Sony’s PlayStation PC Departure Is The Right Move For Them, Not Players

InnovationGamingSony’s PlayStation PC Departure Is The Right Move For Them, Not PlayersByPaul Tassi,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. News and opinion about video games, television, movies and the internet.Follow AuthorMay 19, 2026, 09:27am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.God of War RagnarokSony Santa MonicaSony Interactive Entertainment CEO Herman Hulst has reportedly sent out a message to the PlayStation crew that a decision had been made: first-party, single-player PlayStation games will no longer be heading to PC, whether that be on a weeks, months or years-long delay.This corroborates Bloomberg's previous reporting that Sony was about to do just that, and it’s sparked a debate among fans about whether it was the right or wrong move. The answer is split; it is likely the right move for PlayStation, but there’s no real benefit to players, who are simply losing purchase options.Sony started this experiment in earnest in 2020 when it ported Horizon Zero Dawn to PC, over three years after its initial release. That spread to other big titles over time, including God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, The Last of Us Part I and II, Uncharted Legacy of Thieves, Ghost of Tsushima, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, God of War Ragnarok and more.The games did decently enough, but were hardly monster releases on PC. The highest first-party exclusive, Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut, hit 77,154 concurrent players on Steam at its peak. That and all the aforementioned games were dunked on by a non-first-party PS5 console exclusive, Stellar Blade, which had 192,0778 concurrent players at its peak, just over a year after its PS5 release.Stellar BladeSHIFT UPMORE FOR YOUThe idea here is that Sony has not tapped into a large enough market to outweigh the potential dilution of its brand, and that its argument for continuing to sell PlayStatio...