It's getting sadder and sadder. We watch as Sony portes its once untouchable PlayStation blockbusters, which were supposed to send the masses into raptures, piece by piece to the PC, only to fail miserably there. Recent example: Until DawnA game that interests the PC community about as much as… let's say, a recipe for muesli at a hardcore gaming convention.
Good intentions meet disinterested players
Of course, Sony has the best intentions. After all, they want to expand their player base and reach more people. But one has to wonder: Why does it work so well on PlayStation and not on PC? Could it be that console games appeal to a slightly different audience than the typical PC gamer, who clamors for the next strategy titan or hardcore shooter? Or perhaps games like "Ratchet & Clank" or "Sackboy: A Big Adventure" simply aren't what PC gamers wake up to in the middle of the night, gazing longingly at the sky. Because, let's be honest, nobody really asked for those titles on PC.
It's not that Sony has no success on PC at all – that would be an exaggeration, as SteamDB shows us. A few titles have managed to perform at least reasonably well, but they are the exception. A "Ghost of Tsushima" or a "God of War" have at least won the hearts of some PC gamers. But apart from that? Big hits like "Horizon Zero Dawn" or "The Last of Us Part I" can't even manage to attract 50.000 concurrent players. For comparison: A true PC hit, such as "Counter-Strike," manages to keep hundreds of thousands of players glued to their screens even after decades. With these numbers, Sony's PC strategy quickly becomes the crooked smile of a commentator telling bad jokes and hoping no one notices.
These PlayStation hits are a huge flop on PC
But the true tragedy is revealed when we look at the numbers more closely. The absolute low point? Well, that probably belongs to "Sackboy: A Big Adventure," the proud 610 simultaneous players at its peak. You read that right: Six hundred and tenYou'd think there would be more people queuing for a pop-up sale than playing this game. If that's not a surprise! Although I have to admit, I would have bet on "Concord," which didn't exactly fare better, but at least secured second place in the "big failures" category, with breathtaking 697 simultaneous playersA triumph! At least on the list of biggest flops, because it wasn't a blockbuster on PS5 either.
In third place in this less than glorious competition is now "Until Dawn" with 2607 players – a number that at least reaches the magic four-digit mark, but is still miles away from being a "success". Well, the game is brand new, and maybe, just maybe, there's still hope. For comparison: Silent Hill 2 brought it 23.676 simultaneous players, so almost ten times as many.
Fourth place is occupied by “return"A game that was celebrated like almost no other PS5 title. And on PC? It interested players about as much as a vacuum cleaner review." 6691 simultaneous players tried to help Selene in her fight against the aliens. And then there's "Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart"that it is respectable 8757 player brought – still far from the PlayStation hype, but at least not completely disappeared, if you take 8757 players as a benchmark.
Sony repeatedly emphasizes that they intend to stick to their PC plans. an aggressive strategy The talk is of a different kind, though a more nuanced approach would be more appropriate. Apparently, it's a case of "whatever it takes"—literally. Even if the financial success of this strategy falls short, the real goal seems to be reaching as many players as possible. Whether those players actually want to be reached, however, is a completely different matter.
It was financially worthwhile to stray, and if it turns out to be a hit, Sony will surely create the appropriate shitshow so that people on PC won't want to play PS games afterwards.
Ryan and Hulst have caused damage that will likely never be repaired. Especially not if Hulst is still up to his old tricks.
I think that's great. And I also like the fact that games like Concord, or hopefully soon Ghost of Wokei, fail miserably.