Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart peaks at less than 9k concurrent players on Steam, third worst PC launch for PlayStation game

[Gods&Monsters]

To judge success on PC you need to wait until the 2nd or 3rd installment, and look at the long tail sales.

At that point why bother? They make billions on consoles, they don't need these pennies after a 10 years investment.

The same way Activision will hide the terrible Xbox numbers, Bungie will hide the awful PC initiative for Sony.

This is so weird, tbh. You keep seeing these pc fellas saying Sony should port their games to pc, that it’s money left on the table, they cry and outrage on the internet and then don’t buy the games when released… I guess forums aren’t really representative of the userbase.
I’d like to see the player count for square enix games on pc too.

They just want Sony to lose their exclusives and be equal with Xbox. After the announcement yesterday they're already daydreaming about Square games and Sony losing more.

 

[anonpuffs]

At that point why bother? They make billions on consoles, they don't need these pennies after a 10 years investment.

The same way Activision will hide the terrible Xbox numbers, Bungie will hide the awful PC initiative for Sony.


They just want Sony to lose their exclusives and be equal with Xbox. After the announcement yesterday they're already daydreaming about Square games and Sony losing more.

Personally I don't think Sony should port their current gen games to PC, but if they do they shouldn't expect huge sales. Honestly with most of their games being able to lock 60fps while looking great, there isn't a huge deficit of technical capability that being on PC would address either. They really just need to port Bloodborne and their live service games and not much else.

 

[Nhomnhom]

Imagine if this game had peaked at 10K players on PlayStation, all the extra resources to port it just to be embarrassed and devalued like this.

The sad part is that there is no going back, even if Sony stop these nonsensical ports it will take more than a decade for PC players to start believing they won't be ported.

What is weird is that I don't think Sony ported a single multiplayer game so far, the only ones that made sense to port.

 

[Deleted member 223]

They haven't crossed the hornet nest that is paying for online on PS5 while PC is free. I'll be there to shit on them big when they do. I can even recycle the Gaf thread.

Rotational suits looking to increase shareholder value at any cost with little care. They're not MS, who has a vested interest in the PC ecosystem florishing to keep Windows relevant. The idiots appear to not understand there is difference in motives there. Although I digress, they do know but think their hold and position is too strong to be blunted.

 

[Nhomnhom]

Personally I don't think Sony should port their current gen games to PC, but if they do they shouldn't expect huge sales. Honestly with most of their games being able to lock 60fps while looking great, there isn't a huge deficit of technical capability that being on PC would address either. They really just need to port Bloodborne and their live service games and not much else.

If it's not going to get them a lot of sales why do it? It's not like porting a game is a simple process it it was they wouldn't have fucked it up so many times.

It devalues their console, it devalues their IPs, it strengthens a competing platform. They give 30% to Valve and Valve doesn't give anything back, not even a port of Portal like they did for the Switch, Valve is obviously hostile to PlayStation.

 

[Eternal_Wings]

20+ year legacy down the toilet for pennies 8k peak players was definitely worth devaluing your console.


Jim and Hermen are too dumb to stop now. Porting their biggest and best games and making only 100m ~ revenue should’ve been a clear sign to stop. PC support won’t end until there’s new management that actually knows how to run a company.

That’s why I am always saying that PlayStation needs a Japanese CEO back on the top of PlayStation. Japanese are conservative and that’s what PlayStation needs mostly at the moment. Remember it was a Japanese who managed to sell close to 160 Million PS2 consoles and 30 Million were just Japan. Enough with Western mentality we need back the Japanese spirit.

 

[anonpuffs]

If it's not going to get them a lot of sales why do it? It's not like porting a game is a simple process it it was they wouldn't have fucked it up so many times.

It devalues their console, it devalues their IPs, it strengthens a competing platform. They give 30% to Valve and Valve doesn't give anything back, not even a port of Portal like they did for the Switch, Valve is obviously hostile to PlayStation.

