Former Sony Exec Views First-party PS5 to PC Porting as “Almost Like Printing Money”

Last month, Shuhei Yoshida announced his retirement from Sony Interactive Entertainment. His career at the company started back in 1986, and by 1993 he became involved with the corporation’s nascent PlayStation division. The Japanese industry veteran has gone on a press appearance blitz over the past couple of weeks; many headlines have been generated by his candid musings. Most recently, Sacred Symbols+ engaged in a conversation with Yoshida—their (paywalled) two-hour long podcast episode (#347) was made available to subscribers this week. The former PlayStation chief divulged that he pushed hard for the conversion of first-party titles from console origins to PC platforms, but his colleagues were reportedly reluctant to adopt this practice (at the time). Yoshida-san outlined the benefits: “releasing on PC does many things: it reaches a new audience who do not own consoles—especially in regions where consoles are not as popular. The idea is that those people may become fans of a particular franchise, and when a new game in that series comes out, they may be convinced to purchase a PlayStation.” Sony started readjusting its exclusivity model a few years ago; greater ambitions were revealed in 2024.

He continued with this thought process: “it also adds additional income, because porting to PC is way cheaper than creating an original title…So, it’s almost like printing money. And that helps us to invest in new titles now that the cost of games has increased.” The ex-SIE boss believes that emerging markets are best served with releases on PC. Yoshida mentioned a huge (almost untapped) market—his ex-colleagues could do well, by targeting said region in the near future: “China is a huge PC game market…And China is a growing but very small console market. In order to reach the audience in countries like China then it’s crucial to release on PC. So, I believe PC versions really reach a new audience.” PC gamers have largely welcomed an improved flow of ported first-party titles, but Sony has absorbed feedback flak in early 2025; namely an underwhelming reception to Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. In late January, Team Sony announced a revised PlayStation Network account policy; backpedalling from a system that featured strict sign-in requirements.