What's next for Guerrilla, upcoming TV and film projects, and the guiding principles that drive PlayStation’s network of world-class game studios.
Just a few days ago, I caught up with Hermen Hulst, formerly the managing director of Guerrilla. In his first interview since becoming Head of Worldwide Studios, Hulst provides insight into his new role overseeing PlayStation’s international network of game developers and creators.
Our talk covers a lot of ground: from upcoming film and TV projects based on Uncharted and The Last of Us, to the upcoming PC port of Horizon: Zero Dawn, to what’s next for PlayStation’s international network of game studios.
Listen to our full interview here, or read on for some key excerpts, edited for brevity and clarity.
PlayStation.Blog: For years, you’ve been the head at Guerrilla, the studio behind Horizon Zero Dawn and the Killzone series. What have you been up to lately?
Hermen Hulst: First off, just let me say that it’s a great honor for me to lead such an incredibly talented team. Since I’ve been appointed as the Head of Worldwide Studios I’ve been spending some time at various studios, going around listening to teams. Obviously I knew a lot of people already [from my time at Guerrilla], but I’ve met a ton of new devs. And I’ve been trying to get a better understanding of how we can work even more closely than we already do.
I’m obviously involved in projects that I wasn’t before. I’m really pleased to see how well fans and press are responding to Dreams. It’s such an ambitious game.
PSB: There are PlayStation fans out there who have heard of Worldwide Studios, but they don’t know exactly what it is… How would you describe Worldwide Studios?
HH: I think I would define Worldwide Studios as probably the most global network of game creators that exists, or has ever existed. I mean, we’ve got studios across the world from Sucker Punch in Seattle to Media Molecule in Guildford to Polyphony Digital in Tokyo. It’s truly global.
And pretty much all of these teams started as independents. Typically they have their own identity, their own name, their own studio culture. But at the same time, they’re all very much part of this global network that is Worldwide Studios. So there you have it, in a nutshell.
PSB: Since you’ve come on board, have there been any changes at Worldwide Studios?
HH: I think Worldwide Studios is in a really good spot. We have been, and we are still, very much a quality-oriented group of developers. We’re storytellers, and we like to create new experiences.
And those are values that for a long time have been part of Worldwide Studios. And they’re going to continue to be part of Worldwide Studios. But we’re always looking to how we can improve things, how we work together, how we’re organized.
We’ve had a couple really great appointments of new leaders at the studios recently. You probably heard about Nicolas Doucet as the new head of Japan Studio… Alan Becker, who I’ve worked with for many, many years recently retired from Sony Interactive Entertainment. So Nick is a great appointment, he’s been creating innovative showcases for PlayStation since his early days at London Studios. He worked on EyeToy… he’s one of those guys who can tinker with hardware and bring innovation to the platform.
And Yumi Yang has been appointed as the new head of Santa Monica Studio. You know Yumi Yang, she’s been there from the beginning. She knows the people… she’s been such a vital part of establishing all these processes that have generated 20 years of great games coming out of Santa Monica.
She’s one of those people that gets creative talent. And I think the creatives love working for her because of that.
Actually, while we’re talking about Santa Monica Studio, I’d like to give a shoutout to Shannon Studstill, whom I’ve partnered with for many, many years. I’m really grateful for her, she left recently. And with her special brand of leadership fostering talent, she’s been so great at succession planning. And that’s exactly why we have Yumi there now, all set up.
PSB: From your perspective, what makes Worldwide Studios special? Can you chalk it up to the structure, people and talent… or is it the freedom that’s provided to these folks?
HH: I think all of those elements are crucial to it. What’s unique about Worldwide Studios is that everyone here loves making games with a lot of heart and soul. It’s never just a job. People at the studios are so connected to the titles that they make.
And I think what’s key here is Sony Interactive Entertainment’s commitment to giving creative teams time to realize their vision. It takes time to create these heartfelt experiences, to create innovative experiences. And Sony really gets that, so I’m very grateful for that.
I should also mention the PlayStation community. I think it’s one of our greatest strengths at Worldwide Studios and PlayStation at large. Increasingly, I see deeper connections between developers and the community.
PSB: You’ve been with the company for a long time, you know what goes into a hardware launch year. A lot of challenges and opportunities that studios face, including Worldwide Studios. What are the teams focused on right now?
HH: You know, these are the most exciting times when you develop on a console. We are super hard at work at the moment… and honestly, I can’t wait to talk to you in more detail about that.
Let me just say — we have some of our biggest exclusives on PlayStation 4, either having recently released like Dreams, or coming out very soon like MLB The Show on March 13 (editors’ note: early access date, with pre-order), The Last of Us Part II on May 29, we’ve got a really great new IP that I’m so psyched about, Ghost of Tsushima. So there’s a lot coming out on PS4 as well.
PSB: Is there anything you can tell us about your vision for the future of Worldwide Studios, whether it’s going into next generation or beyond?
HH: We’re very committed to dedicated hardware, as we were before. We’re gonna continue to do that. And we’re very committed to quality exclusives. And to strong narrative-driven, single-player games.
