Sony recently released a business segment briefing for shareholders with the grandiose title, PlayStation: The Road to Profitable Transformation (opens in new tab). Between declarations the PS5 would be Sony’s “Biggest Platform Ever” and that Sony Group collaborations like the Uncharted movie and a Deathloop Madison beer remix would “Build Brand Relevancy” and “Amplify IP Synergies” is a section more relevant to us in PC gaming land.
“Exponential Growth to be Sustained by PC Titles Beyond FY22” it declares, above a bar graph of three years’ worth of net sales on PC. It shows that in financial year 2020 Sony made $35 million from PC sales, a number that jumped to $80 million in financial year 2021, which just ended on March 31. The prediction for financial year 2022 is another massive leap, all the way to $300 million in net sales on PC.
Backing this up is a chart showing the success of three former PlayStation exclusives that eventually arrived on PC, which emphasizes what an earner Horizon Zero Dawn has been. Its life-to-date revenue of $60 million puts it well ahead of God of War at $26.2 million and Days Gone at $22.7 million.
How does Sony expect to rake in those $300 million? The Playstation PC publishing label established in 2021 only has one announced upcoming release in its portfolio, and that’s the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection due this year. What big earners is Sony keeping under its hat? Is it too early to get excited by the possibility of a flood of PC ports for games like Bloodborne, Spider-Man, Ghost of Tsushima, and The Last of Us?
Well, yes. Scrolling back two pages in that business segment briefing shows Sony’s plan for “A More Diverse First-Party Portfolio”. What that translates to is depicted with a graph projecting the number of live-service games Sony expects to have, with the current grand total of one, MLB The Show 2022, growing to three in the next year.
That number may be counting Destiny 2, since Sony is currently in the process of acquiring Bungie in a $3.6 billion deal. Even so, that leaves at least one more live-service game yet to be announced, and it’s hard to imagine Sony leaving money on the table by not bringing it to PC. Those $300 million could include both an unannounced live-service game, the pile of cash Bungie brings in from Destiny 2 microtransactions, and maybe even the non-Destiny game Bungie wants to make, which CEO Pete Parsons mentioned in 2019.
Sony’s next State of Play showcase is expected to be broadcast during the E3 we’ve got at home 2022, maybe as early as June. Whatever happens, expect at least something PC-related to be announced then. And maybe we’ll hear about one of the multiple Silent Hill games supposed to be in development, given that rumors have persistently linked Sony to at least one as a timed-exclusive for the PlayStation.
Thanks for the tip, IGN (opens in new tab).