Rejecting Stubborn Exclusivity: Shuhei Yoshida Says You Dislike PC Ports, But New Games Still Need It to Make Money
Former PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida publicly responded to the viewpoint of console exclusivity advocates in an interview with BackPocket at ALT.Games, explicitly stating that Sony's first-party game PC porting strategy has not harmed PS5 sales, but instead generates substantial funds for new game development. Shuhei Yoshida has 11 years of management experience at PlayStation Studios and was fired by former CEO Jim Ryan for refusing unreasonable requests.
Before the PS5 era, Sony strictly prohibited its first-party AAA games from launching on PC and other platforms, insisting on using an exclusivity strategy to drive hardware sales.
Shuhei Yoshida believes that the essence of Sony's strategic shift lies in the skyrocketing development costs of AAA games in the past five years, and the PlayStation user base alone can no longer bear the enormous R&D risks. The traditional console exclusivity model is unsustainable, and PC porting has become Sony's inevitable choice.
Shuhei Yoshida revealed that launching games on PC can quickly recoup high development investments, and the recovered funds can support the development team and the company, used for the development of new blockbuster titles, and help the production of all first-party games.
Regarding criticism that PC ports devalue the PlayStation brand and affect console sales, Shuhei Yoshida characterized it as complaints from a small number of radical players, and explicitly stated that PC ports have had no negative impact on the sales of consoles such as the PS5.
Shuhei Yoshida said that if Sony were to return to an exclusivity model, it would be difficult to maintain the high investment in first-party AAA games, and there would be significant business risks.