At the same time, we’re going to be very open to experimentation, to new ideas. Just trying things out to see what works. I think that’s also very much part of the DNA of Worldwide Studios.
PSB: Speaking of experimentation, there have been rumors of a Horizon Zero Dawn complete edition that might be coming to PC… can you confirm or deny that?
HH: Yes, I can confirm that Horizon Zero Dawn is coming to PC this summer…. There will be more information coming from Guerrilla, from the new studio directors [Michiel van der Leeuw, JB van Beek, and Angie Smets] pretty soon.
PSB: PlayStation is no stranger to publishing titles on the PC, but Horizon: Zero Dawn is one of the largest games to make that leap. Is there anything you would say to PlayStation fans? What does it mean for the future?
HH: Sure. I think it’s important that we stay open to new ideas of how to introduce more people to PlayStation, and show people maybe what they’ve been missing out on.
And to maybe put a few minds at ease, releasing one first-party AAA title to PC doesn’t necessarily mean that every game now will come to PC. In my mind, Horizon Zero Dawn was just a great fit in this particular instance. We don’t have plans for day and date [PC releases], and we remain 100% committed to dedicated hardware.
PSB: What do you think of Dreams?
HH: I think what Media Molecule pulled off is just pure wizardry. These guys are empowering players to make and share their own games. If you reflect on that… not only did they create a new engine, and not just an edit suite, but a digital content creation suite on top of it.
I’ve been speaking with a few graphic coders from other teams about Dreams, and it’s hard for them to even get their head around it… [they’re] puzzled about how Media Molecule pulled it off.
PSB: PlayStation Productions is out to expand the reach of PlayStation IP by bringing it to mediums like film and TV. There’s not a lot of info out there — can you tell us about the strategy?
HH: I would say the purpose of creating PlayStation Productions is to introduce our stories, characters, and worlds to new audiences while making content our fans will be proud of. The approach is to bring together film and TV directors, work with people who have a ton of respect and passion for our gaming IP.
We’ve got IP dating back for more than 25 years now, and we’ve been delighted to find quite a few PlayStation fans among these film and TV creators. What I’ve also come to understand is that our IP is perfectly suited to adapt to linear storytelling.
In a film and TV market, where IP and franchises are king, we’ve built up one of the most exciting IP libraries in entertainment…. I should mention that we are including the game makers in this expansion process. We want to ensure that we’re very authentic in that approach.
It’s really important that the game makers are a big part of it. We’re not just creating direct copies of our games, we’re really making an effort to adapt their stories to best fit that medium.
PSB: We know about the Uncharted film. What other projects are underway?
HH: We’re very excited. The Uncharted film starts shooting this month with Columbia Pictures. It’s got a great cast — Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, and recently announced Antonio Banderas. It’s going to be a really fun movie, [it] will help reach audiences who maybe haven’t heard of Uncharted before.
A big one recently announced — we’re partnering with HBO on a The Last of Us TV show. We’re so excited to be working with the award-winning team that brought you Chernobyl, with Craig Mazin co-writing the show with our very own Neil Druckmann from Naughty Dog.
There’s a lot more to come on PlayStation Productions, but that’s what I can tell you now.
There’s even more in the full interview! Hulst also shares how he broke into the gaming industry, whether he inverts his Y-axis, and what his 1994-era self would say if he could see 2017’s Horizon: Zero Dawn.
i hope this experiment with Horizon Zero Dawn is successful. i hope all these people wanting PS games on PC weren’t just talking…
It gives me and many others less of a reason to buy Sony hardware and games on PSN. So now Sony reduced their hardware sales potential and are opting to get 70% instead of 100% from a game sale. Dumb move.
This game was launched 3 years ago for PS4. What it had to sell on the PS4, it already did. Sony is not “reducing their hardware sales” because of that gap. Besides, the majority of console users is comprised of the most casual who only buy a PS4 to play soccer, FPS etc, so even if all exclusives went to PC, it’d barely hurt the platform.
Sony has just reduced their hardware sales of the PS5 and any console they make going forward, not the PS4.
“it’s an old game” is not an argument. That are 1000s of old Sony games. Porting any of them as PC experiment creates the same result. Reduced desire for the console. Reduced sales of 1st party and 3rd party games within PSN.
The casuals you refer to also play with their friends, some of which will just go to PC and take their friends there too.
You won’t feel it today. You won’t feel it tomorrow but for a company that is supposed to play 5+ years in the future it is a very bad move that undermines the brand/ecosystem on the long run.
Everyone got a different reason to opt for a console instead of a PC. I have two PCs fairly superior to any console and every PlayStation because I prefer to have physical copies of my games, and it’s more convenient to play with a gamepad without additional setup (plug n’ play). If you go out asking people why they have a PS4, most will tell you tell that PC is synonym of workplace or that they don’t have experience to build or choose a pre-built one.
If Microsoft weren’t so dumb to force a weaker hardware with Kinect, they could be on par with Sony right now, despite their “exclusives” coming to PC (that guess what, are running on their SO, Windows).
