PCG Article Sony reveals sales figures for it's PC games....

[ZedClampet]

These figures were from about 3 months ago.

Horizon Zero Dawn sold 2.39 million copies.
God of War sold 971k copies
Days Gone sold 853k copies

They expect PC sales to go from $80 million last year to $300 million this year, which probably means some new games coming in. Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves is on the way, and, according to leaks, Returnal (whatever the heck that is) is getting a Steam release in the near future.

There is also a PCG article that mentions some of this here:

https://www.pcgamer.com/sony-expects-to-earn-dollar300-million-from-pc-games-in-the-next-12-months/

 

[Frag Maniac]

The strange thing to me is God of War 2018 took a whopping 4 years to release on PC after it's debut on PS, but Days Gone took only 2 years after it's PS debut to release on PC.

GoW Ragnarok has yet to be greenlit for PC, and still no word if there will ever BE a Days Gone sequel. I guess it's both strange and understandable though. It is said Days Gone didn't even sell as well as hoped on PS, which many would think to be a risk to launch on PC for that reason. It seems like it was a last ditch effort by Sony to salvage more profits out of it though.

Even despite Horizon Zero Dawn selling quite a bit better on PC, which took 3.5 yrs to make it to that platform, there's no word yet on whether there will be a PC version of it's sequel, Horizon Forbidden West.

So to say you have to be patient and hopeful in the face of uncertainty to be a PC player is an understatement. It's really scary though when such great titles as Days Gone and God of War 2018 barely do more than break even on PC.

 

[ZedClampet]

It's really scary though when such great titles as Days Gone and God of War 2018 barely do more than break even on PC.

Days Gone and God of War did much better than break even on PC, and that is an excellent number of sales for games that arrive years after launch. Sony understands this and has to be very pleased. Another thing that Sony likely understands is that long after God of War and Days Gone have stopped selling on Playstation, they'll still be bringing in good income on PC. Games on PC sell forever.

God of War has almost certainly surpassed a million copies by now on Steam, and Days Gone has to be very close. Very impressive start for Sony on PC.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Would be cool if Horizon Forbidden West comes sooner than people think. I'm never going to buy a PlayStation to play it.

 

[Johnway]

Sony can do it. They have the killer titles and (probably) the talent to port the games to pc. gamers would be eating out of their hands if they remastered/ported the Playstation exclusives. Come on sony, take a hint! we want bloodborne and demon souls for starters. if you can port killzone collection, somehow get god of war collection, wipeout series, infamous, persona 5 or the rest of the shin megami tensei series into the mix you could make big bucks! Hell, a chunk of the work has been done, no need to think about an original story etc its all been done and just needs porting.

of course doing it will be a challenge plus are they prepared to put their beloved playstation to the sword. Lets face it, there would be even less reason to buy a PS5 if i could get the games on the pc. But on the flip side they don't always make money back on the console and currently there aren't any ps5s to buy these days. They all seem to have been sold out.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Days Gone and God of War did much better than break even on PC, and that is an excellent number of sales for games that arrive years after launch. Sony understands this and has to be very pleased. Another thing that Sony likely understands is that long after God of War and Days Gone have stopped selling on Playstation, they'll still be bringing in good income on PC. Games on PC sell forever.

God of War has almost certainly surpassed a million copies by now on Steam, and Days Gone has to be very close. Very impressive start for Sony on PC.

Actually compared to the PS sales, and considering what it costs to make PC games as bug free as Days Gone and GoW 2018, it's not much profit at all. GoW 2018 on PS sold 20, million copies, beating the previous 3 titles combined by a million. Of the 3 games you mentioned though, Days Gone is definitely the one to worry about. Despite an online petition for a Days Gone 2 with over 169,000 signatures, Sony has not greenlit a sequel.

 

[ZedClampet]

Actually compared to the PS sales, and considering what it costs to make PC games as bug free as Days Gone and GoW 2018, it's not much profit at all. GoW 2018 on PS sold 20, million copies, beating the previous 3 titles combined by a million. Of the 3 games you mentioned though, Days Gone is definitely the one to worry about. Despite an online petition for a Days Gone 2 with over 169,000 signatures, Sony has not greenlit a sequel.

I've worked for Fortune 500 companies my whole life. No one thinks about money the way you are describing it. Sony wasn't comparing PC sales to PS4 sales when the games were new. Sony made a big deal out of these sales figures when they talked to investors. They were obviously pleased. And no one has any exact idea what games Sony has greenlit. That's not public information.

