Sony's PS4 exclusive Horizon: Zero Dawn is coming to PC this year, sources tell Kotaku.

aevanhoe · Jan 17, 2020

texhnolyze said:
60fps is factually better than 30fps though, which has been proven multiple times. There was a test using God of War, comparing the PS Now, PS4 and PS4 Pro. 60fps gives much better latency compared to 30fps. For action game like this, better responsiveness is important and needed especially if you're challenging endgame content at higher difficulties.

Of course it's better, and, as an example, 8K is also better than 4K. Now, imagine someone saying "this game needs 8K" - sounds a bit wrong, doesn't it? I know 60fps is more important, ofc, I'm just giving you an example how this sounds.

Of course God of War would be better at 60fps, and it's quite possible we'll get to play it in 60fps on PS5 (and, who knows, maybe on PC too). But when you say GoW needs 60fps, it sounds like without it, what, the game is not good? It doesn't need it, it will be better with it. I said my issue is "phrasing", not that someone is saying 60fps > 30fps. Of course it is.

Madjoki · Jan 17, 2020

Rayge said:
I see consoles still happening, but in the sense that you'll

... PC has been able to do 5 GB/s read speeds for months with PCIe 4.0 NVMe. Also RAID 0 configs have read speeds of over 15 GB/s. So if PC SSD speeds aren't there yet... then damn.

Also this is consumer level products not enterprise level. You've got enterprise level PCIe 4.0 RAID cards doing 24+ GB/s.

And if Sony has some magical improvement, kinda like PS3 supercomputers, we will see people buying PS5 just to rip out SSDs or otherwise try to repurpose as storage...

:P

LBsquared · Jan 17, 2020

Brhoom said:
I don't see how this is beneficial for Sony

No one is buying a PS4 for Horizon anymore. No one on PS4 is paying full price for Horizon anymore. So why not sell the game to a new customer base at a higher price? Money is a thing corporations enjoy making.

Madjoki · Jan 17, 2020

thirtypercent said:
Because of Sony's magical SSD which will be utilized to the max by games releasing soon that are so complex and advanced that they can't possibly run on already currently superfast PC drives? When will you people learn, this thread should've been the last wakeup call, stop making hilariously outlandish predictions based on PR snippets without knowing any real facts while ignoring reality, that never ends well.

Especially when Sony's idea of "fast PC SSD" is taking 30 seconds to switch between Excel and Word.

texhnolyze · Jan 17, 2020

aevanhoe said:
Of course it's better, and, as an example, 8K is also better than 4K. Now, imagine someone saying "this game needs 8K" - sounds a bit wrong, doesn't it? I know 60fps is more important, ofc, I'm just giving you an example how this sounds.

Of course God of War would be better at 60fps, and it's quite possible we'll get to play it in 60fps on PS5 (and, who knows, maybe on PC too). But when you say GoW needs 60fps, it sounds like without it, what, the game is not good? It doesn't need it, it will be better with it. I said my issue is "phrasing", not that someone is saying 60fps > 30fps. Of course it is.

I don't think anyone is implying that. People who said those things most probably have played the game already. They say that because they feel that the game would be much better with 60fps, for example, because then it will potentially unlock more probabilities and they may be able to enjoy the game even more.

liquidmetal14 · Jan 17, 2020

Remember what Rockstar did with GTA5? Boy did that pan out bad for them /sarcasm

It's a (rumored) 2ish year old port of a well received game. Money is money and I've never played the damn game. I have a PS4 and don't play it often as the kids do. I'd buy this day 1 if it comes pending it's not some BS EGS game.

Deleted member 54292 · Jan 17, 2020

I am gonna mod this and take a tallneck for a stroll around the map or fly a stormbird around. dope

Morgan J · Jan 17, 2020

thirtypercent said:
Because of Sony's magical SSD which will be utilized to the max by games releasing soon that are so complex and advanced that they can't possibly run on already currently superfast PC drives? When will you people learn, this thread should've been the last wakeup call, stop making hilariously outlandish predictions based on PR snippets without knowing any real facts while ignoring reality, that never ends well.

This, I agree with you 100%

thevid · Jan 17, 2020

Arion said:
Although I think it's great HZD is coming to PC, I'm still uncertain about how this benefits Sony in the long term. Surely setting the expectation that sony first party games will eventually come to pc isn't balanced by however many copies of the game selling on pc. I assume sony makes their money by getting people to buy their consoles, through exclusive games, third party support and such, and then people spending money on other games, accessories, subscriptions etc. People are less likely to buy into their ecosystem if they know games will eventually come to PC. Unless they really are planning to go into the MS route by focusing on getting people to subscribe to PS now. Maybe next gen isn't going to be about who sells the most hardware but rather who has the most amount of monthly payers for their subscription service.