And I’ve always had PCs that I mostly played MMOs on but I also had every Sega and Nintendo Console. I played non-MMO games on consoles. In fact I skipped all PS consoles until Microsoft present bad plans for the Xbox One/future. PS4 was my first time owning a Sony console. I am a consumer and dislike the the plans this company is showing. I am a consumer and will move onto places that better fit my expectations. You and others can stay because you think games are fun but I can find games anywhere. I am looking for company with plans I respect.
“Everyone got a different reason to opt for a console instead of a PC. I have two PCs fairly superior to any console and every PlayStation because I prefer to have physical copies of my games, and it’s more convenient to play with a gamepad without additional setup (plug n’ play). If you go out asking people why they have a PS4, most will tell you tell that PC is synonym of workplace or that they don’t have experience to build or choose a pre-built one.”
Wut. Steam has had plug and play support for PS4 controller for YEARS now. I’ve played almost every major action game with one since 2016. Sekiro was great on my DS4 on PC
I’ll say the same about Sony that I said about Xbox over 5 years ago. Making the same mistake of putting your exclusives on PC is going to hurt PS5 console sales.
Ive got a high end PC. If i can just play all PlayStation and Xbox games on my PC, I wont need a PS5. Ill just go with a PC/Switch combo.
Was really happy about Nicolas Doucet’s promotion, bring on Astro Bot 2!!!
This is very… sad.
Why?
Launch on Steam or no buy
The listing is already up on Steam.
Today is the worst day in PlayStation history
It is pretty obvious that they told you not to ask them about PS5 questions Horrible interview in my opinion
Please be transparent. Bring all to PC and not hide behind the “only on playstation” so many games with this label are coming to pc already. Be open and say what games you’re bringing. I swear I buy every game of you on PC. But I don’t want do get a ps5 of they’re coming. Just clarifies. You will have my money anyways: )
First party games on PC?! Really!? Look at xbox hardware sales after publishing on PC’s.
It’s one game so calm down. He says right in the interview that you shouldn’t expect most of their games to go to PC. Horizon is 3 years old and this will just get more people interested in Horizon 2 on PS5. Not to mention the engine is already built for PC due to Death Stranding going over there.
Death Stranding is already on PC, and both run off the same engine. It’s not hard to guess why they chose Horizon.
Hermen literally made it abundantly clear that it’s just to show the players of another platform what they’re missing out on. It’s just one game, not their entire catalogue. And also a potential revenue stream for Sony.
It isn’t one game. They are doing this with MLB the Show and they lost all of Quantic Dreams games.
HZD makes as much sense as any other game.
And the showing the PC community PS games is what happens when Sony releases games. The game merely existing shows people that they can play it.
Revenue stream? So let’s reduce the demand for the console and remove the need of PSN in order to sell games on Steam and earn 30% per sale. Brilliant.
Well considering they don’t own Quantic Dream you shouldn’t be surprised to see their games on another platform. Also MLB is a sports license so that isn’t exactly entirely up to Sony either.
Mercenary is wrong.
Death Stranding
Quantic D games
HZD
Journey
Talks of Dreams
It’s setting a dangerous precedent. PSNow is doing the same. It sacrifices hardware sales for software sales and atm install base is still king. Xbox lost this gen even in revenue. The sacrifice isn’t worth it, not yet. Not until services overtake hardware.
Each game has some kind of reasoning. I didn’t call QD games 1st party. I said Sony lost the exclusivity. Sony also lost the exclusivity of MLB the Show for whatever reason they claim. It is odd that all of that comes months after Shawn Layden talked about “select games” going to PC. To me, reading the combination of events it looks less like just 1 game and more like a plan coming into play. If it was just 1 game then they would not have called it an experiment. They would have stated it is only HZD. Who cares if it shares an engine with Death Stranding? Dozens of other Sony games run on Unreal thus shares that engine with countless other PC games.
Sony is planning to fail with the PS5 and their software sales. Good job, Herman.
Kill the brand one IP at a time.
Exclusive games were the best of Sony and now you’re ruining it.
Come on…
It is a gateway of things.
It is a move towards a bigger goal.
“we don’t currently have plans” and “not necessarily” are weasel statements businesses make when they do have such goals but have not “officially” documented them.
I stand by what I say. They are planning to fail with their next gen. You’ll still get pretty titles but like the PS3 to PS4 transition there will be less with selections going to PC. Passing on the hardware and waiting for the software is not a good sales move.
Well this should teach them a lesson
What’s wrong with letting more people plays more awesome games? Sony will still make money out of it and their consoles will still sale for those who can’t afford a high end PC.
You are a true PlayStation fan I don’t know why is the person that greenlit this is like Sony was blind to the failings of Xbox but playstation fans won’t stand for this
Except everyone that was going to buy those games on PS4, already did.
PS5 exclusives aren’t going to launch on PC day 1 so the reason for PS5 will still exist.
PS5 is going to be a cheaper alternative to a gaming PC for anyone who already owns a TV.
