PC Gaming Woes: Unraveling the Challenges Behind Porting PlayStation Games

Highlights

The outcomes of PlayStation's recent PC ports have been varied, with certain games achieving strong sales while others falling short. PC adaptations of Horizon Zero Dawn and God of War have seen success, demonstrating positive performance. However, games such as Uncharted and The Last of Us Part 1 have encountered challenges and experienced setbacks in terms of sales.

The success of these ports relies on various factors, including launch challenges and replay value. Moreover, due to significant delays between the console release and the PC port, it is highly probable that fans of each franchise have already experienced these games on PlayStation before they are made available on PC.

In the past ten years, PlayStation has made significant efforts to develop a collection of popular first-party IPs, and it has been largely successful. Although there have been some disappointments, such as Days Gone, they are rare occurrences. Games like God of War, The Last of Us, Marvel's Spider-Man, Horizon, and many others prove that PlayStation has effectively utilized its resources. With these IPs now in its possession, PlayStation has the opportunity to use them in various ways, starting with PC ports as its initial step.

Following Xbox's lead in 2019 with the porting of its first-party games to PC through Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation decided to do the same, but in its own distinctive manner. The process began with the release of Journey and Flower in 2020, and after gaining interest from the PC community, PlayStation ventured into its first major AAA first-party PC port, Horizon Zero Dawn. Throughout the past three years, PlayStation has continued to bring its recent first-party games to PC, although the results have been mixed. However, the success of these PlayStation PC ports is not entirely arbitrary, as there are several clear factors that influence their performance.

Why Some PlayStation Games Aren't a Success on PC

PlayStation PC ports have been highly anticipated by PC players for years, and when they finally started being released in 2020, fans were thrilled. The initial PlayStation PC ports were met with great enthusiasm and proved to be successful in terms of sales. Within a year and a half, Horizon Zero Dawn's PC port sold 2,398,000 copies, reaching a total of 2.4 million by March 2022. The excitement continued with God of War's PC release in January 2022, estimated to have sold approximately 3 million units. Additionally, both Marvel's Spider-Man games have achieved impressive sales, selling around 1.5 million units since August of the previous year.

However, not all PlayStation PC ports have enjoyed the same level of success. Unfortunately, over the past year, the trend has been a decline in performance. In October 2022, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection was released for PC. Although the exact sales numbers are unknown, it was confirmed that it was the weakest PC release from PlayStation up until that point. This release marked a significant downturn for the ports. Another disappointment came from Sackboy: A Big Adventure, which had significantly lower sales compared to other AAA ports.

The Last of Us Part 1, hailed as one of the most highly praised games ever, faced a disappointing outcome when it was released for PC. Despite being launched in March of this year, during the peak of Last of Us frenzy thanks to the show, The Last of Us Part 1 only sold approximately 360,000 copies within the initial months. These sales figures are considered low for a AAA first-party game with the level of respect garnered by The Last of Us. Unfortunately, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart has now followed suit, performing even worse in terms of sales compared to The Last of Us.

A significant factor behind the lackluster performance of these recent PlayStation PC ports is their significant launch issues. The Last of Us Part 1, in particular, suffered from numerous game-breaking bugs and glitches that persist even after multiple patches. Although not as plagued by issues, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart is facing its own set of challenges, notably long loading times that necessitate the use of an SSD.

A major factor contributing to the recent failures of PlayStation PC ports is the lack of replay value. Most of these PlayStation games are several years old, and dedicated fans who are truly invested in the franchise have likely already played the games upon their initial release and have owned them on consoles for years. Although games like Marvel's Spider-Man offer significant replayability, shorter PlayStation titles like Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart do not. This significantly influences fans' decisions to purchase the same game on a different platform, especially when it is priced at the full retail price.