The most important console makers can now not ignore {hardware}. Xbox put its total enterprise on the point of collapse chasing software program gross sales on the detriment of the Sequence X. Now Sony hopes it will probably keep away from the identical destiny, simply as the complete console market is about to face a brand new contender from Valve and its small, box-like Steam Machine.
This week, Sony’s PlayStation model launched a brand new controller. Truly, it’s not new in any respect. It’s the identical PlayStation 5 DualSense gamepad we’re all accustomed to. This time, nonetheless, the controller is “PC Prepared.” The irony sat heavy, contemplating Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reported on Wednesday that Sony was ending all plans to launch its largest titles on PC. That features final 12 months’s samurai simulator Ghost of Yotei and the upcoming motion sport Saros. Some titles, like Loss of life Stranding 2, will nonetheless hit the PC later this 12 months.
PC Gaming. Elevated. 🎮
The DualSense Wi-fi Controller is PC Prepared—straightforward setup, epic immersion.
🎧 Haptics – Really feel each drop and blast.
🎯 Triggers – Actual pressure at your fingertips.Examine your native retailers at the moment.https://t.co/yQJjifJyDr pic.twitter.com/5UR5Pfnlpp
— PlayStation Asia (@PlayStationAsia) March 5, 2026
Schreier based mostly his report on a number of nameless sources accustomed to Sony’s plans. If true, it might be an entire 180 of Sony’s current modus operandi. For the final a number of years, Sony waited just a few months after its video games launched on console to stay them on Steam and different PC sport launchers. A few of these video games didn’t promote all that nicely on different platforms. Whereas fan-favorite multiplayer shooter Helldivers 2 peaked at greater than 450,000 gamers on Steam two years in the past, different titles like God of Struggle Ragnarök and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 solely managed peak gamers of 35,615 and 28,189, respectively, in accordance with knowledge from SteamDB.
Sony realized it must compete with Steam
Valve calls for a 30% minimize on all sport gross sales from its Steam platform. That’s already a tough tablet to swallow for any writer, nevertheless it’s even worse for Sony. Valve is quickly set to compete within the console market with its Steam Machine. That gaming system is a small console/PC hybrid promising to let gamers take their total Steam library to their TV with minimal trouble. We nonetheless don’t know when it’s going to launch or how a lot it’s going to value. Nonetheless, with extra video games on PC, Sony could be fueling Valve’s potential success. Microsoft is probably going planning an identical pseudo-PC with its next-gen Xbox. The console could also be able to taking part in each Xbox titles and something you usually can on PC.
And it’s not simply competing consoles which are possible sticking in Sony’s craw. Sensor Tower’s State of Gaming 2026 report exhibits that whereas cellular gaming development has virtually stagnated on each the Apple App Retailer and Google Play Retailer, Steam’s income has quickly accelerated from 2024 into 2025, rising 13% year-over-year. Cellular remains to be by far the most important marketplace for video games, however Valve remains to be profitable in comparison with Xbox and PlayStation. Sensor Tower knowledge exhibits Steam had 857 million downloads in 2025, whereas PlayStation claimed 626 million. Xbox was straggling behind with 546 million.
A bleak report concerning the video games trade made the rounds a few weeks in the past. Then, final week, @ballmatthew added this chart to it
What it exhibits: Recreation trade income development in 2025, excluding China, Roblox, {hardware} and console companies was close to 0https://t.co/GAwEI9RyLX pic.twitter.com/9IGDDLFsl0
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) March 4, 2026
Valve could also be one of many few forces within the online game trade doing higher than in earlier years. Analyst Matthew Ball’s upsetting video games trade report for 2026 confirmed that income development outdoors of China and Roblox has stagnated. Video games are taking longer to make. Growth prices have ballooned exponentially lately. Main publishers can’t promote sufficient video games to recoup losses.
The video games trade can’t depend on software program alone
Nintendo has been essentially the most constant of all publishers in relation to sport exclusivity. It has refused to launch any of its first-party titles on every other platform. Even then, Bloomberg reported on Thursday that whereas the Swap 2 hit 17.37 million models offered, the variety of sport purchases per console was a mean of two.18. Nintendo’s handheld remains to be promoting like hotcakes, however gamers is probably not shopping for practically as many video games for these new handhelds.
Sony could also be calculating that it wants to emphasise {hardware} to make up for software program gross sales. It will possibly’t promote {hardware} until there are video games unique to the system. Xbox realized this lesson the exhausting means. It fully deemphasized unique video games, even placing franchises like Halo and Gears of Struggle on the PlayStation 5. It promoted Recreation Go subscriptions so exhausting that console gross sales flagged quarter after quarter till it began consuming into Microsoft’s bigger {hardware} enterprise.
Now, Xbox has solely new management in CEO Asha Sharma. She’s promising to rethink the sport exclusivity quandary. In the meantime, Sony might have a number of {hardware} launches slated for 2026, together with a brand new PlayStation Portal “Professional” distant participant and game-streaming gadget. It might have a new monitor and combat stick on its slate as nicely. Sony can also be updating the PlayStation 5 Professional with new upscaling know-how. The PS5 Professional might grow to be the one console able to supporting ray tracing at 60 fps, not less than based mostly on what Sony execs promise. Gamers might have the selection to purchase their video games on Steam or purchase them on PlayStation. However not each.
