Y'know, I wonder how much one's interpretation of this news is colored by "platform wars" crap. There always seems to be fans of one electronic toy chomping at the bit to see the electronic toys made by rival companies falter. We've seen what's happened to Xbox sales in recent months. MS's recent changes in strategy have resulted in Xbox becoming increasingly redundant, thereby devaluing the brand (as a long-time Xbox player, I'm not a fan of this new strategy, and even I'm questioning whether to even bother with their hardware next generation). I'm sure there's a lot of people who liked seeing that happen to Xbox. There's probably more than a few people that would like to see the same fate befall PlayStation. "Line goes down" is apparently good to some people if it involves the electronic toy brand they don't own, don't care to own, and have decided to be actively hostile towards. They want their preferred platform to be the last man standing.

Personally, I don't think we'll see Sony go the MS route, and aside from the occasional live service game (which needs a large population), the occasional title involving licensed properties (like a Lego game based on a Sony IP), or something that wasn't their choice (see MLB The Show), we're not going to be seeing many first-party PlayStation titles launching day-and-date on other platforms. And it's not like Sony has never released their games on other platforms in the past. Sony Online Entertainment was a thing and had a focus on PC back in the day (some of its titles are even still active, like EverQuest), and more recently even the first Helldivers got a PC release. They also experimented with single-player games getting belated PC ports back in the PS1 era (and those belated PC ports don't seem to harm PS hardware sales). But there's a difference between that and what MS is forcing Xbox into becoming. This news does not necessarily imply that they no longer care about how well PlayStation hardware sells, nor does it mean that the next God of War or Horizon or Gran Turismo game or ND's upcoming game will launch day-and-date on Xbox & PC.

Sony already went the multi-platform route when they ported games to PC. Microsoft next console will be a PC hybrid and therefore 95% of playstation exclusives will be available on Xbox. Sony lost a lot of money from their first party investments. I don't even think DS2 broke even yet and therefore needs Xbox, Nintendo and PC to pick up the slack. 

Also, doesn't matter if their games are exclusive or not people will continue to buy PlayStations because they are locked in Sony's ecosystem. I think Sony realizes consoles are running out of time soon and Cloud will eventually take over.

The console market isn't seeing sustained growth like PC or mobile while investment costs in games and hardware have continued to grow. - Yes there are outliers which will have amazing sales, but the market as a whole? Relatively stagnant.

The MOST profitable games aren't exclusives, they are games like Fortnite, Minecraft, Candy Crush, GTA 5, PUBG and more... And what do they have in common? They are able to played everywhere.

Just food for thought.

NewZoo seems to think consoles will grow again, outpacing PC. But it's all very little and growth going to GAAS and nostalgia.

https://newzoo.com/resources/blog/into-the-data-pc-console-gaming-report-2025

Market growth returns, but it's uneven

After a plateau in 2024, growth will return in 2025, particularly on console, whereas PC remains steady but less dynamic.

- $85.2B in total software revenue forecasted for 2025 across PC and console.
- Console leads growth with a +7% CAGR through 2027, compared to +2.6% for PC.
- Console's resurgence is driven by major titles like GTA VI and the next-generation Nintendo Switch, while PC's revenue remains tied to evergreen hits.

Not a lot of time - or money - left for "average" games

Player engagement is rising—but it's being monopolized.

Playtime grew +6% year-over-year in 2024, with Q4 setting a record.
PlayStation saw a +21% surge, while PC and Xbox remained stable.

Only 12% of 2024's total playtime came from new games—most hours were spent on established AAA franchises or lifestyle titles.

Games like Helldivers 2, Palworld, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 stood out. But even breakout hits struggled to sustain attention.

Player habits are shifting

The number of games people play is declining on Steam and Xbox as players become increasingly fragmented and harder to reach.

On Steam, the share of players engaging with three or fewer games annually rose from 22% in 2021 to 34% in 2024.
Players that play 11+ titles per year are in decline across all platforms.

Despite an ever-expanding game library, Xbox players are engaging with fewer titles over time—highlighting that access alone doesn’t ensure sustained play.

New IPs struggle to capture interest, especially without a strong differentiator.

Nostalgia as a strategy

Recursive nostalgia: As live service games reach 5+ or even 10+ years on the market, they finally have a deep enough history to become nostalgic about.

Fortnite's OG season tripled engagement and introduced LEGO Fortnite.
Apex Legends and Overwatch 2 tried similar nostalgia events but saw little lasting impact.