But here is why these games were extremely profitable for Sony:

All things considered, it didn't cost much to port the games to PC, a tiny fraction of the original development costs, which for God of War was $44 million. PS4 isn't as close to PC as Xbox, so it would be more expensive than that, also the game uses a proprietary engine, which is more difficult. But the estimate this would bring you based on what I was able to find online would be about 5 percent of the original cost, or $2.2 million. You can add a little to that for marketing costs, I couldn't find any information telling me what that cost would be, but Sony didn't really have to market God of War that much. Let's just say the whole thing, being pessimistic, cost $5 million.

Based on their current sales, they've netted roughly $28 million. So they spent $5 million to make $28 million. That's a good deal every day of the week.

If you don't agree with my estimate on what it cost to port the games, you have to, being a sensible person, agree that it wasn't anywhere near $28 million. No sane company would greenlight a port job of an older game that cost anywhere near that.

And that $5 million spent will, as I said before, make them more money year after year.

If they weren't happy with it, they wouldn't be escalating their plans to port games, which they are.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I've worked for Fortune 500 companies my whole life. No one thinks about money the way you are describing it. Sony wasn't comparing PC sales to PS4 sales when the games were new. Sony made a big deal out of these sales figures when they talked to investors. They were obviously pleased. And no one has any exact idea what games Sony has greenlit. That's not public information.

But here is why these games were extremely profitable for Sony:

All things considered, it didn't cost much to port the games to PC, a tiny fraction of the original development costs, which for God of War was $44 million. PS4 isn't as close to PC as Xbox, so it would be more expensive than that, also the game uses a proprietary engine, which is more difficult. But the estimate this would bring you based on what I was able to find online would be about 5 percent of the original cost, or $2.2 million. You can add a little to that for marketing costs, I couldn't find any information telling me what that cost would be, but Sony didn't really have to market God of War that much. Let's just say the whole thing, being pessimistic, cost $5 million.

Based on their current sales, they've netted roughly $28 million. So they spent $5 million to make $28 million. That's a good deal every day of the week.

If you don't agree with my estimate on what it cost to port the games, you have to, being a sensible person, agree that it wasn't anywhere near $28 million. No sane company would greenlight a port job of an older game that cost anywhere near that.

And that $5 million spent will, as I said before, make them more money year after year.

If they weren't happy with it, they wouldn't be escalating their plans to port games, which they are.

Absolutely. You have to consider that they've already created all of the content. All of the graphics, models, animations, textures, sounds, music, terrain, maps, mechanics, story, voice acting, puzzles, levelling... All of that is already done, and that's the biggest part of creating a game. All they had to do was tweak the code to run on PC hardware. I'm sure they were even able to reuse the majority of the scripting code. Probably most of the work is just to get the engine working for PC. So you're right that it doesn't cost anywhere near as much just to port a game.

 

[Frag Maniac]

I've worked for Fortune 500 companies my whole life. No one thinks about money the way you are describing it. Sony wasn't comparing PC sales to PS4 sales when the games were new. Sony made a big deal out of these sales figures when they talked to investors. They were obviously pleased. And no one has any exact idea what games Sony has greenlit. That's not public information.

But here is why these games were extremely profitable for Sony:

All things considered, it didn't cost much to port the games to PC, a tiny fraction of the original development costs, which for God of War was $44 million. PS4 isn't as close to PC as Xbox, so it would be more expensive than that, also the game uses a proprietary engine, which is more difficult. But the estimate this would bring you based on what I was able to find online would be about 5 percent of the original cost, or $2.2 million. You can add a little to that for marketing costs, I couldn't find any information telling me what that cost would be, but Sony didn't really have to market God of War that much. Let's just say the whole thing, being pessimistic, cost $5 million.

Based on their current sales, they've netted roughly $28 million. So they spent $5 million to make $28 million. That's a good deal every day of the week.

If you don't agree with my estimate on what it cost to port the games, you have to, being a sensible person, agree that it wasn't anywhere near $28 million. No sane company would greenlight a port job of an older game that cost anywhere near that.

And that $5 million spent will, as I said before, make them more money year after year.

If they weren't happy with it, they wouldn't be escalating their plans to port games, which they are.

I'm not sure you're up to date on Sony's treatment of their dev teams, but from what has been said by one of the 2 key leads on the Days Gone team that has since left that studio, they were regarded as if they'd failed, despite, according to that dev, Days Gone PS version netting the same profits as Ghost of Tsushima. He in fact left because they weren't greenlighting a sequel, and instead tasking the team to work on a new IP.

So you can brag about Fortune 500 all you want, but at the end of the day, sales don't automatically equal success, and there are plenty of titles that suffer that fate.

