Charming Holiday is a writer of newspaper articles from the United States. He is a former cultural policy advisor who has turned his attention to his lifelong passion for gaming. He lived and worked in South Korea from early 2016 to mid-2019, but has since returned to the greater Chicago area. Its first console was the original Playstation, though it now focuses on the Nintendo Switch and its growing library of first-party and indie games. Charming is particularly fond of point-and-click mystery games and action-adventure platformers (2D and 3D). Charming hopes to expand his talents into the gaming news industry with the ultimate goal of one day writing and submitting a game.
Gamers have long debated the topic of cross-platform gaming, more often focusing on multi-console launches, but the matter of console and PC games being released simultaneously has raised eyebrows once again after an alleged insider commented PlayStation potentially “pull” from the platform. PlayStation has been known to restrict many of its first-party IPs to its own consoles, although later versions were time-exclusives that later found their way to other platforms. However, the Sony-owned gaming giant may be moving away from PCs again.
The speculation follows Valve's recent announcement of the upcoming Steam Machine gaming console. Fans and analysts have subsequently begun to discuss the “return of the console wars”, despite many questioning whether the Steam Machine will be a true competitor to mainstream consoles such as the PS5 and Xbox Series X. However, new rumors about PlayStation's future outlook on PC ports have many wondering just how formidable the new system could be.
PlayStation may be “pulling back” on the PC versions.
According to gaming podcaster Jez Corden, a “very good source” mentioned that future “flagship single player games” from PlayStation may not be released for PC and may retain their own console exclusives. The comment came amid discussions that PlayStation games released on Steam have not achieved the same virality as other titles on the platform, perhaps making the PC a less lucrative market for Sony. This frequent inability of PC ports of first-party PlayStation games to “move the needle” is said to have made PlayStation more inclined to go the Nintendo route and keep its primary IPs limited to its own gaming systems. While this hasn't been officially confirmed in any way, gamers have already expressed mixed reactions, with many unsurprised by the alleged insider's comment and others skeptical of Sony being so quick to give up additional revenue from PC sales.
There's currently no way to tell if Steam Machine performance will register as a major issue for competitors in the console gaming market, though it wouldn't be all that surprising if companies like Sony decided to keep at least some of their more prominent first-party IPs confined to their own systems. Many have pointed to Nintendo as a prime example of a company that mostly avoided the “console wars” simply by building enough of a dedicated audience and locking in its top money-makers for its own hardware.
Whether PlayStation actually plans to follow in Nintendo's footsteps and move away from releasing cross-platform video games remains to be seen, but the launch of the Steam Machine is already expected to have some impact on its competitors. Interested fans can stay tuned for any official word from PlayStation about its future release strategies, along with other updates on how Steam Machines can impact the console gaming landscape.
- Mark
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Sony PlayStation
- Original release date
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November 7, 2024
- Original MSRP (USD)
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$749.99
- Processor
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AMD Ryzen Zen 2 (8 cores, 16 threads, 3.5 GHz)
- Resolution
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Up to 8K
- HDR support
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Yes
Source: YouTube