If all you do is buy Sony's exclusives, paying digital distribution fees seems like a small price to pay to reach a much larger audience.

And if you do buy third party games on the PS4 despite having a PC, then I don't see why this changes anything. You have reasons for buying games on the PS4 that obviously don't deal with exclusivity.

Maybe this will lead to some traditional console users migrating to PC, but Sony has probably done their homework. I can't imagine they are blindly making these move. This doesn't guarantee things will work out the way they want, but they are willing to take a risk for some pay off.

Being multiplatform (at least with PC, I don't think we'll see Sony games on Xbox or Switch anytime soon) also has benefits. I can see their first party developers being happy to reach a broader audience. Your IPs can also reach a larger audience, potentially increasing their fan base and value which you can leverage in other ways. Especially with their recent success. Multiple 10+ million sellers not named Gran Turismo. Why not see just how big and valuable those IP can be when not restricted to a single console?

And personally, I would buy more Sony games if they were on PC, despite owning a PS4.

aevanhoe · Jan 17, 2020

texhnolyze said:
I don't think anyone is implying that. People who said those things most probably have played the game already. They say that because they feel that the game would be much better with 60fps, for example, because then it will potentially unlock more probabilities and they may be able to enjoy the game even more.

Ok, English is not my first language, so maybe no one is saying that with that phrase (it seemed like it to me). But, I've seen a lot of "30fps is unplayable" posts here, so you can understand how I feel. GoW was one of my most favourite games this generation, and yes, I've played 60fps games on PC, too (just recently, I played Gears 5 on 1440p and 60fps on my PC, it was a blast, great game, but I'd still take GoW @ 30 over it, any day of the week).

DeadmansTheory · Jan 17, 2020

Still going through the pages but seriously,

Saint of Killers · Jan 17, 2020

StiLteD said:
My theory is simply that Kojima's team has done the heavy lifting on getting the Decima engine optimised for PC release with Death Stranding. If you are going to test the waters for a PC release for Sony FP, may as well be the other major game that runs on that same engine. Labour efficiencies and all that. If it goes gangbusters then they'll look towards putting in the dollars/effort to do the same with their other proprietory engines.

Just another take.

And one that makes a lot of sense.

thirtypercent · Jan 17, 2020

aevanhoe said:
Ok, English is not my first language, so maybe no one is saying that with that phrase (it seemed like it to me). But, I've seen a lot of "30fps is unplayable" posts here, so you can understand how I feel. GoW was one of my most favourite games this generation, and yes, I've played 60fps games on PC, too (just recently, I played Gears 5 on 1440p and 60fps on my PC, it was a blast, great game, but I'd still take GoW @ 30 over it, any day of the week).

Disagreeing with them is one thing but others considering 60fps to be the bare minimum to enjoy a game really shouldn't affect you emotionally, like at all.

AshenOne · Jan 17, 2020

Zones said:
We know the combined $10 & $40 versions together sold really well on Steam.

For all we know, the majority of the buyers might have been the $10 tier, but in any case, this is not the kind of money these large publishers expect to get from investing billions in hardware, software, and network infrastructure.

I can confirm that this is false.

Halo MCC and Halo reach are listed on the top selling Separately. Reach was in the top sellers during launch week but it dropped down while Halo MCC remained in the top 10, mostly in the top 2 or top 5 and it still is in the top 10 even now.

Trice · Jan 17, 2020

Chettlar said:
Please tell me what you searched to find this. I love this. His face. The serenity.

Good ol chef kiss gif

Arion · Jan 17, 2020

Jaded Alyx said:
Selling console hardware is not as big a moneymaker as selling games (all games, not just first party) and subscription services. A lot of people on PC would buy a PlayStation exclusive if it were made available to them, but wouldn't be prepared to buy the console in order to play it. Same goes for Xbox exclusives. This is why Game Pass for PC is a thing. It's why PS Now on PC is a thing.

I'm not sure about that. Getting people into your ecosystem is the money maker, more so then hardware or software sales. The point of exclusives is to get people into your ecosystem so people will buy other stuff within your ecosystem. Putting the game on EGS and Steam (as the rumor indicates) will give them software sales but isn't getting people into Sony's ecosystem. It isn't adding to PS now subscribers or console userbase.

NLCPRESIDENT · Jan 17, 2020

thevid said:
If all you do is buy Sony's exclusives, paying digital distribution fees seems like a small price to pay to reach a much larger audience.
Maybe this will lead to some traditional console users migrating to PC, but Sony has probably done their homework. I can't imagine they are blindly making these move. This doesn't guarantee things will work out the way they want, but they are willing to take a risk for some pay off.