World of Warcraft Classic remains a benchmark for the "reset strategy," offering new players a clean slate and veterans a second life.

Nostalgia works—if it's future-facing, but it needs to be part of a long-term engagement plan, not just a gimmick.

Success on Steam now starts outside of Steam

Steam's internal visibility mechanisms are losing power.

Steam discounts are 4x less effective than in 2019.
46% of traffic to Steam games now comes from outside the platform via social media, creators, and community buzz.

Damn, steam releases is what's growing! 18K games released on Steam in 2024.
About 2% growth in gaming revenue against 32% increase in games released. 

The bottom line

Opportunity is there, but the path is narrow. Developers and publishers must compete not just for wallets but also for time and attention. Play habits are calcifying, discoverability is challenging the ability to stand out, and players expect more than ever, especially from new IPs.

It feels like a market that is not attracting young players like it used to, while the maturing player base is 'getting set in their ways'. 

After some thought on this, I think Sony might opt for a mixed approach, and perhaps we should interpret these statements differently.
Let me explain.

A mixed strategy, which could involve:

- on the hardware side, following Nintendo's strategy.
They no longer want to rely solely on hardware sales, so future devices would aim to retain the existing user base while simultaneously attracting new players. In this context, they would no longer sell consoles at a loss, ensuring adequate profit margins, and at the same time they would no longer have the need to chase technology by pushing it to the max, keeping the consumer price in check. In other words "Those who just want an easy way to play, with an optimized PS experience can buy our console; for everyone else, our games will be playable at maximum settings on PC (PS account/store)." I would expect first party mid/low budget exclusive games on console, high budget games on console and PC.

- on the software side, following Microsoft's strategy.
They want to push their ecosystem and PlayStation as a platform accessible to everyone: in this scenario, they could continue to publish multiplayer/live service titles on as many systems as possible (including Xbox and Switch), but at the same time promote the PlayStation platform on PC, perhaps with their own dedicated App Store that can be accessed via a PlayStation Network account (including Plus subscription services) to play the entire catalog, past, present, and future... and they're already (partially) doing so.

If you think about it, it wouldn't be a bad strategy. On the one hand, they could achieve better margins on hardware, lower production costs on an adequate but not excessive technical level. On the other, they could sell much more software, at all levels, guaranteeing margins even for larger or riskier productions.

PlayStation brand will be safe, including the console segment which would simply become an entry point for new users.

Shareholders want more money, not the same amount of money they earnt last generation. We heard similar things to what Xbox did with the XB1 and people now expect the whole slate even without any official statement from MS/Xbox. The future for PS and XBox is multiplatform games. It's the only way they can make the money they need to please investors, grow and finance.

And they will go crazy if those $500 million games go up to $80.  Everything else in the world is allowed to go up with inflation, but not video games.

Games don't cost "$500 million" to make. I swear some of y'all add another $100 million every time production costs are mentioned. Might as well claim a $1 billion is the new average lol.

Any game that costs $200 million+ to make is either too ambitious, lengthy/bloated, or just inefficient/poorly-managed. Higher digital splits and ability to sustain higher average prices are more than enough to offset the additional costs, and they're two of the reasons why Playstation's profitability this generation is much greater than the last one despite the hardware losses and the weaker first party software output/sales. It's also why Nintendo is overpricing their physical games, they wish to push their customers towards digital because they would make more money per digital $70 than they would per physical $80 and possibly even physical $100.

But yeah, I wouldn't get all mad about it. If I'm not happy about paying $70-$80 for a game or how Sony is dealing with console exclusivity, I'd just wait for deals or jump to PC! The fact remains that millions of gamers will lose interest in buying a Playstation due to virtually all their games being available on other platforms, hardcore gamers in particular (who are much bigger spenders than the average casual) are more likely to jump over to PC. A hardcore gamer will easily spend $3000+ per generation on their preferred platforms. And what Sony is doing will risk losing millions of them. PS5 is getting ridiculed left right and centre for being the new "no games" platform, which is not good for long term reputation and hardcore gamer interests.

The game price going up isn't the sole reason to cause upset.

Its the amount of microtransactions, lootboxes, unfinished games, chopped up DLC and the record profits these companies are making. 

Now if lets say these companies were losing money, but were offering complete packages and value, people would be more accepting of the price rise. But that's not the case. EA just made record billions profit, and they want to up the price again on you. Think about that for alittle.