When the rumor that Microsoft plans to stop making Xbox made rounds, I scrolled through X to read people’s opinions on the matter. One comment stood out for me, and it read, “Good games sell consoles”. No doubt, that has been Sony’s secret to always being ahead of Xbox in sales numbers. However, there is so much for Sony to learn from the launch of Helldivers.
I get it, the reason why one person may choose one gaming platform over another is the number of games with the quality that match their tastes that are available on that platform. Sony has done a great job in bringing amazing games exclusively to PlayStation.
Looking at popular and accomplished franchises like God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, The Last of Us, Days Gone, Uncharted, and so on, you just want to jump on the PlayStation bandwagon—not forgetting the great work that the marketing team has been doing too.
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Well, over the years, Sony has created a business model where their first-party titles often get a PC port, two or more years after the initial release. That model has led to a temporary spike in sales of titles, years after its original release.
One thing I have learned about gamers is that most of them want to be the first to experience any game—especially those who make a living from livestreaming their gameplay or uploading game content on YouTube. The reason why some are ready to purchase the more expensive Deluxe Edition of games, to get early access. They play trending games because they know such games will bring them high view counts—and revenue.
So, once the hype is no longer on the game, there is usually no incentive to play them anymore. Therefore, even when these amazing games get a PC port, they never reach their full potential. Before Helldivers 2, Sony has released a couple of other first-party titles on PC. Below is a rundown of how the games performed on Steam based on peak concurrent players.
- God of War (73,529)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered (66,436)
- Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition (56,557)
- The Last of Us Part I (36,496)
- Days Gone (27,450)
- Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (13,539)
- Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection (10,851)
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (8,757)
- Helldivers (6,744)
The Lessons Sony should learn from Helldivers 2
Looking at Helldivers 2 numbers, I see no reason why Sony should not consider bringing more of its first-party titles on PC. In just 24 hours after its release, Helldivers 2 became the most concurrently played Sony’s first-party title on Steam. The game raked in 81,840 players on the platform, beating God of War’s record.
Five days later, Helldivers 2 now has 196,089 all-time peak concurrent players, according to SteamDB. Also, it is now one of the top 5 most played games on Steam. I understand that Helldivers 2 is a different kind of game compared to all the other games that Sony has previously released on PC.
Helldivers 2 is a co-op title that accommodates up to 4 players. I am certain the only reason Sony decided to release it on PC on launch day is to make sure there are always enough players to form a party. That also explains why they made crossplay possible. But, more players mean more money, right?
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Looking at the impressive number of concurrent players that Helldivers 2 has pulled in, Sony should consider bringing more of its first-party titles to PC—which technically doesn’t equate to releasing PlayStation exclusives on a rival platform.
According to PlayToday, there are 1.83 billion PC gamers across the globe as of 2023. In 2021, that figure stood at 1.5 billion according to a Newzoo survey. That is a whole lot of money left on the table every time that Sony fails to launch its first-party titles on PC.
If Microsoft ever stops making Xbox as the current wave of rumors suggests, there will be absolutely no reason why Sony should not make it a norm going forward, considering there will be no one to compete with in the console market.