PC gamers are still the minority and putting a 3 year old game on PC isn’t going to lower PS5 sales because it’s not going to increase PC sales… Nobody in their right mind is going to build a PC when they can just buy a cheaper console.. but this game is so good that it might make someone who owns a $2000+ gaming rig decide to splurge on a console that they can plug into their monitor.
Physical consoles and gaming PCs might become less important to a lot of people once cloud gaming/game streaming services starts to take off…
It isn’t going to lower PS5 sales and yet you have people saying in this very post that they will just pass on PS5 and wait on PC for future Sony games.
If people telling you that they aren’t buying the console is enough to prove you wrong then I don’t know what will. Some people are immune to truth and facts. It makes is really hard to have an intelligent discussion.
“And to maybe put a few minds at ease, releasing one first-party AAA title to PC doesn’t necessarily mean that every game now will come to PC. In my mind, Horizon Zero Dawn was just a great fit in this particular instance. We don’t have plans for day and date [PC releases], and we remain 100% committed to dedicated hardware.”
Awww; I actually think its really cool that you’re dipping your toes in the PC environment! It’ll help even more people play these wonderful games, and it’ll help these games shine even more. A lot of games, need a 2nd chance to shine: Freedom Wars, Gravity Rush…These games are so good and they deserve another chance at success. I hope y’all will consider more titles to port in the future! That said, you guys are awesome!
C’mon people it’s been three years since horizon came out! If PC players wanna play let them! We’ve had it for years… what I will complain about is the fact we still havent gotten any news about the PS5. Xbox is all over the news talking about their features. Stop the BS and tell us something!! Is it about the price?! Every game site I’ve seen has taken polls as to what gamers will pay, just make its $500 already and let’s gets some pre orders ready!
For real it’d be pretty cool to get some info on what exactly the PS5 is, what it can do, and when its coming out.
“Hey PC gamers, this is the sort of content you’re missing from not having a PS4.”
I think that it is a pretty smart move, actually. Marketing at its finest.
If it were Bloodborne, I would buy it again to play in 4K/60 FPS. Preferably Demon’s Souls, hidden gem still stuck on the PS3.
What is crazy is that old Sony made an entire console to attract PC gamers by attempting to up the power.
Now Sony wants to make pennies on the dollar now and reduce their brandpower.
“What is crazy is that old Sony made an entire console to attract PC gamers by attempting to up the power.
Now Sony wants to make pennies on the dollar now and reduce their brandpower”
If PC gamers start getting a taste of the quality of PS exclusives then they will most likely buy a PS5.. this is the exact same thing that happened with RDR2.. some people couldn’t wait and got a PS4 just to play it.
Same thing with Nintendo games.. Older PC gamers know the quality of Nintendo games and bought a Switch..
PS4 exclusives are
completely on another level and some PC players have not experienced that… after playing HZD they might get the itch to play GoW, Spider-Man, Uncharted, Last of us Remastered, Bloodborne, Ghosts of Tsushima..that list alone is a console seller and a great reason to want a PS5..
Your thinking is very backwards in my opinion…
I own a gaming PC and if anything this generation of PS games has made me decide to not bother upgrading it. So at least in my case they succeeded in attracting a PC gamer..
Já vi que próxima geração não vou de Ps5, a Sony está matando a marca Playstation
and anybody will not purchase playstation anymore. they’ll say ‘please release the last of us part 2 to PC’
szit.
#MoveSonyBacktoJapan
#BringKutaragiBack
#MoveSonyBacktoJapan I agree with every coment you posted my friend.
RIIIIIIDGE RACER
Thank you TJ_Solo. All these jackasses saying this is a good thing don’t understand this devalues the brand as a whole.I say we true Ps fans boycott ghost and tlou2.
Can’t believe i pre ordered hzd only to see it go to pc. Way to be a disappointment Playstation.
Lately playstation has been disappointing. we still can’t delete multiple friends on psn and ps store is slow. Ps5 details aren’t out yet. Ps plus is required for online and we know you’re just getting free money by doing that. Everything has been a disappointment lately. i wish i could go back to 2017 and be hyped for god of war again.
Genuinely, are you actually losing anything from this? If you got the game and enjoyed it, it being elsewhere doesn’t take away the enjoyment you had, does it? If you don’t have interest in PC gaming, you aren’t really losing anything, right?
Wow you’re crying because you pre-ordered and played a game 3 years ago and now some other people get to play the game now? How sad you are.
“Only on Playstation” my bum.
Sony why would you devaluate your own brand? Worst mistake to release exclusives to PC. Please stop it!
The only way for them so stop is if the sales are extremely and the game gets pirated a dozen times
Maybe you should bring all of your first-party games to PC, then everyone will stop purchasing any PS hardware? Very bad move.
Crazy Sony
Indeed :)
I guess that “Only on PlayStation” was a lie. No point in putting that slogan on your games anymore.
That’s pretty dense don’t ya think? It is still PlayStation brand games.
