The times, they are a’changing. There was a point in time when a platform holder would have held on to their exclusives for dear life. But the landscape of the gaming industry has changed, and these platform holders have become far more open to other ecosystems that don’t directly compete with their own. Sony just announced that 2017’s Horizon: Zero Dawn is coming to PC this summer, and it’s not the first Sony-published title to do so. With that in mind, it has made some fans wonder if this is the beginning of a path similar to Microsoft’s, who have now embraced day and date PC releases alongside their Xbox ecosystem. Sony, however, have said there are no plans to do so, and it seems Hermen Hulst wants to assure people that the platform holder is still largely on the same path it has always been.
In a Q&A with the official PlayStation blog, the new Head of PlayStation’s Worldwide Studios reaffirmed that Sony is still all about dedicated hardware, and they wouldn’t be abandoning that anytime soon. “We’re very committed to dedicated hardware, as we were before,” Hulst stated. “We’re gonna continue to do that.”
Hulst also echoed sentiment he stated at the end of last year about Sony still planning to publish and develop the kind of titles that have kept the company’s first party stable strong. Specifically, he says, “We’re very committed to quality exclusives. And to strong narrative-driven, single-player games.”
So, while there is change in the air, it does seem that Sony is going to continue doing what it’s been doing for the foreseeable future. With their next console on the horizon (no pun intended), it’s probably for the best for them not to rock the boat too much, when you consider the success they enjoyed this gen.