Brand awareness really. I didn't give a fuck about Sony games on PC, but once I played them I gained a healthy respect for their technical chops and they became something that I might shell out money for. PC could become a decent revenue source for Sony, but it has to build its brand first. If I didn't have a PS5 I would be paying attention to the pc port release dates, but I never would have if I didn't have a ps4 to play them first.

 

[Nhomnhom]

Brand awareness really. I didn't give a fuck about Sony games on PC, but once I played them I gained a healthy respect for their technical chops and they became something that I might shell out money for. PC could become a decent revenue source for Sony, but it has to build its brand first. If I didn't have a PS5 I would be paying attention to the pc port release dates, but I never would have if I didn't have a ps4 to play them first.

You are rebuying the games on PC?

To me it's just obvious that PC players are a completely different audience. Even games like Spider-man, God of War and TLoU sold poorly for what they are.

30% cut paid to Valve, all the costs of porting them, the cost of spending months fixing those ports, the cost of exposing PS game to easilly be pirated, the loss of one of PlayStation most unique draws.

PC ports are just Sony sabotaging the PlayStation. At least MS had theie own store and were supporting Windows and their APIs.

 

[anonpuffs]

That’s why I am always saying that PlayStation needs a Japanese CEO back on the top of PlayStation. Japanese are conservative and that’s what PlayStation needs mostly at the moment. Remember it was a Japanese who managed to sell close to 160 Million PS2 consoles and 30 Million were just Japan. Enough with Western mentality we need back the Japanese spirit.

Disagree that JP execs are conservative. See Squenix re: NFTs. What JP execs would do, ideally, is bring back a commitment to excellence. I

You are rebuying the games on PC?

To me it's just obvious that PC players are a completely different audience. Even games like Spider-man, God of War and TLoU sold poorly for what they are.

30% cut paid to Valve, all the costs of porting them, the cost of spending months fixing those ports, the cost of exposing PS game to easilly be pirated, the loss of one of PlayStation most unique draws.

PC ports are just Sony sabotaging the PlayStation. At least MS had theie own store and were supporting Windows and their APIs.

I double dip when I like a game, yeah. Tbh I haven't bought any Sony 1p games on steam yet because I've been satisfied with the performance on ps5, and I have a huge backlog atm. I'll probably pick up Returnal eventually though, and ofc Bloodborne day one. I do think the types of games that Sony makes aren't that suited to PC. Exceptions being spiderman, horizon, days gone, maybe ghost of tsushima. I think helldivers did decently as well.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Brand awareness really. I didn't give a fuck about Sony games on PC, but once I played them I gained a healthy respect for their technical chops and they became something that I might shell out money for. PC could become a decent revenue source for Sony, but it has to build its brand first. If I didn't have a PS5 I would be paying attention to the pc port release dates, but I never would have if I didn't have a ps4 to play them first.

IJS, games like Among Us, Only Up, Wallpaper Simulator, Lawnmower Simulator, Fall Guys etc. didn't need to "build up a brand first" in order to sell and become hits. Now yes, maybe games like God of War and TLOU, or R&C aren't that common on PC but there's one of two ways to read that: either Sony has to acclimate that audience to those types of games (and the more aggressive they get at doing that, the more they risk devaluing the value proposition of the console), OR those kind of games just simply aren't of popularity on PC.

And if the latter, then it doesn't matter what Sony does because it will never be enough to help grow the actual player base for the ports on that platform. At least, as simply a publisher on PC. They would need to tie their games to an actual storefront & launcher they control, and leverage lots of vertical integration, in order to have a transformative effect. Preferably one that also accounts for any switch away from console, to cover the changes in revenue. But that could take years, and in the meantime they don't necessarily have to do the PC ports the way they currently do to build brand presence on the platform.

They could simply relegate the PC presence to select GaaS/live-service titles and leave it at that (and maybe spacing out any non-GaaS titles for several years, always ensuring an old entry doesn't get a port until a new installment is ready for console within a year's time).