I don’t think that’s being dense at all. “Only on PlayStation” has a meaning, which is a game can only be experienced on the PlayStation console. This is no longer true for Horizon Zero Dawn, and games before it like Heavy Rain, Beyond Two Souls, Detroit: Become Human, and games from the PS2 era. At the time of release, that slogan was true for those games, but now Sony is playing a dangerous game by not living up to their own slogan. I know, I know, don’t expect “every” game to release on PC “day 1”, but the future is now uncertain for some gamers who can only financially/time wise afford to only play in one place. Why get any console now when you can blissfully wait for a PC release, whether that hope ends up becoming a reality or not, a precedent has now been set.
If the exclusive PlayStation games will arrive on the PC, it would not make sense to invest in the PS5 in the future, just give my PC Hardware an UP for a new generation and that’s it! I invest in PlayStation precisely because of the exclusive quality games and it looks like it will end soon! Sony will lose a lot with the sales of consoles with this stupid strategy. The public of XBOX were all for the PC because of this same strategy from Microsoft.
Sony needs new leadership because Andrew house shouldn’t have left he was against pc
I honestly only would’ve got Xbox One for the Master Chief collection. But THANKFULLY it came to Steam, so now I can own the whole thing and play online for free.
Yep thay release playstation exclusive on PC I believe will affect sales of consoles
Exactly
I agree
I originally was in favor of Herm and Jim Ryan, but now i’m not so confident.
The loss of Layden and House make sense now. They have a different vision and i just don’t understand why leadership would squander the enormous foundation that was built this generation?
Why change the policies that made you incredibly successful? Why not fight to keep the people that built it? This is unnecessary experimentation and essentially Sony is rewriting the book on how to squander a good thing.
Kaz, House, Layden, Dr Marks, Studstill, Boyes, Bruce, shu all moved or left.
I didn’t like the news of an exclusive game for the PC …. I bought the ps4 for the exclusives! Zero score for you !!
PlayStation 5 ?
don’t seem to want to sell PlayStation 5.
I can understand fans getting upset with Sony releasing exclusives on PC the same time as on PlayStation console. Horizon Zero Dawn though has ran it’s course though on PS4. It’s been out for three years and by the time it does come out it’ll be 3 1/2. This doesn’t mean Horizon Zero Dawn 2 will launch on PC the same day it launches on PS5. I think Sony is looking at this similar to PS Now. Let developers and company get their reward and profit when the game initially comes out knowing you can only get it on PlayStation. That is what draws people into purchasing their console over others. Everything is going to be A okay.
Nintendo did not not release any of their games on PC because it would devalue their brand platform exclusives ecosystem PlayStation lost my respect im not even hyped for PS5 anymore nor HZD2 why should i be hyped about a multiplat
No, Nintendo just started churning out mobile games filled with Microtransactions left and right and no one batted an eye. lol
These other players can just buy a PS4 (it’s cheaper now) to play Horizon Zero Dawn (it’s REALLY cheap now) amongst other exclusive games. The PS5 is supposed to be backwards compatible anyways, so the focus should be on PS5 MARKETING and not trying to hook people with 1 exclusive game on PC. PC gamers are well aware of what is on PS4.
“Only on PlayStation” was a lie.
LOL They have gotten pretty much all the juice from HZD. HZD was released on February 28, 2017. And your all bent up about them putting it on PC 3 years later? It’s more revenue coming in from PC to make even better games form GG first on PS and years later on PC.
And what is it still not releasing on XB1 or Switch HZD…
“Only on PlayStation”
It should be labelled “console exclusive” instead.
All the people in coments moaning about just 1 exclusive that is 3 years old coming to pc. It is a great move to show pc players what kind of exclusives you can get only on Playstation. And its not like they are putting every Playstation exclusive on pc, so theres no need for the doom and gloom about the PS5.
Actually it’s 2 exclusives.
And Herman calls this an “experiment” when lends one to believe more can come depending on whatever results they achieve. Except they should PC gamers what great games are on PS by just making those games. “PC GAMERS” are just people that can buy a PS console to play games like anyone can. Putting games on PC kills the reason to buy a console. It kills the reason to buy games from PSN. It may be so slow that people like you won’t notice.
TJ you have no idea what you are talking about. Most people aren’t going to sit around for 3-4 years or more hoping that a certain game comes to PC. You are still going to have games exclusive to PS5 for a long time and that is all that matters. People will continue to buy the console to play those games as soon as possible.
@TJ What two exclusives?
If you’re referring to Death Stranding, that’s not Sony publishing it on PC and it was never going to be exclusive. From the day they signed that deal with Kojima, it was announced that the game was launching first on PS4, then PC at a later date.
Most people? I don’t know what the majority is doing but there are people waiting and with this news will wait again with the PS5 to see what games Sony experiments with next instead of buying a console or 60 dollar game off PSN.
The 2 games I was referring to was HZD and MLB. You can say different reasons but I think it is one helluva coincidence for all these games to go to PC is such a short time. coincidences aren’t a thing in business.
