Hope you guys are doing well wherever you are, I wanted to dedicate this particular thought to the gaming community out there and I have even went as far as tagging on twitter some key figures from Sony crossing my figures that they can at least read about this. I am just a pebble in the water but there is no harm in expressing concern is there? So my thoughts to this is that I think it is a horrible strategy "for console hardware owners and the general pride of owning a PlayStation." But to be fair I want to share some of the advantages and disadvantages of all this. You make your own conclusion but I don't like the idea at all.
ADVANTAGES
It benefits the investor and not the gamer: It goes uncontested that the bigger and wider the audience of people who buy games from different platforms the more money the company can generate. This imminent financial success creates profits for the investor who is the sole driver of the business. Further on the positive it may mean higher salaries for dev's, project lead teams etc. PlayStation hardware limitations won't hinder probable further enhancement and creativity through PC. Lastly you are not forced to buy a particular hardware to own a game, you buy it and play it where you want and how you want it to look.
I clearly don't see any further benefits of this than the above mentioned. Now lets have a look at the disadvantages i.e the negative where my unwavering opinion is derived from.
DISADVANTAGES:
Efforts to push for quality on PC hardware might dwindle as considerations have to be made on PlayStation: There is always going to be a push for parity for a game to run uniformly across PC and PlayStation because they will be trying to keep both audiences satisfied and not feel left out. This is not a big win for those who own expensive rigs. On the flip side we may also see less features no PlayStation exclusives running on PlayStation hardware due to hardware limitations of the console
Gaming will be in tiers PC taking top spot : The situation will call for a better experience being on PC making consoles the less ultimate experience. You can already see this in God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn. Any PlayStation "exclusive game" will be at its best on a high end PC no doubt.
PS hardware becomes irrelevant : Without a shadow of doubt PlayStation 6 and other future consoles will not generate as much sales as the consoles before. What will be the point of buying a PlayStation when a PC can deliver three worlds to you (PC, PlayStation and Xbox games)? Xbox never sold very well primarily because you can just get the same game and a better experience on a high end PC so market demand is considerably low than Sony PlayStation.
Disadvantage to those with huge library of console games even when shifting to PC those games won't work there: While the PC fanboys celebrate they still cannot play a PlayStation console games on PC hence the need for a PC rendition of the same creating the so far "double buying approach" whereby an exclusive game is held back for some time only to be resold again to another community to generate money. PlayStation hardware owners cant shift heir library on PC in pursuit of a better experience since most things are done at a code level so there will be need to rebuy games if you decide to shift to either platform.
PlayStation brand whitewashed : Whenever you see anything PlayStation related you felt the need to spend straight from you pocket because you know it can only be found there and its quality. Whenever you see Xbox there is no need to spend as you can find the same game on either PlayStation, PC or both also via subscription services. PlayStation is what it is because of their exclusive approach and slowly but surely with this strategy they wont be the same again.
Exclusivity brought elegance and drive for quality now with this strategy its going to indirectly absorbed into competitor Microsoft's echo system: When you make games ground up for one system there is a sense of focus and determination to compete and attract people to your platform. It even encourages more creativity as efforts are being made to lure another audience. With the PlayStation PC strategy I get the feeling that there is going to be a relaxed approach as there wont be any need to pursue and lure an audience but rather generate revenue from them. With all this considered most PC games run with Microsoft Windows OS so in a way its a win for Microsoft anyway as you have to design e.g God of War in Windows terms.
Highly probable games will become digital phasing out physical discs. Might be the rise of more online games with DRM: PC is more steam based and there's no real need to own physical media. Over the years people have had may ways to play the games cheap including piracy. I am pretty sure PlayStation is aware of this and the best tool to combat this will be more DRM. This will only make it worse for some of us who are already reeling over the Gran Turismo 7 online server reliance.
VERDICT
I am a PlayStation fan, you can call me fanboy if you want not because Xbox sucks or PC sucks but because PlayStation was my first love. That emotional nostalgic connection can never be severed. There is always going to be better hardware out there to run games but PlayStation made me feel satisfied the most, its quality, class and elegant games. This strategy is purely driven by corporate greed and I am pretty sure none gaming people but business men, the bigger the audience means more money for the investors. The gamer doesn't drive the company decisions its the leadership and investment. Its still a business but business should not be made all about money because it can become all about money. I wish PlayStation would consider some of the concerns I raised. I clearly don't see a future for PlayStation hardware and hardware profits and it is the beginning of the end for them, the best place to play PlayStation games will be on PC.
Your thoughts and cheers.
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