 

[Eternal_Wings]

Disagree that JP execs are conservative. See Squenix re: NFTs. What JP execs would do, ideally, is bring back a commitment to excellence. I

Wrong. Japanese have at least some spirit. Western leaders always care only about profits and margins. PlayStation 5 generation would be totally different if someone like Urata or Shuhei Yoshida would have been in charge. I hope Jim Ryan and Hermen Hulst getting finally sacked. Most incompetent PlayStation leadership ever.

 

[JAHGamer]

Imagine if this game had peaked at 10K players on PlayStation, all the extra resources to port it just to be embarrassed and devalued like this.

The sad part is that there is no going back, even if Sony stop these nonsensical ports it will take more than a decade for PC players to start believing they won't be ported.

Days Gone sold over 8m and reviewed well enough, with a rough launch and was deemed a failure….PC games selling 40k are somehow success

Your second point is sadly true, a ton of PC gamers already think day and date releases are inevitable and have deluded themselves into think they’re now critical to PlayStation success. Idk how they have such entitlement with such pitiful sales numbers, huge failure by Sony leadership.

If things don’t change drastically by the end of the gen I'm not buying a PS6

 

[Yurinka]

I need @Yurinka to show up and tell me how much of a success this actually is .

Mad respect for 'ya bud, but it's clear this PC initiative is not going the way Sony projected. They misread the market there. But, at least this means they can relegate PC to just proven games/IP (Marathon should do very well there) and prioritize the console for everything else, which is what should've been the strategy from Day 1.

I'd say success is to reach millions of players and make hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues and profit with an initiative like Sony is doing with their PC games.

Regarding trying to measure the success of a single player PC game looking only at steam concurrent users, I think it's nonsensical and useless.

Because in the case of Steam the user reviews, not concurrent users, is the KPI that allow us make a more accurate sales estimate. In this case, to simplify -it's more complex, the number varies per game type of year or release- multiply the user reviews by 25 and you'd get an fair estimate specially some days later.

In addition to this, we also know that Steam numbers need a few days to be properly updated, and to give time for players to play the game and maker their reviews.

And well, I also want to highlight that it's dumb to act as if a PC game sells all their units a few days after launch specially in a case of a several years old port priced way high and requiring hw specs higher than the average as is the case of a next gen only game. These games will be selling during years specially during big discounts or after good enough price cuts.

But well, I often think I'm wasting my time when people in this forum even get reports from Sony showing hundreds of millions in revenue from PC and report PC games selling millions of copies but here in the forums act as flatearthers and claim that this is a failure and that Sony must be lying even with the evidence in front of their eyes.

Regarding this specific game, it's too soon now less than 2 days after release but as of now seems it sold around only 50K copies on Steam, not a great launch.

 

[Box]

This is so weird, tbh. You keep seeing these pc fellas saying Sony should port their games to pc, that it’s money left on the table, they cry and outrage on the internet and then don’t buy the games when released… I guess forums aren’t really representative of the userbase.
I’d like to see the player count for square enix games on pc too.

Forums are extremely niche most have like 30 active users at most, and most are above the age of 45.

You visit enough Forums and you will think

the N64 is the best selling console of all time
The dream cast was popular
Banjo,Megaman,Metroid and Fzero arent niche franchises
Nobody plays Cod and Fifa

 

[Box]

It's a 3d Platformer on PC. Comparing it to other titles in the same genre:

Sonic Frontiers - 19,181
Rachet & Clank Rift Apart - 8,757
A Hat in Time - 7,312
Yooka-Laylee - 6,508
Spyro Reignited - 4,198
Crash Nsane Trilogy - 3,755
Sonic Forces - 2,058
Sonic Generations - 1,686
Crash 4 - 454
Sonic Lost World - 252
Sonic Colors Ultimate - 90

What were you expecting?

Even ignoring that 3d platformers are an underperforming genre on PC compared to Consoles these numbers are still reasonable in comparison to GoW for example. GoW sold over 20m on PS4, 70k peak on Steam. Ratchet games typically sell 2-4m lifetime on PlayStation consoles, so why would it's peak be anywhere close to titles like GoW, Horizon or Spider-man.

