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While wages have remained mostly stagnant as game and console prices and quantities have steadily increased, the “Console Wars” has been an important topic among video game enjoyers over the last two decades. Mainly involving Sony and Microsoft, the conflict centered around which company’s console had better games locked exclusively to them. Many game enjoyers have expressed that this willingness to bar those who prefer a specific console from certain games has been detrimental to the games industry as a whole.
In recent history, however, it seems that these concerns have been taken into account, with Playstation exclusive games beginning to be ported to Xbox and PC, and Xbox games being ported to Playstation. These changes have convinced general audiences that the long-standing “Console Wars” are over and video game enjoyers are finally able to play games freely. Yet under the surface, another plan was being put into motion.
On May 2, 2024 the steam page for Arrowhead Game Stuios’ Helldivers 2, Sony had announced that, starting May 6, a Playstation Network account would be required for PC players to access the game. Helldivers 2, having been released a few months earlier on February 8, 2024, was well received by general audiences and given glowing reviews across the board. The update announcement sparked outrage, leading to an influx of negative reviews and ultimately causing Sony to retract their decision. While it’s easy to see this as a positive outcome for consumers, the situation has left some with a sour taste in regards to the game itself. Regardless, this event was foreshadowing for what was to come.
Thursday May 30, 2024 marked the date for Sony’s State of Play broadcast – a yearly livestream wherein Sony reveals new information on the future of Playstation and it’s games. During the broadcast, PC ports of God of War Ragnarok and a remake of Until Dawn, both previously exclusive to the Playstation console, were revealed. We’ve seen Playstation games released to PC before, but the announcement was, for a brief moment, a spark of hope for more big and longstanding titles. However, that hope turned into widespread disappointment as the Steam pages for both games revealed that a PSN account would be required to play, as well as other ports of Playstation games.
It may seem innocuous, but this decision is harmful to consumers. PSN as a service is not available worldwide. In fact, the Playstation Network is unavailable in around 120 countries with Sony having no announced plans to expand the network, making the act of playing the game impossible for those without a Playstation. Any PC players who may find themselves in financial straits in these countries are being wholly overlooked for what one can only assume is an effort to boost PS5 sales.
The Sony Playstation 5 has 2 forms: Digital, which can only play digitally purchased video games, and Physical, which allows players to use physical game discs. At the time of writing, only the slim version of the PS5 seems to be available for retail, with the Digital version going for $400 USD and the Physical for $450 USD. Players who want an original console may have to buy secondhand, at which point prices can fluctuate. Game companies are beginning to push major games out for $70 USD. In order to purchase digital games, one needs to have a PSN account, meaning players in these countries will be shelling out more for a physical version of the console.
For a PC player, there are many things to take into consideration before buying a console: How many games am I going to buy for this? How often will I use this console? What if I don’t like the game/the way the console works? Not to mention the checkered past of Playstation security breaches that are more than enough to give one pause.
On top of this, players on the poorer side need to think about not only saving money, but coming up with money for each game as well. In the end, paying for a single game is an easier task than purchasing a game as well as a console.
If Sony is willing to work with these countries to expand the PSN, these worries can be left by the wayside. At this time, though, this could be unlikely seeing as how Playstation’s goal is to goad PC players into moving to PS5, as stated by Playstation co-CEO Herman Hulst. Overall, these decisions seem to be leftover ideology from the “Console War”, with Sony attempting to chokehold companies and gatekeep games in an effort to bolster console sales. It is this writer’s opinion that – in the currently rocky and presumably unsustainable climate of the games industry – Sony has it’s eyes set on being detrimental to consumers.
Written by Oshay McGrogan
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