Herman: *hits the weed*.....siht.. *passes to shu*
...Ima bring Horizon on PC *exhales*

Shu: *takes the weed* LOL, you crazy bro.. *hits*

bigJayy · Jan 17, 2020

It blows my mind that people really think that Sony will release their PS5 games on PC in the near future...

BlackJace · Jan 17, 2020

Oh now PCs can't handle the PS5's SSD speeds

It's too early for this, fr fr

yellow wallpaper · Jan 17, 2020

i could have sworn i played it in a performance mode. wasn't a locked 60 but it came sort of close. I haven't played it in 2 years though so my brain could be wrong. i doubt it looks much better on pc, just a locked 60 at higher res.

Nooblet · Jan 17, 2020

aevanhoe said:
Of course it's better, and, as an example, 8K is also better than 4K. Now, imagine someone saying "this game needs 8K" - sounds a bit wrong, doesn't it? I know 60fps is more important, ofc, I'm just giving you an example how this sounds.

That's a false equivalence. 60FPS is better for playability while 8K isn't better for playability. For an interactive medium like video games playability is a lot more important.

A clarity in artwork and visuals has an effect on how you perceive the game and its environments thereby affecting your overall experience, which is fair. Howeverm an improvement in framerate has a similar effect when it comes to animations but even more importantly it is directly affecting your only direct form of interaction with the game i.e. the input....something that resolution has no bearing over in any way. Hence it's possible for games to "need" 60FPS.

I KILL PXLS · Jan 17, 2020

Arion said:
I'm not sure about that. Getting people into your ecosystem is the money maker, more so then hardware or software sales. The point of exclusives is to get people into your ecosystem so people will buy other stuff within your ecosystem. Putting the game on EGS and Steam (as the rumor indicates) will give them software sales but isn't getting people into Sony's ecosystem. It isn't adding to PS now subscribers or console userbase.

EatChildren said this probably better than I can summarize, but the point was made that that type of customer isn't worth much to Sony. The primarily PC gamer who buys a PS4 just to play a couple exclusives every year probably buys all their 3rd party games on PC (with the exception of probably games on DEEP sale). They probably don't have PSN+ either because of how few games they play on the platform. By Sony putting their exclusives on PC, that user probably won't buy the console (which often is sold at a loss anyway) but they still have the opportunity to buy the games. On top of that, now the large swathe of PC gamers who were never going to buy a console have the opportunity to buy the games. Sony is making the gamble that that more than makes up for anyone they lose on the margins. This is also why I imagine thy're finally embracing cross play since that will keep their user base intact with this strategy. They could be wrong, but I can see the logic.

Most people that prefer consoles will still prefer consoles.
Some people that have wanted to get in to PC gaming will and might abandon consoles, but that number is probably minuscule and they'll still have opportunities to sell to them (PSNow still being an avenue as well).
Extra revenue is gained by selling games to a larger audience they were never going to get to buy a console.

Kamagii · Jan 17, 2020

I mean Death stranding is coming to PC so this wasn't that far off I would be more surprised with a God of War or Uncharted/Last of US coming.

but yea everyone wins!

GamingRobioto · Jan 17, 2020

Lovely stuff. Hopefully a sign of things to come. All the more reason to go full PC and sack consoles off (except the Switch of course).

Alexandros · Jan 17, 2020

Dictator said:
I like PC

It is a good time to be a PC gamer.

PlanetSmasher said:
I was talking about hardcore PC gamers. The kind of people who DIDN'T buy a PS4 all this gen aren't suddenly gonna be like "GOTTA BUY A PS5 TO PLAY HORIZON 2!"

I'm one of them. I'm not going to buy a PS5 but porting the games over to PC means that Sony will be getting a significant sum out of me compared to the $0 they have so far.

SG-17 said:
PC SSD speeds aren't there yet to match the PS5, supposedly. IF any PS5 exclusives come to PC it won't be until years later.

Even if PS5 has a small lead, a) developers will design around it and b) PC will surpass it within months.

The Artisan · Jan 17, 2020

ducktape said:
I mean, that's what "PC warriors" have been doing in this very thread by saying stuff like, "less and less reasons to support consoles"

Each side is doing this and you chose to focus only on one

That's true. I've seen a lot of posts saying that if this trend continues, they'll go PC only and never buy consoles anymore

Hoo-doo · Jan 17, 2020

The Artisan said:
That's true. I've seen a lot of posts saying that if this trend continues, they'll go PC only and never buy consoles anymore

The userbase that will actually switch platforms like that is negligible, and the lost revenue is easily recouped by additional sales on PC.

