Sony's Strategy Is Going Back to the PS4 Era, Says Ex-PlayStation Boss

Former PlayStation Studios head Shuhei Yoshida says Sony's renewed focus on exclusives and console players mirrors its PS4-era thinking, with platform business now calling the shots.

Remember when PlayStation exclusives were actually, well, exclusive? According to former Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida, that's exactly the direction Sony is heading back toward.

In a recent interview reported by GamesRadar+, Yoshida reflected on Sony's current moves and said the company's thinking seems to have returned to "a past era." Earlier this year, reports surfaced that Hermen Hulst, CEO of PlayStation Studios business group, told employees that narrative-driven single-player games like Saros and Ghost of Yotei would continue launching as PlayStation console exclusives going forward.

Yoshida explained that back in the PS4 days, when he was still at Sony, the company deliberately kept its AAA and first-party games off PC. Why? Because making a game a true PlayStation exclusive was seen as crucial for pulling in console players. That was the whole playbook.

Then the PS5 era shifted gears. Sony started catering to different crowds at once. Online titles like Helldivers 2 hit PlayStation and PC simultaneously, while big single-player games such as Horizon Forbidden West and Marvel's Spider-Man 2 eventually made their way to PC after a timed exclusivity window. The idea: give PS5 owners first dibs, let PC players wait patiently, and everyone goes home happy.

"They thought that was enough to attract PlayStation users," Yoshida said. "But at the same time, by releasing first-party games and IP onto PC and potentially reaching new audiences... those players on PC might become fans of the IP and might later buy a PlayStation console. I think that's how they were thinking at the time."

Now, though, Yoshida believes the pendulum has swung back. Rather than simply trying to get first-party games into as many hands as possible, Sony appears to be prioritizing exclusives as a way to drive its own platform forward.

Yoshida was quick to admit he's no longer at Sony, so he doesn't know what's really being said behind closed doors. But he has a theory: "Between the first-party game business and the platform business... it seems like the platform side has the upper hand now, I guess. The platform business always wants to have some exclusive content, right?"

So what do you think? Is Sony right to double down on exclusives, or should it keep spreading the love to PC? Drop your take in the comments.