Early last month, Sony announced its acquisition of Nixxes Software, a studio known for porting console titles to PC. At the time, fans wasted no time theorizing that Sony made this move to bring PS exclusives to PC.
But as per Hermen Hulst, Head of PlayStation Studios, the studio was acquired to improve the in-house technical capabilities of PlayStation Studios.
However, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan’s latest comments on the sale indicate that fans were right on the money with their estimates.
In a recent interview with Famitsu, Ryan confirmed that Nixxes was added to the PlayStation Studios family to create PC ports for PlayStation exclusive titles.
Expressing his approval of Sony’s latest launches in the interview, Ryan said that Sony is very pleased with the quality of games PlayStation Studios is currently developing.
Name-dropping games like Returnal and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Ryan also added that Sony plans to improve its game development capabilities and develop more exclusive titles for PlayStation owners.
In light of these new and upcoming titles, Ryan brought up Sony’s new partnership with Nixxes and said the following:
We are also happy with our efforts to provide our IP to PCs, although it is still in its infancy, and we look forward to working with Nixxes to help with that.
Jim Ryan, PlayStation CEO
Sony’s excitement for more PS games on PC shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone considering their recent (and controversial) strategy shift when it comes to ports.
According to experts, the company has begun making PS exclusives available to PC gamers to entice them to purchase Sony consoles. This way, PC gamers who liked earlier releases on PC will get to enjoy other PS exclusives and sequels as well.
The first PS exclusive adapted for PC as a part of this shift was PS4’s Horizon Zero Dawn, one of PlayStation’s biggest hits. Horizon was eventually followed by Days Gone, another PS4 title that has gone on to become a cult classic.
However, there is one thing that PC gamers should note: PS exclusives that are also planned for PC don’t arrive on the latter platform until a long while after their release on PlayStation.
For instance, Horizon Zero Dawn arrived for PC a full three years after first dropping for PS4.
What’s more, it arrived just after the official announcement of its now delayed sequel, Horizon Forbidden West. So, PC gamers who want to play Horizon Forbidden West sometime soon will have to purchase a Sony console.
The next PS4 title reportedly arriving on PC is Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. The game was listed in a Sony investor relations document alongside Days Gone, and since the latter has already arrived on PC, an Uncharted 4 release is almost guaranteed at this point.
However, there is no confirmed release or period yet, so we should all keep our eyes peeled for that.
About Sony
Sony Corporation is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Kōnan, Minato, Tokyo. The company operates as one of the most comprehensive media companies on the planet and also holds the distinctions of being the largest video game console company and the second largest video game publisher in the world.
Its gaming and network services arm Sony Interactive Entertainment (formerly Sony Computer Entertainment) is best known for producing the popular line of PlayStation consoles.
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