Not gonna buy Horizon for PS4 and this is coming from a new user who just got bought a ps4 just to play Bloodborne.
If you bought a PS4 just for Bloodborne then odds are you weren’t buying it for PS4 anyways.
Bloodborne and Horizon were the two games that convinced me to finally buy a PS4 after all these years and I’m willing to atleast give the exclusives a try specially Spider-Man, just not Horizon because of this.
Make this a hard lesson for you and don’t just make an assumption based on nothing.
I am a person who does not create high expectations for game releases. I usually buy after a while, for a lower price and a more complete edition. This news from Sony saves me from buying a PlayStation 5, because Hermen’s speech is very reminiscent of Phil Spencer’s: he talks about exclusives and in the next answer he puts an exclusive on the PC.
The best solution for me is a good PC instead of the PS5. But that will bring its cost to Sony: instead of Gran Turismo, I will buy Forza. Instead of Killzone, Halo and so on.
This is terrible! This is a betrayal of your fanbase, which the Playstation loved for its exclusives. You flush down Quantic Dreams games into the Personal Calculators at first, now Horizon. What will be next? How do you believe in the future? On my BD disk with Horizon: Zero Dawn clearly written – Only on Playstation. Does this inscription mean nothing more? You do not care so much about your fans who supported you for many years?
Where is the information about Playstation 5? Here explain to me how your fan since 1997 and as a potential buyer of PS5, why should I continue to support you? I loved you, I bought the most expensive editions of your games that I could afford, I renewed the PS Plus subscription despite the fact that I did not need it. Just because I wanted to support a company that cares about its fans, providing them with great games that others don’t have.
Are you saying this is a “doesn’t necessarily” experiment? There is no faith in your words and no evidence.
If you think that PlayStation is bought for an ecosystem, then this is not so. Playstation buy for exclusives. Fans endure the lagging PSN, the braking menu, the cut-off speed of downloading games only for the sake of your exclusives.
Why should I continue to be a fan of Playstation? You have sold 100 million consoles, why do you need a PC sump? If HZD is really a single act of betrayal and all this is just a marketing ploy to attract new users, then this is an extremely bad idea to relate to your fans. It was they who were your pillar all the time of the existence of the Playstation, and not PC pirates.
Psn hardly lags and the menu is fine
Oh calm down, this is not the end of everything, you will still get awesome game, isn’t that the point?
They actually explained exactly WHY they’re putting this on PC. If this game can hook people, it may well entice them to buy a PS4 and check out other games on it, or invest in a PS5 so they can play the sequels. Plus it could potentially result in other benefits, like other companies seeking to license their Decima engine.
There’s more benefits to it than just needing PC sales, and they know exclusives are important, which is why not every game is going there.
There’s a reason why xbox is 3rd place stupid Sony wants to be in 3 rd place too
Xbox isn’t in 3rd place b/c their exclusives are also on PC. It’s because they aren’t a global brand, they don’t have many good exclusives worth owning, and they screwed up royally at the start of this generation.
Good interview, color me excited for this next chapter of Playstation’s history.
Lol at all the people here who clearly have years of experience running global companies. People acting like Horizon going to PC is going to singlehandedly be the death of Playstation. Like others have said, the game has been exclusive for 3 years; giving other people a chance to check it out is hardly a bad thing (and who knows, may incentivize them to check out other Playstation titles). Plus this isn’t the first time a PS exclusive has gone multiplatform (see: Tekken, MGS, Monster Hunter…), and Playstation seems to be doing just fine.
P.S. Loved the bonus questions at the end. Shouts outs to Sid using y-look invert <3
bring back Yoshida
Lost exclusives Detroit become human, beyond two souls, heavy rain, death stranding, mlb the show, journey and more that am forgetting great job
Yeah because all of those games were still selling so many copies all these years later. Some of you have no idea what you are talking about.
Death Stranding was never an exclusive.From the beginning of was announced for both PS4 & PC.
It*
PlayStation should be focusing on PS4/5 and making them the most appealing and competitive hardware to draw in everyone. Not wasting that time and resources on PC ports. If Guerrilla wants to do ports, why aren’t they bringing Killzone games to PS4 instead, that would’ve been great in these dry months.
They will probably port it…on PC.
Dry months?
What parallel universe are you living in.
Oh no, Sony is branching one of their most popular games out to PC so others can play it. The sky is falling what should we do? Relax guys, I wouldn’t be surprised if God of War is next. Some PC gamers don’t want to purchase a console and it is totally fine for Sony to branch out to them, they are going to have to make extra money somehow to cover selling the PS5 at a loss. I own all 3 consoles and it doesn’t bother me one bit that Xbox exclusives are on PC and this doesn’t bother me as well, imagine Spider-Man on PC and how good that would look on a high end PC or even how well that would sell on Steam. Look at how PC gamers reacted for Halo on Steam, that game did very well on Steam and I’d imagine the same for Horizon Zero Dawn. I wasn’t a big fan of Horizon Zero Dawn but it was critically acclaimed for a reason.
