Connecting the dots: Reports that Sony will stop releasing some of its first-party games on PC claim that the company aims to identify these titles more closely with PlayStation consoles. Recent sales data might bear this out, as back-catalog games buoyed Sony's in-house sales revenue over the first half of this year.
According to estimates from Alinea Analytics, games that launched in 2025 or earlier that have not received PC ports have dominated first-party PlayStation game sales so far in 2026. The numbers suggest that keeping these titles exclusive to PlayStation 5 increased their sales on that console, allowing Sony to keep more revenue to itself.
Among the five highest-earning Sony-published games on PlayStation 5 released since 2023, all but one – Saros – are back-catalogue titles. Furthermore, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, which generated an estimated $32.9 million, is the only game also available on PC.
Unsurprisingly, Ghost of Yotei is the top performer, having earned approximately $77.6 million since its release last October. Meanwhile, Saros, the only 2026 release to chart, has brought in about $30.5 million after only two months on store shelves.
Expanding the analysis to nearly 200 games further indicates that releases from several years ago still contribute significantly to Sony's bottom line, possibly encouraging the company to keep future titles on PlayStation. While games released in 2025, such as Yotei, accounted for approximately 14.8% of copies sold, 23.3% were from before 2020. Additionally, Gran Turismo 7, which launched in 2022, is Sony's number-two first-party seller so far in 2026.
Such numbers might have convinced Sony to withhold some titles from PC so players would purchase them on PlayStation 5 instead of waiting for PC ports and giving at least 20% of their sales revenue to Valve (or GOG or Epic). Sony Interactive Entertainment Studio Business Group CEO Hermen Hulst reportedly outlined the company's new strategy several weeks ago: multiplayer games such as the megahit Helldivers 2 would continue coming to multiple platforms, but narrative-driven single-player titles would be exclusive to PlayStation.
Reports cite multiple factors, including insufficient PC sales and potential harm to Sony's hardware sales. While it remains unclear whether exclusives such as Saros, Ghost of Yotei, Astro Bot, MLB The Show, Marvel's Wolverine, and God of War Laufey will sell PlayStation 5 consoles in significant numbers, selling these titles to PS5 owners for years to come might be more valuable to Sony than giving players another reason to wait for PC ports.