifilio]

As a PC gamer, I'd ideally like to play games sooner rather than later. Don't really like late ports. Ports taking even longer seems like it'd just kinda suck, from my perspective? Though, there haven't really been any ports of games I badly want to play as of yet; I'd really prefer to play the more Japanese-oriented games from Sony's catalogue, like Gravity Rush, Bloodborne, or even Vita stuff like Freedom Wars. Gosh I love Freedom Wars.

If I had to guess, I think Ghost of Tsushima's strong performance is probably just the fact that its a really high quality game. Like don't get me wrong I'm sure its fine but do the vast majority of people even really care about Sackboy? And I was under the impression Uncharted was at its peak in popularity during the PS3 days.

well, that's your perspective and i understand it, but late ports can benefit from for example, sequels, if Horizon Forbidden West was ported to PC when Horizon 3 was announced, the hype for the franchise would be on the peak and the port would probably sell way better on PC because of all the conversation surrounding the franchise, the same applies for God Of War, if it was ported in late 2022 when Ragnarok was released, it would've easily reached 100k concurrent players on Steam

 

[Yurinka]

After over 4 years, pc gamers finally got the chance to buy Ghost of Tsushima on steam.

The game has hit over 77k concurrent players, passing GOW and several other bigger and more established IP's.

This proves that bringing ports closer to the console launch, usually within 2 years has no positive effect on sales.

There is therefore no impitus to put games day and date for pc and i would argue that ports should take longer as it detaches the release from being a late port in a pc gamers mind and they just feel like it's something they may have really missed out on rather than some "gatekeeping" by Sony.

We don't know its sales, but is possible that maybe had a better sales launch than the other ones, yes.

GoW and Spider-Man were also released 4 years after their original launch, and HFW 3 years and a half are also some of their top sellers on PC. So yes, to extend it to 4 years seems safe at least for their top selling SP games.

But I also think there are more factors involved, like how popular its genre or theme among PC gamers. In this case open world action adventures work very well in PC, and same applies with historical setting (see all these very historical popular strategy games on PC).

As an example, in PC the horror games or with a dark setting work specially well. So I think games like Until Dawn (2015), Demon's Souls (2009/2020) or Bloodborne (2015) would work particularly well even with a long distance from their original release.

well, that's your perspective and i understand it, but late ports can benefit from for example, sequels, if Horizon Forbidden West was ported to PC when Horizon 3 was announced, the hype for the franchise would be on the peak and the port would probably sell way better on PC because of all the conversation surrounding the franchise, the same applies for God Of War, if it was ported in late 2022 when Ragnarok was released, it would've easily reached 100k concurrent players on Steam

Yes, we saw Sony using ports (or related refurbished re-releases as remasters or remakes) as part of crosspromotions with sequels or movie/tv show adaptations and apparently did work very well.

So when the timing matches they'll use it. But in this case the next release should be Horizon Online, which may be releaased a year or two in the future, maybe matching a bit the timing of the Netflix tv show.

 

[TrishaCat]

well, that's your perspective and i understand it, but late ports can benefit from for example, sequels, if Horizon Forbidden West was ported to PC when Horizon 3 was announced, the hype for the franchise would be on the peak and the port would probably sell way better on PC because of all the conversation surrounding the franchise, the same applies for God Of War, if it was ported in late 2022 when Ragnarok was released, it would've easily reached 100k concurrent players on Steam

I don't entirely disagree. I mean the Fallout games were in the top played games the past month due to the TV show's popularity, so it stands to reason if a franchise is in the news its going to garner more buzz and attention, and its certainly smart to capitalize on buzz.

 

[Systemshock2023]

Ideally they should release all PS4 games and only then PS5 ones. Games like ratchet and clank and returnal released too soon it's place should have been taken by games like infamous second son or God of war 3 remaster.

 

[TrishaCat]

Ideally they should release all PS4 games and then PS5 ones. Games like ratchet and clank and returnal released too soon.

I'm kind of baffled Rift Apart was brought over before the original. I understand its probably cause people are probably more interested in newer games, but imo having a sequel before the first is...bizarre? I've seen rumors about Gravity Rush 2 possibly being ported and that brings the same embafflement. Wouldn't someone wanna play the original of a game before a sequel? Plus it'd make it easier to appreciate the improvements and changes upon iterations.

 

[Etifilio]

I don't entirely disagree. I mean the Fallout games were in the top played games the past month due to the TV show's popularity, so it stands to reason if a franchise is in the news its going to garner more buzz and attention, and its certainly smart to capitalize on buzz.

it will happen when the Horizon and God Of War TV Shows release, Sony needs to be more strategical with PC ports, instead of porting God Of War 2018 so early, they should've actually ported God Of War trilogy + the PSP games + Ascension in an all in one God Of War Saga Collection, then, and only then... port 2018, the same applies for Uncharted, there is absolutely no reason to port Uncharted 4 and Lost Legacy before the original trilogy, the result? the Legacy Of Thieves Collection flopped hard

 

[Etifilio]

I'm kind of baffled Rift Apart was brought over before the original. I understand its probably cause people are probably more interested in newer games, but imo having a sequel before the first is...bizarre? I've seen rumors about Gravity Rush 2 possibly being ported and that brings the same embafflement. Wouldn't someone wanna play the original of a game before a sequel? Plus it'd make it easier to appreciate the improvements and changes upon iterations.

imo Ratchet should not be ported at all, not a big enough game to justify a port, will sell very poorly and should be maintained as a console mascot, together with Astro and Sackboy (another one that shouldn't be on PC), again, my opinion, these smaller games with mascots should be fully exclusive, and bring Sly back btw

 

[Etifilio]

Good points. They should definitely try to see if more games benefit from longer waits till PC.

Much like how they saw Horizon sales suffered from PS+ inclusion, yet had very little benefit for PS+... it could be a similar issue for PC.

instead of porting Demon's Souls and The Last Of Us Part II that are both about to be 4 years old, they're going to port God Of War Ragnarok that is still selling very well on the console, the game is going to be heavly pirated on PC, they're so dumb

 

[Jim Ryan]

Ideally they should release all PS4 games and only then PS5 ones. Games like ratchet and clank and returnal released too soon it's place should have been taken by games like infamous second son or God of war 3 remaster.

 

[Jivesh1995]

Many were pointless in my eyes.

Sackboy, Ratchet, uncharted and even GOW.

They should have a smaller focus for the two tj three year window and then leave the rest till the generation ends.

I don't think Ratchet, GOW or Uncharted were pointless.

That said, how is Rift Apart already on PC when Remake isn't.

Uncharted should've been down the line too.

Gravity Rush would have been cheaper and would suit the PC audience more.

Stuff like Demon's Souls, Bloodborne and GT7 should be at the top too.

 

[JAHGamer]

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the 2nd best time to plant a tree is today, and the best time to port games to PC is NEVER!!!