Microsoft’s Head of Gaming Phil Spencer is usually known for his endearing stance towards competitors in the gaming industry. He’s publically praised Sony and Nintendo, both rivals of Microsoft’s Xbox in the console space, multiple times.
However, for once Spencer has taken a direct stab at Sony in his pre-E3 2021 briefing with the press (as reported by GamesIndustry). More specifically, he noted that ‘others’ bring console games to PC years later, charging them a second time.
Spencer is obviously referencing Sony’s most recent stance on PC game releases. Guerrilla’s Horizon Zero Dawn was released on PC three years after debuting on PlayStation 4, while Bend Studio’s Days Gone recently came out two years after launching on Sony’s console.
Right now, we are the only platform shipping games on console, PC, and cloud simultaneously. Others bring console games to PC years later, not only making people buy their hardware upfront but then charging them a second time to play on PC. And of course, all of our games are in our subscription service on day one, full cross-platform included.
This doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon, either. Hermen Hulst, Head of PlayStation Studios, said as much last week while talking to the official blog.
It’s a different strategy, which makes sense as Microsoft has a much greater interest in the PC platform than Sony. That said, from the point of view of a PC gamer, it’s hard to disagree with Spencer.
And I hope that a new set of fans can and will enjoy that title. And that’s the goal — we want to reach new gamers who haven’t yet experienced the great stories, characters, and worlds that we’ve built. Releasing games on PC will not come ever at the expense of building an exciting lineup of great console games.
