In the past console generation, Xbox released the majority of their first-party games on PC, giving players the choice of where they want to play. Wanting PlayStation is an obvious thing to ask, but it would not only be beneficial for gamers. PlayStation has one of the deepest, most beloved histories in gaming and is home to some of the most prestigious modern developers out there – a first-party launch of PlayStation gaming is always an event. Releasing their games on PC would make every PlayStation launch an even bigger deal, with a whole new audience and section of the internet to pore all the details. However, if the company plans to move forward with more PC ports, then PlayStation should do a better job of introducing PC players into the worlds of fame.
A strong first-party lineup has strengthened the company’s image as the dominant console platform this generation. The critically acclaimed releases garner a long-standing affection rarely seen for single-player games – people play and praise the five-year-old Bloodborne, for example. Even the less favorably received games have been commercially successful, with Days Gone above sales tickets in the UK weeks after launch. And as of August 2019, it was the sixth highest-selling PS4 exclusive in the US, beating Uncharted: Lost Legacy, Infamous: Second Son, and every MLB game.
Horizon Zero Dawn is the third best-selling PS4 exclusive, and when it came to PC in early August, it proved 3-year-old popular. SteamDB recorded an incredibly highly competitive player count of 56,557 players, and that counts for no one in the Epic Games Store. That many people play a single player game on one platform at a time, and it is not even a brand new release. It’s easy to imagine how Horizon Forbidden West would be even more popular than the Remon’s Souls remake, especially with day-and-date releases.
Unfortunately, the players who bought Horizon Zero Dawn on PC were faced with a myriad of issues, including crashes, poor performance, and bugs, as well as graphics and audio issues. These issues can be fixed, as Horizon developer Guerrilla Studios has promised to do, but the PC gaming community is not one to accept a lesser version on a platform that can do so much more. As of this writing, Horizon has a “Mixed” user rating with more than 15,000 user reviews, many of the criticisms focused on the technical issues. This is a game that got close to universal praise on its original PS4 release – it deserves better.
PlayStation took advantage of its association with Death Stranding. The Kojima-directed game received an unbelievable PC port, but it’s not really a first-party game – it was developed by Kojima Productions and published on PC by 505 Games. Unfortunately, what kind of PlayStation has as osmosis was ruined with its bad PC port for Horizon Zero Dawn.
As the main competitor to PlayStation, Xbox Game Studios has enjoyed a number of great PC launches, thanks to the Play Anywhere program that it launched in 2016. This allows players to switch between their Xbox One and PC with cross-buy and cross-save, and when you purchase the digital version of a game on Xbox One, you can access it on PC through the Windows 10 Store. It has also had tremendous success with Xbox Game Pass for PC (included with Game Pass Ultimate), giving you an enormous library of PC games for a monthly fee.
By hitting the flying barges and secret cow, Xbox itself has started releasing its games on Steam, something that was unexpected, yet has been met with great praise. Sea of Thieves is booming on the Valve platform, with over 30,000 “Reviews” from very users. Halo: The Master Chief Collection also has a ‘Very Positive’ rating with over 90,000 user reviews. Xbox has openly accepted Steam’s Early Access program, and released Obsidian’s kid-shrinking survival game, Grounded, after more than 5,000 user reviews and a “Very Positive” rating. Of course, Xbox has released games that were received less favorably than these, but if the company ignores a PC port, players will respond in kind.
That’s what makes the Horizon Zero Dawn port so disappointing. While Xbox has included a number of different options for PC gamers, PlayStation has floundered its first, long-awaited attempt. However, it can turn things around easily, and a PC port can be repaired. One of the most notorious PC ports, Batman: Arkham Knight, launched after an incredible amount of lag due to poor performance and even a lack of certain graphics features that were present on the PS4 and Xbox One – the game was also shut down to 30 FPS on PC. Warner Bros. has removed it from Steam, fixed the port and relaunched it later that year, and still offers full refunds to anyone who originally purchased the game. After all, it’s fine now with a “Very Positive” user rating and over 30,000 reviews.
However, PC gamers still remember that initial gate and will probably not forget it when Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad game is nearing its release date. Actions speak louder than words, and Rocksteady and Warner Bros. will have to prove themselves to regain that launching confidence. PlayStation should remember this and not count their high PC player as a 100% success. PlayStation would be wise to follow the pack of Xbox and release their games on PC in addition to their PS5 release dates. But it has yet to prove that it can create PC ports that are worth the time and money of the players. If it wants its games to be as desired and prized as they are among console gamers, then it should help its impressive stature of developers to create great PC ports.
