In this week’s podcast, in light of Industry analyst firm Superdata’s report on the digital games market for October, showing a 7% year-on-year increase to $5.5 billion in global spend, the Sparks discuss what life would be like if gamers had a digital only future imposed upon them with games costing more than they did in store and ask, would there be a mass migration to the PC and its more reasonably priced online services such as Steam, Origin and GOG? Would the sting of high cost digital games on console make the initial larger financial outlay for a gaming rig worth it?
The Outerhaven writes: While Steam has come out recently, stating that Steam accounts can't be transferred, we need to think about it since we all will eventually kick the bucket. But if Valve is denying transferring accounts, what can be done? Plenty, actually.
It goes to my kids because I gave them the passwords.
To Steam: Missio has a song that conveys my feelings about you stealing my purchase after I die. It's called "Middle Fingers"
Yeah worrying about digital ownership when you’re on the other side of the grass seems a little strange, but also on brand for these millennial journalists to worry about.
I suppose if I have kids, I'd just give em my account details by retirement age. If I die young then...idk lol.
Yea, I mean just give someone the password to your account. Is that difficult to do or something? Like, I’m legit asking because I don’t know.
It's not difficult but It's against the policy. If they find out, they will lock the account permanently.
Ah ok, I had a feeling there was something like that. It seems kind of weird that you can’t just hand your account over to a family member or friend and let them take over the account.
Sony aims to release live service PlayStation games day & date on PC and PS5, but single-player games will have more "strategic approach."
How? I’m sorry but how when they literally port their games to the PC now after not even 2 years, it’s rumored GoW Ragnarok is next.
The best thing they could have done is focus on the generation before with PS3 / PS4 titles and when it got to the PS6 then start porting PS5 games so people will want to get the sequel on the new console
Now PC gamers just wait it out because they know it’s coming
Rock Star does the same thing. Release 1st on consoles, wait a year or two then release on PC. It's clearly a strategy that works for them.
They don't need a lot of PC gamers to move to Playstation, but they just need a few who would also buy into it and possibly double dip. There are some very unhappy gamers on Twitter, who wanted to hear day and date for all games.
Fox
Your analyse is not accurate..
If sony keeps things the way they are then they will grow the business. Some pc gamers who really liked God of War for example might buy PS4 or 5 to play Ragnarok. Same if they announce ghost of tsushima 2 or a new Ratchet game.
Rockstar?
Yeah I loved playing Red Dead Redemption on PC…….
@Cacabunga
I highly doubt it, PC gamers have their setups, if they didn’t budge for years to get a console despite all the cool exclusives then they aren’t going to budge now knowing a new PS5 game will get a port 2 years later
@cacbunga
Basically you're functioning under the assumption that PC players are impatient, rich and stupid.
Most will not budge. But if the hype is real enough they'll get a few. But those few won't actually be invested in the platform.
Those unhappy gamers will just have to suck it up. I'm sure Sony sees how thats worked out for Xbox. Why tf would they follow in their footsteps
How?
According to Sony, by co launching live service games like Helldivers2 day one, then enticing PC players to want to play sequels on the console for SP games.
That's how. If you play Ghost of Tsushima and Sony launches GoT 2 on PS later this year, you're more apt to want to grab the console and play the sequel instead of waiting.
Yeah, pc players are the most patient of players. They will just wait for the game to come to pc.
You're just spitting back out the Sony PR line.
PC-first and PC-centric gaming is a different beast. Helldivers 2's popularity and GoT's popularity are because they're good solid games, not because they're from PlayStation publishing.
It's the same PlayStation that put Helldivers 2 for sale internationally, then pulled their PSN-Steam removal card. The same PlayStation that released Returnal with UE4's dreaded shader stutter. The same PlayStation that released TLOU Part 1 in a broken state.
If Sony's PS4 slate of titles didn't convince PC gamers, if their current PS5 titles still don't, ports of games they've had *years* of knowing and reading and hearing about aren't going to convince them to finally buy a console.
Don't fall so easily for the same PR BS that fabricates quotes from their own studio heads.
I mean that's certainly the thinking, but for most PC gamers that just won't work. Like in a rare circumstance if someone was already on the fence about a console that might get them to take the plunge and buy a PlayStation, but it will be the exception rather than the rule.
PC gamers are super patient
There's no f****** way, for example, they are going to get a PS5 the moment Ghost of Tsushima 2 is announced just because they played the PC port of the first game
The mindset?
"Ah cool GoT2 has been announced, really enjoyed the first game. Anyway I'll just play on the dozens of other games I have while I wait for the obvious PC port from Sony in like 2 years"
Not a chance they'll all wait now.
@tacoboto
"You're just spitting back the Sony PR line."
