Shuhei Yoshida, a former PlayStation executive, publicly responded to the views of console exclusivists in an exclusive interview with Back Pocket at the ALT.Games show. He made it clear that Sony’s PC porting strategy for first-party games has not harmed PS5 console sales, but can instead recover a large amount of funds for the development of new games. Shuhei Yoshida, who had 11 years of management experience at PlayStation Studios, was fired by former CEO Jim Ryan for refusing unreasonable demands.
Before the PS5 era, Sony strictly prohibited first-party 3A games from landing on PC and other platforms, insisting on using exclusive strategies to drive hardware sales.
Shuhei Yoshida believes that the essence of Sony's strategic change lies in the skyrocketing cost of AAA game development in the past five years, and the PlayStation console user base alone can no longer bear the huge R&D risks. The traditional console exclusive model is unsustainable, and PC porting has become an inevitable choice for Sony.
Shuhei Yoshida revealed that after the game is launched on PC, high development investment can be quickly recovered. The funds returned can feed back the development team and the company, which can be used for the research and development of new blockbuster games and assist the production of all first-party games.
Regarding the criticism that PC porting belittles the PlayStation brand and affects console sales, Shuhei Yoshida characterized it as a complaint from a small number of radical players and made it clear that PC porting has not had any negative impact on the sales of consoles such as PS5.
Shuhei Yoshida said that if Sony really returns to the exclusive model, it will be difficult to maintain the high investment in first-party 3A games, and there will be great business risks.