At any rate that's all I care to discuss this, I really don't want to drag it out into a lengthy debate.

 

[ZedClampet]

I'm not sure you're up to date on Sony's treatment of their dev teams, but from what has been said by one of the 2 key leads on the Days Gone team that has since left that studio, they were regarded as if they'd failed, despite, according to that dev, Days Gone PS version netting the same profits as Ghost of Tsushima. He in fact left because they weren't greenlighting a sequel, and instead tasking the team to work on a new IP.

So you can brag about Fortune 500 all you want, but at the end of the day, sales don't automatically equal success, and there are plenty of titles that suffer that fate.

At any rate that's all I care to discuss this, I really don't want to drag it out into a lengthy debate.

Of course they were unhappy with Days Gone's original sales because it didn't meet the projections they gave their shareholders. But this thread is about PC sales. I never said anything about a Days Gone PS sequel. I assumed there wouldn't be one. I'm only talking about future PC releases, and they are happy with how they have performed thus far. That's my point. Nothing else. Perhaps we were debating different things. Maybe you were hoping Days Gone would sell enough on PC to change their mind about a sequel? I can't help there because I don't follow Sony news at all unless they are talking about PC releases. I've never even owned a Playstation.

 

[HenrykForkbeard]

Do you all not think we're at a point in time now where releasing games on different consoles/PCs in different time periods is stupid?

There was probably a lot of interest from PC gamers in these games when they're announced for their console counter parts but ultimately lose interest and seen a million spoilers to not get them when they eventually release on PC.

We should be at a situation now where everything should be released for every console at the same time..

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Do you all not think we're at a point in time now where releasing games on different consoles/PCs in different time periods is stupid?

There was probably a lot of interest from PC gamers in these games when they're announced for their console counter parts but ultimately lose interest and seen a million spoilers to not get them when they eventually release on PC.

We should be at a situation now where everything should be released for every console at the same time..

That's a tough one. I reluctantly disagree. From my point of view as a consumer, I wish all games would be everywhere. But then what would make someone choose a PlayStation over an Xbox if you can just play all the games on whatever? If Zelda and Mario weren't exclusive to Nintendo, I don't know why anyone would buy a Nintendo console. They're always weaker. The main reason people are buying Switches like crazy is that it's also a handheld, and there is no other real competition for a good dedicated handheld. Other than that, it's the only place you can play Nintendo games. If Breath of the Wild 2 would happen to come out for a new next-gen Nintendo console, and it happens to not work on my Switch, that's the only thing that would get me to want to buy that new Nintendo console.

So from my point of view, of course I want all games to be multiplat. But it would kill the console makers, and I'm not sure it would actually end up being good for us in the long run because of the repercussions.

But having said that, even though I understand the point of consoles needing exclusives, I believe they should try to get all games on PC. PC gaming seems to be in its own world and isn't nearly as much of a direct competition as Xbox/PlayStation/Nintendo is.

 

[Frag Maniac]

That's a tough one. I reluctantly disagree. From my point of view as a consumer, I wish all games would be everywhere. But then what would make someone choose a PlayStation over an Xbox if you can just play all the games on whatever? If Zelda and Mario weren't exclusive to Nintendo, I don't know why anyone would buy a Nintendo console. They're always weaker. The main reason people are buying Switches like crazy is that it's also a handheld, and there is no other real competition for a good dedicated handheld. Other than that, it's the only place you can play Nintendo games. If Breath of the Wild 2 would happen to come out for a new next-gen Nintendo console, and it happens to not work on my Switch, that's the only thing that would get me to want to buy that new Nintendo console.

So from my point of view, of course I want all games to be multiplat. But it would kill the console makers, and I'm not sure it would actually end up being good for us in the long run because of the repercussions.

But having said that, even though I understand the point of consoles needing exclusives, I believe they should try to get all games on PC. PC gaming seems to be in its own world and isn't nearly as much of a direct competition as Xbox/PlayStation/Nintendo is.

You could argue as well that there's even more reason to stagger releases, now that the latest gen consoles cost more because they're more powerful. As much as we on PC hate to admit it, console game sales are by far the bulk of where the profits come from, so they want to juice as much out of those sales as they can before releasing the games on PC. Because of the cost of the latest gen consoles, there's even more temptation now for console only players to buy a prebuilt PC to game on. Lots of players now own both console and PC, and if the games released on all platforms simultaneously, that would cut into console game sales.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

You could argue as well that there's even more reason to stagger releases, now that the latest gen consoles cost more because they're more powerful. As much as we on PC hate to admit it, console game sales are by far the bulk of where the profits come from, so they want to juice as much out of those sales as they can before releasing the games on PC. Because of the cost of the latest gen consoles, there's even more temptation now for console only players to buy a prebuilt PC to game on. Lots of players now own both console and PC, and if the games released on all platforms simultaneously, that would cut into console game sales.