I literally said: "According to Sony."
I was responding to someone who asked "How?"
I gave Fox an answer that reflects Sony's thinking. Maybe read the OP's comment and then reading a reply to that person as if it's an answer to their question instead of sounding off in such a bizarre way. See Jeece's reply to mine.
@Dom I do. Sony may not, but then again, they've made billions in the gaming industry and you've made $0.
@thorstein PC gamers have been condition to wait... Epic Games exclusives don't sell well and EA, Ubisoft, and MS have all come back/or arrived on Steam and that's all for preferred store front that doesn't cost money at all so to think people will rush out to spend 500 dollars on a console (whichvcould be used to help pay for PC upgrades) is a bit naive.
I think some of yall are giving pc gamers to much credit. Not every pc gamer is gonna be the same. I'm sure sony isnt expecting all pc gamers to switch, that would be foolish. Idk how many pc goers are there. 500 million 400 million idk really. Say son bgets 5 million of them to it was worth it. If you say none imma call bs
You're mistakenly speaking for all PC gamers, there are bound to be some people who are not willing to wait and for Sony those are potential console buyers.
eh, no ... if a PC gamer is playing on a PC, they'll continue to do so ... there are tons n tons of games on Steam alone and the steam gamers' backlog stories are one of the most discussed topic you'll find in PC forums ... indie is already huge there, plus early access, PC-exclusive titles, VR, big publishers' titles and now Sony's ports too.
Realistically speaking, usually there's not enough time to complete the backlog alone, than go buy a separate console altogether.
The only game that has the power somewhat to make a PC gamer to get a console is GTA VI.
PC gaming existed and proliferated well before this recent Sony's PC decision.
@romulus23
True, there will be new gamers who will be exposed to PlayStation IPs, and they will possibly obtain PSN accounts, both of which make people more inclined to purchase PlayStation.
I don’t think you understand PC gaming. We have sooooo many games to play it’s kind of ludicrous. The insane Steam backlog is not a myth. So, we’ll happily wait for the best version of a game.
How these guys think that they're only pc gamers that won't buy a console, I'll never know..lol. we're talking about the whole world here..not a few guys on this site or reddit.
Edit: in fact there's posts on reddit how they bought a ps5 after having played a few exclusives on PC.
"Not a chance they'll all wait now."
You don't know what all of them will do. Some may wait some may not.
Well, if they want the games when they release, they will need a PlayStation. If they are ok with waiting, then they can do that. I think it’s a sound gameplan for PlayStation. The release of games on PC, will generate additional fans for the ips.
So who cares how / when someone chooses to spend or not spend their money? Sony gets their money for their game sold either way whether its on PS5 or PC, so in the end what does it matter?
PC gamers will wait a year to get a game $10 cheaper lol. they ain't gonna go out and spend $500 on a system to play 1 game. people underestimate them big time.
@Fox
It actually works, i know some of my friends and cousins who cannot wait and bought a Ps5 to play Horizon FW. In fact they cannot believe that "ps has amazing games" lol
Sure there's others who can wait a whole year or two but then there's others who have to play as soon as possible.
*** Now PC gamers just wait it out because they know it’s coming ***
I think a lot of people who would abandon consoles entirely don't because of the wait. Sure, they aren't drawing new users from PC like they want, but they are maintaining while getting more from PC-only gamers (possibly even double taps from those who own both).
The PS5 Pro is going to be WAY above the average PC of users on Steam.
The PS5 Pro will be able to play every single game they have released on PC at PC settings with a minimum of 60FPS and higher with unlocked framerates.
I agree, there is zero logic from Sony on this. Sony completely underestimate how stubborn a PC player is. They can wait, I'll now wait as I've stopped buying games for my PS5 and will now acquire them for free on PC.
"While Helldivers 2 was released day and date on both PS5 and PC, don’t expect single-player narrative-driven games to be released in the same boat by Sony anytime soon. - This was confirmed by PlayStation’s soon-to-be co-CEO Hermen Hulst in Sony’s business segment presentation"
There you have it. Won't be 'day and date' single player games on PC anytime soon or for the forseeable future. They understand single player games are Playstation's backbone.
So much for the nonsense narrative that playstation is somehow failing so they are going to immediately start releasing every single game day and date on PC lol.
Agreed. First & foremost Playstation not only wants to sell their AAA first party games but their gaming consoles to play them on that is why their AAA first party games come to PC later after it sells on PS consoles.
I was told that Playstation was doing so bad on here and on X that Helldivers 2 was going to release on Xbox and Sony was going to start releasing all games on pc day and date with playstation. Why do people constantly lie on the internet!!!!!