People also say a lot online which they won't ever follow up on in the real world. It's the nature of discourse online.

daninthemix · Jan 17, 2020

Alexandros said:
Even if PS5 has a small lead, a) developers will design around it and b) PC will surpass it within months.

This is true. Whenever new consoles at launch have had a technical advantage over PCs, it is completely swallowed within a year, and surpassed handily within 2.

Arion · Jan 17, 2020

I KILL PXLS said:
EatChildren said this probably better than I can summarize, but the point was made that that type of customer isn't worth much to Sony. The primarily PC gamer who buys a PS4 just to play a couple exclusives every year probably buys all their 3rd party games on PC (with the exception of probably games on DEEP sale). They probably don't have PSN+ either because of how few games they play on the platform. By Sony putting their exclusives on PC, that user probably won't buy the console (which often is sold at a loss anyway) but they still have the opportunity to buy the games. On top of that, now the large swathe of PC gamers who were never going to buy a console have the opportunity to buy the games. Sony is making the gamble that that more than makes up for anyone they lose on the margins. This is also why I imagine thy're finally embracing cross play since that will keep their user base intact with this strategy. They could be wrong, but I can see the logic.

Most people that prefer consoles will still prefer consoles.

Some people that have wanted to get in to PC gaming will and might abandon consoles, but that number is probably minuscule and they'll still have opportunities to sell to them (PSNow still being an avenue as well).

Extra revenue is gained by selling games to a larger audience they were never going to get to buy a console.

Makes sense but I suppose it all depends on the margins. Just how many primarily console users will refrain from buying a ps5 and switch to pc gaming fully moving forward remains the question.

Komo · Jan 17, 2020

Alexandros said:
I'm one of them. I'm not going to buy a PS5 but porting the games over to PC means that Sony will be getting a significant sum out of me compared to the $0 they have so far.

Yup basically. I've bought a few here and there, but I just don't see the need in a PS5 if I'm gonna be able to play their exclusives eventually on my own PC

OnionPowder · Jan 17, 2020

daninthemix said:
This is true. Whenever new consoles at launch have had a technical advantage over PCs, it is completely swallowed within a year, and surpassed handily within 2.

was there any of those this gen? Felt like PCs pretty much completely eclipsed PS4 by launch.

The Artisan · Jan 17, 2020

Hoo-doo said:
The userbase that will actually switch platforms like that is negligible, and the lost revenue is easily recouped by additional sales on PC.

People also say a lot online which they won't ever follow up on in the real world. It's the nature of discourse online.

Won't argue with your second point, but with your first point, hardware costs more than software, so I can't see how lost revenue will be recouped with additional sales. I guess it's just a matter of how much of a system seller a game can be to convert people vs. how many more copies can a game sell if it were on the other platform

MazeHaze · Jan 17, 2020

OnionPowder said:
was there any of those this gen? Felt like PCs pretty much completely eclipsed PS4 by launch.

Yeah PS4 was surpassed by nice PC's when it launched, very significantly so on the CPU side, but GPU wise as well.

Hoo-doo · Jan 17, 2020

The Artisan said:
Won't argue with your second point, but with your first point, hardware costs more than software, so I can't see how lost revenue will be recouped with additional sales. I guess it's just a matter of how much of a system seller a game can be to convert people vs. how many more copies can a game sell if it were on the other platform

The margins on hardware are very slim. These companies earn money with software sales.

Also, read the post by I KILL PXLS a bit earlier.

Akronis · Jan 17, 2020

Dictator said:
I like PC

I like you

Bosch · Jan 17, 2020

SG-17 said:
PC SSD speeds aren't there yet to match the PS5, supposedly. IF any PS5 exclusives come to PC it won't be until years later.

Are u posting this seriously? Do u read what u post? Do u really believe they will have a kind of a magic ssd? Can't wait for full reveal for this BS ends.

People know nothing about official specs and start to say things based on PR...

MizziPizzi · Jan 17, 2020

Maybe they're testing the waters, to see if there's an audience for their games on PC...
The big question is though if they'll have a simultaneous launch for their games, that is if Sony really are changing their policy on their exclusives...

PlanetSmasher · Jan 17, 2020

The Artisan said:
That's true. I've seen a lot of posts saying that if this trend continues, they'll go PC only and never buy consoles anymore

Yeah, I really don't see much of a point in supporting the PS5 if its exclusives continue to bleed to PC. I would much rather be able to play Naughty Dog and Insomniac games AND Double Fine and Obsidian games without buying two virtually overlapping consoles that I don't have room for in my house. At that point I might as well just bite the bullet and replace my dead-ass PC.

