PlayStation Boss Hints At Future Multiplatform Releases For Games That “Need To Lean Into A Wider Installed Base”

During Gamescom this week, Sony announced that they had bought Insomniac Games, officially bringing the developers behind Ratchet & Clank and Marvel’s Spider-Man into the Sony fold. The studio, which released Sunset Overdrive as an Xbox One exclusive in 2014 (before the game was eventually ported to PC) will now develop for Sony.

In the wake of this announcement, Sony games studio chairman Shawn Layden spoke to Bloomberg about Sony’s focus on exclusives, stating that they are an important part of the company’s overall strategy. However, he also said that certain titles – especially multiplayer titles – could potentially receive a wider release rather than being kept exclusive to the PlayStation 4 and/or 5.

“We must support the PlayStation platform — that is nonnegotiable…That said, you will see in the future some titles coming out of my collection of studios which may need to lean into a wider installed base,” he told Bloomberg.

Note that this doesn’t necessarily mean that PlayStation games will start appearing on Xbox or Switch – we don’t expect Ratchet & Clank to come to Switch in the same way that Xbox’s Ori and the Blind Forest is. What it could mean is that multiplayer titles get PC or mobile releases as well to widen the player base. There’s some precedent for that, with Sony Online Entertainment previously releasing Everquest and Everquest II for PC.

Before E3 earlier this year, Sony committed to continuing to make “story games,” and based on Layden’s wording these would likely remain exclusive to Sony’s platforms. But it sounds like the company is, at least, open to considering the advantages of multiplatform releases for some internally developed games in the future.

from GameSpot – Game News https://www.gamespot.com/articles/playstation-boss-hints-at-future-multiplatform-rel/1100-6469235/