this post was submitted on 24 Jul 2023
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The issue is the consumer who is most likely to consider buying a console doesn't want to have to worry about waiting months for a port and then another several months for performance to be fixed, nor do they want to pay for a very expensive gaming PC and then regular hardware upgrades to play new games. As I was saying to someone else, Sony isn't really competing for PC gamers. They're two different markets and Sony knows this which is why they do release a lot of their games to PC eventually. But for people who want to play Sony games when they are relatively new and active, either to experience the story with others and avoid eventual spoilers, or to play in an active online community that may not last, waiting for a functional PC release isn't worth it, especially at the higher cost it brings to have a decent one compared to a console.
Cost to performance ebbs and flows with each console generation, and console generations are getting longer, or perhaps disappearing if Microsoft is to be believed. PC gaming's market share has been steadily rising for over a decade now, to the point where PC versions of some games that used to be console-only releases now outsell their console counterparts. There are a lot of reasons we could guess as to why this is, but I don't think they're wholly two different markets, and I don't think Sony thinks this either, regardless of what they said in court. They're preparing to set up their own PC storefront, probably without anything that will make people want to use it besides exclusives, even though that's failed for everyone else who tried it, but signs are pointing toward them preparing to do it.
I think I am talking about the present and you're talking about the near future. I am referring to why it made sense for me to buy a PS5 few years ago and why I still think it is a good investment for certain consumers right now. You are showing (likely correctly) why my argument won't be true as soon as a few years from now. But we aren't there yet.
Yeah, I don't think it's so much that Sony doesn't see PC as a direct competitor, but that Microsoft is pushing them in a direction where now they feel they can't afford to cut themselves off from future markets that might be much more relevant and less niche in the future. If Microsoft didn't switch releasing Xbox exclusives when it came to PC I don't see Sony bothering with the PC market. Feels like something they were more reluctantly dragged into as the market of gamers started changing.
Also, even with the rise in PC parts due to stuff like mining the demographic had changed too where kids are growing up watching streamers, wanting to stream, so lot of people they follow using PCs. Guys like Linus are pretty big youtubers too changing the accessibility of PCs from this obscure nerdy and complicated out of reach thing into something more people are wanting to try if their interest is piqued.
Even if Microsoft wasn't bringing their games to PC for the longest time, there are other factors that would have pushed Sony in that direction. The games that they're making are immensely expensive to make, and they can't necessarily bank on console sales recouping that cost as guaranteed as they used to. And then there was also the supply shortages caused by the pandemic that prevented PS5s from being picked up by ready and willing customers.