This is a mistake. PC players will not buy a playstation if you give them a taste of HZD. They will just assume you will release on PC and wait for it now. You’re ruining your brand. Don’t piss off your hardcore fanbase to try and appeal to people who look down on consoles and won’t buy one.
I couldn’t have said it better myself, this is gonna blow up in their faces later on
This is big mistake what out e
thanks for confirming to me that i don’t need to buy a PS5 or any more of Sony’s games from the playstation store now Hermen!
Except he didn’t confirm that. Of course you are more than welcome to not buy a PS5 and sit around for years hoping that a certain game may come to PC one day. You’ll be the one missing out.
@Mercenary09
no thank you, if HZD comes, everything will follow, and faster, if you believe that it won’t then i have a bridge to sell you
PlayStation nothing what out exclusive
Hello,
I love the idea of this game coming to PC, but please havne it come to Steam and not EGS, because Steam has achievements and all the other cosial features that EGS does not have, and probably never will have.
Thank you so much!
Sorry I meant Social features
It’s on steam :)
However you want to spin it “experimentation”, porting WWS games to other platforms weakens the “dedicated hardware” console PlayStation platform. Every new WWS game will be begged-for and true- or false-rumoured for other platforms and PS5 will be weakened by the narrative that it’s not going to be needed even for WWS games. “Just wait for the ports.” This isn’t a new or unique situation, PSP and other consoles have suffered this narrative yet you’ve chosen to do it anyway.
It used to be a simple and clear message: Want WWS games? Buy the latest PlayStation. No longer.
OH nyooooooooooo, more people might get to experience a great game… time to cry about it in the comments.
yeah, I hate when some people don’t want more people to experience the things that the love .___.
It’s nothing to do with not wanting other people to play the game, anyone can play the game now, I’ve never heard of people not being allowed to buy a PS4
How about porting Tokyo Jungle, Folklore, Ape Escape 3, Fat Princess, Motorstorm, Infamous and many other PS1/PS2/PS3 games to PS4 instead?
I personally been hoping for the Ratchet and Clank games to come over to PS4.
They don’t care, now it’s all about PC for Sony.
No reason to buy a PS5. Just say that you are interested on PC and stop lying to your consumers.
Death Stranding, MLB, Horizon are all going to PC. The port begging of games like The Last of Us 2 and Ghost of Tsushima already started.
We are waiting for news about PS5 and all we hear are ports on PC.
Yeah, PC is definitely the way to go from now on. You can play Sony games, Xbox and PC exclusives without a monthly subscription.
Congratulations Hermen and Jim for supporting PC and destroy all hype for PS5.
Death Stranding was never an exclusive dude. You also have to think about that not many people can afford a high end PC from the ground up, so consoles are still gonna sell and be made. So options are nice too you know.
I hate to admit it, but after that news, this will be the beginning of the end for PlayStation! He will enter the field of irrelevance like XBOX today, this situation is very sad.
How exactly? They’re still gonna make games and consoles regardless.
548/5000
Do you really think PC gamers will buy a PlayStation because of Sony exclusives? Don’t go man, PC players are very fond of better graphics and FPS and on PC they have better Graphics and FPS in games, lower prices on Steam, and most of them can still pirate games! They will expect to leave all Sony exclusives on the PC as happened with XBOX, this news from HZD will give a very strong indication that this will happen in the future unfortunately! There are already very strong rumors that The Last of Us Part 2 will also come out for PC.
Do you belive that many people will drop consoles to buy 3-4x more expensive PCs?
Primary PC games already don’t care about new consoles and most of them wouldn’t buy one anyway. Ps5 will dominate casual gaming market because it’s cheap and easy to set up. I know a lot of people with relatively good PCs that still bought PS4 because they just want to pop in a disc and play, without fiddling around with settings or various problems in case something doesn’t work.
Its revenue for a 3 years old game dude, and they still make money.
Baiting the PC crowd with games, eh?
You’re a sly one, Mr. Hulst.
only thing i can say about horizon zero dawn going to pc is simple.
i have cancelled my pre order for the last of us 2.
and am not going to buy ghosts of sushima day 1.
if i wanted to see playstation games end up on pc i would never have invested in playstation beforehand.
developers these days already have enough on their minds.
now you have to focus on a whole other platform.
i have been a long time playstation day 1 guy bought psvr day 1.
don’t know who thought of this.
see ya in the 5 dollar sale bin maybe.
So you played Sony games not because they are good but because they are exclusive to playstation ?
I’ve been with PS since PSX, I’m very happy HZD is coming to PC. Day 1 Steam purchase for me and collector’s edition for new PS4 games staying strong.
Wait, so (supposed) sympathy for developers because they have extra work, but you also don’t want to support them by actually buying the games they worked so hard to make?
Gotta love it
Those are different development teams that aren’t even working for the same company?
And most of the time ports from games are outsourced…
It’s extremely doubtful that Guerilla Games isn’t already working on HZD2 while HZD PC port is being worked on by some 3rd party studio or a team built out of new hires with all the money they made from HZD.