It'll probably cost about the same as both consoles AND not come with two overlapping online taxes. :/

Fresco Vivir · Jan 17, 2020

Datajoy · Jan 17, 2020

Fresco Vivir said:

Lol at this being post number 3000+

Dr. Doom · Jan 17, 2020

If Sony offered a monthly subscription for their PS exclusives on the PC, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

Liliana · Jan 17, 2020

PlanetSmasher said:
Yeah, I really don't see much of a point in supporting the PS5 if its exclusives continue to bleed to PC. I would much rather be able to play Naughty Dog and Insomniac games AND Double Fine and Obsidian games without buying two virtually overlapping consoles that I don't have room for in my house. At that point I might as well just bite the bullet and replace my dead-ass PC.

It'll probably cost about the same as both consoles AND not come with two overlapping online taxes. :/

And on top of that PC will surpass any console technology almost instantly where as you'll need to wait until a mid-gen refresh or another new generation for the console side of things. PC sure is looking the winner here in all cases.

DiceHands · Jan 17, 2020

This is such great news for everyone. I hope Sony continues to bring their first-party games to PC.

MORE GAMES FOR EVERYONE!!!

Hoo-doo · Jan 17, 2020

PlanetSmasher said:
Yeah, I really don't see much of a point in supporting the PS5 if its exclusives continue to bleed to PC. I would much rather be able to play Naughty Dog and Insomniac games AND Double Fine and Obsidian games without buying two virtually overlapping consoles that I don't have room for in my house. At that point I might as well just bite the bullet and replace my dead-ass PC.

It'll probably cost about the same as both consoles AND not come with two overlapping online taxes. :/

Great! PC gaming is amazing, so i'm not sure what your point is.

TaySan · Jan 17, 2020

Hoo-doo said:
The userbase that will actually switch platforms like that is negligible, and the lost revenue is easily recouped by additional sales on PC.

People also say a lot online which they won't ever follow up on in the real world. It's the nature of discourse online.

Yup. Sony wins either way and makes money.
Bigger audiences=more sales=bigger scope for games
Everyone wins

Saint of Killers · Jan 17, 2020

Dr. Doom said:
If Sony offered a monthly subscription for their PS exclusives on the PC, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

I'd buy it on a PS.

PS+ Platinum: First party games and Instant Game Collection like it used to be. (i.e. monthly games, along with other games on a longer rotation.)

Swift_Gamer · Jan 17, 2020

The Artisan said:
That's true. I've seen a lot of posts saying that if this trend continues, they'll go PC only and never buy consoles anymore

That accounts only for people online in enthusiast forums, casuals will still buy consoles.

pswii60 · Jan 17, 2020

Arion said:
Although I think it's great HZD is coming to PC, I'm still uncertain about how this benefits Sony in the long term. Surely setting the expectation that sony first party games will eventually come to pc isn't balanced by however many copies of the game selling on pc. I assume sony makes their money by getting people to buy their consoles, through exclusive games, third party support and such, and then people spending money on other games, accessories, subscriptions etc. People are less likely to buy into their ecosystem if they know games will eventually come to PC. Unless they really are planning to go into the MS route by focusing on getting people to subscribe to PS now. Maybe next gen isn't going to be about who sells the most hardware but rather who has the most amount of monthly payers for their subscription service.

PC gamers who only play exclusives on PlayStation are not buying in to the ecosystem. They are not going to be subscribing to PS Plus. They are not going to be buying multiplats there. Because they are PC gamers, who are only playing exclusives on PlayStation because they have no other way of playing them.

So it makes sense for Sony to target PC gamers on their home turf instead, and bring the PlayStation ecosystem to their home turf. Rather than selling them a loss leading piece of hardware that will only get used for 2-3 exclusives per year.

I KILL PXLS · Jan 17, 2020

Arion said:
Makes sense but I suppose it all depends on the margins. Just how many primarily console users will refrain from buying a ps5 and switch to pc gaming fully moving forward remains the question.

Yep. Definitely a gamble, but I imagine they have data that put them on this side of the decision. Microsoft also doing it (and specifically putting their games on Steam as well) would back that up even more.

funky · Jan 17, 2020

It would be rad if they opened up the Decima engine for 3rd parties and this is part of that.

But that is a alot harder then it sounds and I dont think GG could quickly spin up the support team needed to make it worth doing. Doing it for Death Stranding is one thing. Supported potentially hundreds of teams big to small is another

Sony's PS4 exclusive Horizon: Zero Dawn is coming to PC this year, sources tell Kotaku.

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