In an interview with GQ Magazine, Jim Ryan, the head of PlayStation, announced that Days Gone would be coming to PC this spring, along with "a whole slate" of other games coming in the future. Of course those other games weren't mentioned, but Ryan did have a lot to say about the idea of PlayStation exclusives slowly coming to PC in general:
I think a few things changed. We find ourselves now in early 2021 with our development studios and the games that they make in better shape than they’ve ever been before. Particularly from the latter half of the PS4 cycle our studios made some wonderful, great games. There’s an opportunity to expose those great games to a wider audience and recognise the economics of game development, which are not always straightforward. The cost of making games goes up with each cycle, as the calibre of the IP has improved. Also, our ease of making it available to non-console owners has grown. So it’s a fairly straightforward decision for us to make.
Essentially, games are becoming more expensive and harder to make, and to help recoup costs on PlayStation exclusives that aren't either from the God of War or Uncharted series, perhaps a foray onto PC is in order?
Of course, this announcement comes on the heels of Horizon Zero Dawn's release on PC, which according to SteamSpy has between 1 to 2 million sales, which isn't an insignificant number considering the PS4 version is four years old. In the interview Ryan stated there was "no adverse reaction" to the release of HZD on PC, as in there was no significant backlash or sales decrease for the PlayStation platform. Combined, these factors gave the company a green light to continue and expand its plans to port its games to PC to sell more copies. It also builds brand awareness, and can create interest in their hardware, if for example sequels aren't ported to PC if people liked the first game.
While this is pretty big news, it isn't the only big thing that's come out from Sony today. PlayStation VR 2 has been announced, and Gran Turismo 7 has seen a delay due to COVID. All in all, it's mostly been a good day for Sony fans.
What do you think of this announcement? Did you ever play Days Gone? If so, are you ready to play it on PC again? Let us know in the comments!