Yeah, I agree. I don't like it, but I agree. PC gaming is still very strong, but the biggest share is probably always going to be on consoles.

I think there is a demographic that would be tempted to build a PC, but there are a few things keeping it from being mainstream. First off, the cost of comparable or better hardware is so high for PC. Confession time, a few months ago, I was feeling like my PC needed an upgrade. But things cost so much that I ended up buying an Xbox Series X which is significantly more powerful than my gaming PC (Ryzen 3600, GTX 1080). But secondly, most gamers don't want the hassle. They just want to turn on their console and play games. I talk to a lot of console people, too, and even though their perception of PC gaming is biased and wrong, they still look at it as being too much of a hassle. I try to tell them I have my PC hooked up to my 4k TV, and I play all of my PC games with an Xbox controller while sitting in my recliner. But there's still that stereotype out there.

But with all of that in mind, I have heard a lot of people talking about moving to PC. But I don't think it's going to take over. My opinion is still that PC+Nintendo is the best combo. PC gets a lot of what Xbox and PlayStation gets, and the only thing it doesn't ever get is Nintendo.

 

[Brian Boru]

PC gaming seems to be in its own world and isn't nearly as much of a direct competition as Xbox/PlayStation/Nintendo is

The competition in PC world is more widespread and therefore diluted—so it'll never get the same degree of hype and fanboy publicity.

PC competition is in 2 main areas:

1 Hardware—you've got tons of manufacturers, none of them shy about trumpeting their gaming credentials. Everything from entry-level for similar $ to console, up to the boutique companies in the $3-4K range. It's like there being 100 different consoles.

2 Software—the competition is between the game makers, all pushing for the limited consumer $, and trying to find a franchise which can keep them in profit for a decade or more. Plus the indie scene. There are a few thousand console games at most, but hundreds of thousands of PC games.

console game sales are by far the bulk of where the profits come from, so they want to juice as much out of those sales as they can before releasing the games on PC

Agree. Personally I have no problem with a console exclusive coming to PC say a year later. There's a big tail-off in sales for all entertainment products—big initial surge, and then die off, or else if it's good continuing gradual decrease. Good product can still be selling dozens or hundreds a month years after release.

That's all without additional content being released, which is a unique feature of gaming, which can seriously extend the lifespan and sales levels.

 

[Sarafan]

These figures were from about 3 months ago.

Horizon Zero Dawn sold 2.39 million copies.
God of War sold 971k copies
Days Gone sold 853k copies

The numbers for Horizon Zero Dawn are decent. The rest not so much in my opinion. However they'll improve in time for sure, especially when some decent sales for these games appear. It should be enough to justify bringing more titles to PC by Sony. I only wish the ports are better than FF7 Remake. I'm a hardcore PC gamer (and an occasional mobile gamer), so I'd love to see more Sony exclusives on this platform.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Confession time, a few months ago, I was feeling like my PC needed an upgrade. But things cost so much that I ended up buying an Xbox Series X which is significantly more powerful than my gaming PC (Ryzen 3600, GTX 1080).

I must admit I've often pondered buying a console, and likely would have if it weren't for the fact that I absolutely suck with gamepads, especially aiming with them. After several times playing on my friend's PS4 when I was visiting him, I can't help but imagine what a painful process it would be to have to spend endless hours trying to play better on a gamepad. At my age, it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I'd probably end up selling it used, having to answer questions like, "Well, it's in good shape, but what happened to the gamepad, I don't see it?" To which I'd answer, "Well, that's a LONG story."

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I must admit I've often pondered buying a console, and likely would have if it weren't for the fact that I absolutely suck with gamepads, especially aiming with them. After several times playing on my friend's PS4 when I was visiting him, I can't help but imagine what a painful process it would be to have to spend endless hours trying to play better on a gamepad. At my age, it's just doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I'd probably end up selling it used, having to answer questions like, "Well, it's in good shape, but what happened to the gamepad, I don't see it?" To which I'd answer, "Well, that's a LONG story."

Yeah, I get that. But I already played with a gamepad on my PC, so it wasn't really any different for me. On PC, I just play with a 360 controller, sitting in my recliner, with the PC dedicated to my living room TV. I use a wireless keyboard with a touch pad for navigating the user interface.

Years ago, I used to prefer keyboard and mouse. But I've preferred gamepad for a long time. I don't ever play multiplayer stuff where it matters, though.