It’s also ridiculous to think that Guerilla Games working on a port would somehow impact a game being made by Naughty Dog or Sucker Punch.
If you enjoyed HZD you should just be happy someone else that wouldn’t otherwise have played it also gets to enjoy it.
Well this somewhat makes me feel like an fool after being a 20+ Playstation user/costumer and viewing SONY-s. Let me explain how i view things.
First the good news, more people will get to play the game and Sony will get a short boost to the profits.
Now lets take a look at the potential bad news.First i don’t trust this will be the last first-party-studio exclusive coming to PC, despite Mr. Hulst statements. There have been numerous sources already stating that (for example Dreams).
And no this will certainly not make PC folk buy a PS5, especially cuz waiting 2-3 years is nothing when you have hundreds of other games.
I can say with confidence, that they will start losing a certain ammount of Playstation costumers (possibly myself included), and they will start losing trust from Playstation costumers that are sticking to the platform.
Long term, i see this as a negative to the Playstation and console-gaming in general.
Of course it will not be the last. Sony already released Heavy Rain, Beyond, Detroit, Journey, Death Stranding.
Horizon and MLB are coming soon. Dreams is next. Soon all games are going to PC.
Enough is enough. There is no reason to buy a PS5.
Thing is Diego, this is a first-party title.
The mentioned games are from second-third party developers, so that is why people didn’t mind.
Mr. Hulst never said this would be the last; quite the opposite, in fact. He just said that it wasn’t going to be every game, that they still know exclusivity is important, and that there wouldn’t be day-and-date releases of games on the PC.
MM themselves said Dreams was coming, so those “soruces” aren’t as enlightened as they’d like you to think.
And you’d be surprised. I’ve seen more than a few PC dudes cave and buy a PS4 once they finally tried the games, usually only at a friend’s house. This could be the taste that finally gets them into the console space.
This is the beginning of the End of PlayStation it’s like Kojima did more harm than good it’s like SIE playing wearing blindfolds looking at Xbox you guys at SIE can’t be upset that we are venting our frustrations over you selling out PlayStation just to appease another platform (PC) that isn’t yours nor control it. Nintendo is older than yall not one first party game they ever ported to PC wanna know why because it destroys the concept of exclusives congratulations not only yall put a dent in PS5 hype but every game going forward will be met with concern is it exclusive or not. If Andrew house were still here this wouldn’t have happened.
Andrew House is the man who inked the deal with Kojima that said Death Stranding would be launching on PC later. That deal was announced long before Kojima even revealed his game, or even had an engine picked out.
You’re overreacting to this. As it stands, there’s literally nothing to be concerned about. Could that change? Sure could. But save your worries and your freakouts for then. And try to remember, it’s just games, man.
I’ve been a PC, Nintendo and Sony idort ever since the PS1, i still play PS1 games to this day on original hardware, it’s my favorite console of all time, mostly thanks to 3rd party exclusives which your company has completely abandoned and resigned by now.
I see no reason to buy the PS5 now, i’ll just wait for the Steam ports and get them for 10$ on sale.
Nintendo is the only company left who understands the value of exclusives and that’s why i’ll continue to support their hardware, if Nintendo ported Mario Odyssey and Zelda Breath of the Wild to PC i’d do the same thing, avoid their platform and get their games on PC.
Having virtually no 3rd party exclusives was bad enough, there’s no reason games like Nioh, Nier Automata or Yakuza are not exclusives except you being cheap and not understanding how to be a proper platform holder, those are the kind of games that made the PS1, PS2 and even the PS3 special, of course i’m talking from a business perspective, those games being on PC is great for everyone including me, it means they aren’t tied to inferior hardware and sub 30 fps.
30fps, embarrassing, and PS5 will be the same, you’ll push for the 4K meme and still force people to play games like it’s 2000, no thanks, i’ll wait for the PC ports and run them at 120 fps.
See you Sony, you are now another irrelevant platform holder like XBOX with a gimped PC that serves no real purpose, hope Persona 5 gets ported to PC and Switch too.
It’s so nice to see people who have no idea how the industry works lecture the industry leader on… how the industry works.
Whatever you say fam, it’s good that Sony has given up, less platforms to buy and more games coming to PC.
Exclusives aren’t valuable
If you play games multiplat, and games are all multiplat, it just means you have the option to play the game as you’d prefer.
@Krillinfan These leaders are the same ones who launched the PS3 for $ 600, who decided to run the Xbox One, who supported the PSVita and gave direction to the PSVita. These are the people who created Steam Machines and Google Stadia.
These people make mistakes. And they make a lot of mistakes.
*and gave direction to the Wii U.
@Krillinfan Sony became the leader by doing the exact opposite of what they have announced
The reason make a lot of mistakes right now because it’s New team sony don’t know what they doing
time for sony to take their PC share. baby steps Sony.. baby steps.
Well, for me this is a test if Horizon sells well enough others titles come to pc and for me it’s good bye ps5 and hello pc. (Sorry about my writting english it’s not my native language).