 

[JAHGamer]

It's a 3d Platformer on PC. Comparing it to other titles in the same genre:

Sonic Frontiers - 19,181
Rachet & Clank Rift Apart - 8,757
A Hat in Time - 7,312
Yooka-Laylee - 6,508
Spyro Reignited - 4,198
Crash Nsane Trilogy - 3,755
Sonic Forces - 2,058
Sonic Generations - 1,686
Crash 4 - 454
Sonic Lost World - 252
Sonic Colors Ultimate - 90

What were you expecting?

Even ignoring that 3d platformers are an underperforming genre on PC compared to Consoles these numbers are still reasonable in comparison to GoW for example. GoW sold over 20m on PS4, 70k peak on Steam. Ratchet games typically sell 2-4m lifetime on PlayStation consoles, so why would it's peak be anywhere close to titles like GoW, Horizon or Spider-man.

Crash 4 only has a peak of 454?!?!? The difference between Rift Apart and those other games is that it's actually an extremely high quality game using bleeding edge technology, the stuff that justifies owning a good gaming PC, so just off of that alone it should've done much better.

Regardless, this is an even bigger L on Sony's part, they opened up their devs and platform to be ridiculed and disrespected to support a platform where there's little demand for these types of games? The rumors of Jim/Hermen being Microsoft sleeper agents might actually be true

 

[Bodycount611]

what a colossal waste of time and resources. Seriously, Nixxes needs to get closed down ASAP. Devaluing your console for 9K bums on PC isn't smart at all.

PC needs to be fully removed from the PlayStation eco-system. It's a never was, and never will be failed initiative.

Port beggars will tear their hair out, but people will quickly forget this was ever a thing. Sony can sweep this under the rug, there's still time.

One thing's for sure: These PC port numbers are beyond abysmal.

 

[JAHGamer]

what a colossal waste of time and resources. Seriously, Nixxes needs to get closed down ASAP. Devaluing your console for 9K bums on PC isn't smart at all.

PC needs to be fully removed from the PlayStation eco-system. It's a never was, and never will be failed initiative.

Port beggars will tear their hair out, but people will quickly forget this was ever a thing. Sony can sweep this under the rug, there's still time.

One thing's for sure: These PC port numbers are beyond abysmal.

yeah the closing of Japan Studio before purchasing of Nixxes made it 100x worse for PlayStation. They closed down a studio that actually created original games that sold well, for a studio that brings nothing new to the table and probably isn't making much money....

 

[Bodycount611]

yeah the closing of Japan Studio before purchasing of Nixxes made it 100x worse for PlayStation. They closed down a studio that actually created original games that sold well, for a studio that brings nothing new to the table and probably isn't making much money....

You also have to factor in the damage the whole ratchet on PC/SSD thing has done, in terms of marketing. You're directly countering your own marketing by launching this game on PC. It seems like such a dumb idea I seriously can't fathom how on Earth this game ever reached the PC in any form.

Beyond this being a technical showpiece, it's also linked to one of the main selling points of your hardware, the SSD. This game's exclusivity should have been protected at all costs.

Moreover, there's been about 20 ratchet games? All have been exclusive to playstation for the past 25~ years. There is NO MARKET for this game on PC, NONE.

Jim and Hermen really need a wakeup call. This is starting to become more and more ridiculous as times goes on.

 

[JAHGamer]

You also have to factor in the damage the whole ratchet on PC/SSD thing has done, in terms of marketing. You're directly countering your own marketing by launching this game on PC. It seems like such a dumb idea I seriously can't fathom how on Earth this game ever reached the PC in any form.

Beyond this being a technical showpiece, it's also linked to one of the main selling points of your hardware, the SSD. This game's exclusivity should have been protected at all costs.

This is what I don't get, this port directly undermined the console and everything Insomniac and Cerny have been saying for the last 3 years..... Whoever greenlit this wasn't thinking straight.