Sony Will Target Steam Users To Increase PSN Users

There has been much discussion about the PSN requirements for Steam games since the Helldivers 2 issue happened in May 2024. However, Sony resolved the PSN dispute for the time being while the issue was still at large. Steam users still need a PSN ID to play the games published by PlayStation Publishing. Since this matter is somewhat sorted, Sony is planning to increase their PSN users by releasing more games on Steam and the old PlayStation IPs that Sony could revive to increase their revenue stream.

This idea came into view from a recent interview of Hideaki Nishino, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, with a Japanese magazine, Famitsu, where he stated that Sony will push the platform holder's intention to offer a broad range of experiences. The different IPs that PlayStation has, both from its first-party studios and through collaboration with third-party studios, are a key asset to the company and part of its efforts to strengthen its portfolio.

However, PlayStation is also constantly exploring ways to exploit existing IP and generate new franchises. This might indicate that Sony will begin recreating the classic PlayStation IP that fans have been requesting for years. Not to mention that Sony Interactive Entertainment and PlayStation's concentration will continue to be on home consoles, which was confirmed by Hideaki Nishino himself.

During the interview, Hideaki Nishino was asked about forecasts for future home consoles that run on the cloud rather than hardware and his thoughts on the likelihood of such structural changes for PlayStation. He replied that many users are now playing PS4 games, and the quantity of PS5 games is expanding. So, Sony does not expect things to alter dramatically on that front anytime soon, and he believes home consoles will continue to be the company's core business in the foreseeable future.

Hideaki also said that PC games are becoming more popular, and Sony is working on a strategy to boost the overall number of PlayStation users via Steam through the PlayStation Network. Sony had a fair share of criticism for the PSN requirement for Horizon: Zero Dawn Remastered on Steam, and gamers weren’t particularly happy with how things went at that time. So, they definitely want to repeat that same strategy.

He also mentioned the idea of cloud gaming with the PS Portal running PS5 games, which might lead to the misunderstanding that gaming has already reached the cloud age. He emphasized that players still require a controller and a display, so he does not expect the hardware to go very soon.

Now that we understand Sony will focus on increasing PlayStation users, this might lead to the question of whether they will be remaking their exclusive titles for PC or remastering them for PlayStation 5 to push the player base toward the PS Portal. Microsoft is now focusing on cloud gaming more than ever, and Sony obviously doesn’t want to fall too behind in that race.