Sony accidentally revealed that Uncharted 4 is coming to the PC

Sony accidentally revealed that Uncharted 4 is coming to the PC

It doesn't look like PS4 exclusives, which are also playable on PS5, will be limited to the PlayStation platform for much longer. During Sony's investor presentation, the company coincidentally revealed that the acclaimed Uncharted 4: A Thief's End will be available on PC. Considering that Sony has not officially announced this port, it was perhaps a bit inadvertent.

The PC release of Uncharted 4 follows a number of PlayStation exclusives, including Horizon Zero Dawn and Days Gone. Interestingly, according to Sony's presentation, Horizon achieved a 250% return on investment (ROI). In other words, Sony earned twice what it cost to port the game to the PC.

Without getting into too much game publishing trivia, Horizon was released on PS4 and PS4 Pro in February 2017; by 2020 the game had been discounted and was available on Amazon for about $10 when on sale. But when Sony decided to release the game for Windows in 2020, it could charge the first $60 again. And obviously, PC gamers were willing to pay full price for a three-year-old game.

According to Nielsen SuperData, as reported by VGC, the launch of Horizon Zero Dawn for PC was on par with The Witcher 3. This is significant given that The Witcher 3 is the second most awarded game of all time. The launch also surpassed the 2018 launch of Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

As of now, 2016's Uncharted 4 is selling for $10 at Best Buy. This is for a new copy. Used copies would be available for much less. And obviously, Sony does not make money on used sales. So, from a purely business standpoint, it makes economic sense to release years-old PlayStation exclusives on the PC.

It remains to be seen if "Uncharted - The Nathan Drake Collection" will be released on PC: It remains to be seen if "The Nathan Drake Collection" will also be ported to PC. This is a remastered collection of the first three "Uncharted" games released on the PS3. But honestly, if "Uncharted 4" is already available for PC, it would be a huge blunder for Sony not to release this collection.

Sony will leverage its exclusive title collection to sell consoles. That's why many gamers choose PlayStation hardware over Xbox just to play games like "The Last of Us: Part II"; by porting many of its AAA titles to the PC, it could cannibalize its console business. We suspect that Sony will port games to the PC only after the titles have sold out in the bargain. Also, hardware sales are not the bread and butter for Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. Hardware production is enormously expensive. Manufacturers tend to lose money on consoles and aim to recoup those costs through long-term game sales.

For example, despite the PS5 being the fastest-selling console in U.S. history, Sony expects to break even next month.

Currently, 2019's God of War is selling for $10 on Amazon. Perhaps Kratos will be the next Sony character to appear on the PC.

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