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The big picture: Shuhei Yoshida spent more than three decades at Sony, leading the PlayStation project from its early years. Now retired, the BAFTA Fellowship-awarded industry veteran is revealing some of the gaming industry’s worst-kept secrets – starting with the significant role played by the PC platform.
In a recent interview, Shuhei Yoshida confirmed the “rumors” that everyone in the gaming industry has known for years: Sony is making substantial profits from PC conversions of its PlayStation blockbusters while simultaneously expanding its market reach, particularly where PCs are the dominant gaming platform.
Yoshida, who retired from Sony on January 15, 2025, is now sharing insights into the company’s future plans. He had already advocated for bringing PlayStation games to PC when Sony was still committed to strict console exclusivity. Today, the company actively supports PC ports, aiming to convert more PC gamers into PlayStation console buyers over time.
According to Yoshida, releasing a PlayStation game on PC is beneficial for several reasons. It introduces the game to a new audience, growing the fanbase at a fraction of the original development cost. Porting PlayStation titles to PC is significantly cheaper than developing new games from scratch, he explained, making it “almost like printing money.” Those profits, in turn, help fund expensive new AAA projects for PlayStation.
Sony is currently in the process of bringing many PlayStation exclusives to PC through platforms like Steam and GOG.com, though Bloodborne may be an exception. The inability to play FromSoftware’s horror Soulslike title has become a point of contention for many Dark Souls fans, myself included. However, PS4 emulation is making notable progress on this front.
Yoshida speculated that FromSoftware’s boss, Hidetaka Miyazaki, might be interested in handling the port on his own, with no direct involvement from Sony.
Bringing PlayStation games to PC is a major win for business, especially in markets like China, where consoles aren’t as popular. Yoshida confirmed that China is a massive market, and PC releases are essential for reaching that audience. While the “very small” console market in China is still growing, successful releases will likely focus on PC conversions for the foreseeable future
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