We've gone from you'll never see PS games on PC, to you'll never see any PS games day one on PC, to you'll see some PS games day one but have to wait for others.
I mean, its kinda looks like it's heading one way no? That "wait" is going to get shorter and shorter.
It's happening.
God of War 2018 - 4 years
Horizon Zero dawn - 3 years
Horizon Forbidden West - 2 years
Well, with MS going full PC/multiplatform, PlayStation will need to adapt. Luckily, they are in a position to hold the fort for all lovers of console gaming. Otherwise, if MS’s business model was the norm, we can all kiss console gaming goodbye.
Thank god for Sony.
Ragnarok is now 1y and 10m between PS-PC release. Its only going to get shorter over time.
Well, change of leaderships on Sony did that, under Jim it looked like a lot has changed. Who would have thought eh?
Who would have thought under Big ole Phil xbox games would come to Playstation eh?
That's a smart move because at the end of the day playstation is a hardware business and need to sell hardware folks
Considering the amount of bangers PlayStation and Nintendo make, your name doesn't sound very apt.
Well I think he means that on PC, all software eventually is playable on it. Which is true.
Consoles just are a convenient way of playing some sooner than later.
Darth, all software eventually is playable on PC through emulation and theft of games. You forgot that part. It's not through legal means.
Apocalypse- You consider emulation theft of games? LMAO
Way to shill for corporations.
This gen has been trash. I was already on the fence but caved and bought the consoles, I have regretted that decision. Most of the games that I would play come to PC anyway. I'm done with consoles. I have had the best time with PC this gen and a good amount last gen that it just pulled me away.
On 16 May, the long-awaited release of the PC version of Ghost of Tsushima took place. And the game proved to be a great success on the first day.
It has surpassed spider man now
it's 71k+
game did this with way shorter time than spider man.
@prince
I'm confused. Does that number mean total players at one time playing like a snapshot
or total sales? If it's the former that's not very accurate because I know I'm not the only person that buys games and plays them later and that number is not included.
Is this going to be the new thing thing? Articles about Steam reviews? Which of course was in response to the false article about the review bombings in the first place.
Hey, just a heads up that the new owners did open news to Steam updates, but we try our best to not allow them to go on daily updates unless relevant to some other news. I understand this isn't everyone's cup and tea and sympathize, but the door has been open. If you feel it's 'too much' please do PM me or submit a ticket to the mod team. Thank you.
I came here to post this link in that specific article. 84 perce t is pretty good. How many bad reviews were there like 5
I always get confused by this, but is 72k good sales numbers for a game? I keep seeing games fail at selling 2.5 million and that they need to be on multiple platforms but is an additional 72k adding much?
Im not sure how its confusing :\
72k actively playing. Not 72k sold.
A good example is Helldivers 2, 6m sold, 450k (at its peak) active players.
But how many swords swung is what we're all really waiting for.
for one they already had a huge launch on the playstation, they don't need to sell 5m to make the porting to pc profitable and as pointed out below that number you see is just the people playing it at this moment.
Also from the insomniac leak we know these PC ports are a quick turnaround and budgeted around $2-4 million. At 100k sales they break even including Steams cut. They may not sell millions but they are a great ROI
72k concurrent. That is a global number. People who bought the game are not playing at the same time because of timezones, working schedules, holidays, events... There is no good rule of thumb but you can extrapolate based on other games that also released sales data. Then it is clear that the PC release alone accounts for at least 500K copies sold on steam, maybe closer to 700-800K. Probably will sell over a million this extended weekend.
According to steamspy and other data gathering sites games like Days Gone, Spider Man, God Of War, Horizon Zero Dawn have sold 2 to 5 million copies on Steam. So I expect Ghost to reach similar numbers. Probably even surpass it.
probably not, id still stick to my consoles. It just means I'll buy less games, I already do that as not all are worth playing.
the price between digital titles and retail, along with no resale value is the main stumbling block for me.
example, battlefront is £55 to download of £39 to buy the disc,
My opinion is that digital sales should be 15-25% lower than retail on new games. I truly believe that the next iteration of consoles will not have optical drives and everything will be digital. There will be those who resist, but the market is leaning towards it more and more. I myself prefer digital, but there are those who will reject the idea and get out of console gaming...which would be ironic since Steam and Origin do so well. The main problem is always going to be storage. I see prices of external drives coming down rather quickly and maybe, just maybe instead of optical, we will have games on USB style cartridges like the 3dsxl..time will tell
If it was digital only, console game prices would plummet to compete with PC so No.
Digital prices on consoles are high to appease retail.
The gaming companies don't want to go digital because it will give "you" a better price. As soon as it goes all digital and the companies no longer have to compete with resale they will have complete control of the price and it won't benefit you the consumer.