Microsoft executive Phil Spencer criticized Sony’s PC strategy in a recent press briefing. The Xbox boss specifically took issue with Sony releasing PC ports of its games “years” after they first launch on PlayStation, and charging players twice for them.
“Right now, we are the only platform shipping games on console, PC, and cloud simultaneously,” Spencer said (via Games Industry). “Others bring console games to PC years later, not only making people buy their hardware upfront, but then charging them a second time to play on PC. And of course, all of our games are in our subscription service day one, full cross-platform included.”
Spencer seemingly assumes that those who purchase PC versions of Sony-published titles have previously purchased the same games on PlayStation, hence paying “a second time.”
“The bottom line is that we simply put out more top quality games in front of more people than other companies,” Spencer continued. “Across the Xbox ecosystem, we’re now reaching hundreds of millions of people every month, and our total addressable market is going to grow, while others are relatively static. As the Xbox ecosystem grows in both content and total size, it becomes more valuable to both players and our partners.”
Sony has explicitly said that it currently has no plans to launch PC games simultaneously with PlayStation releases. PlayStation Studios boss Herman Hulst recently said that Sony values PC gamers but porting games over to PC won’t “ever come at the expense” of building a solid lineup for consoles. Time will tell whether this strategy will change or not.
[Source: Games Industry]
