Subject: MS and Sony back away from PC even as they admit that's not good strategy


So, there was news a few weeks back about Sony deciding that they were
backing away from PC and returning to making their first-party games Playstation Exclusives. Meanwhile, Microsoft recently announced that
it's rebranding "Microsoft Gaming" as "XBox" and putting more focus on
their console market. But at the same time, both have admitted this
may not be the smartest move to make. A Sony exec said that, with game development budgets being as high as they are, he can't see how Sony
will recoup the costs of its games without selling them on PC too, and Microsoft admits that its prescence on PC isn't strong enough.

But at the same time, I get it. The PC video game market is booming...
but it's not where the young people are at. PC games (and to some
degree console games) are 'unc games', 'unc' apparently being the
newest term for 'boomers' or generally just any old fogey these days,.
The kids are all on mobile. So it makes sense to divert some of the corporation's attention from those old markets to free up cash for the youngsters' interests. The PC market has a limited lifespan; it's too expensive, its games tend to be longer and move involved, and they
aren't really made to be played in short bursts and on the move.

Still, it's not like consoles are much better in that regard. Sure,
they may be seen as something a bit more appealing to the younger
set... but only when compared to PCs. If PCs are for the middle-aged
player, then consoles are increasingly for the post-university crowd;
the sort who played "Call of Duty III" as teenagers but now have jobs
and are starting families. So retreating to consoles may give
Microsoft and XBox a few more years... but not much.

Meanwhile, ignoring or downplaying the lucrative PC market (which may
not be as important to the youngsters, still attracts a lot of
youthful eyeballs) seems silly to me. Especially as the economy
worsens, it'll be the old fogies who have the free cash more than the
teens and tweens. You'd think you might want to focus on that group
first.

Then again, I have an obvious bias towards that strategy, being 'unc'
myself. ;-)









--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: MS and Sony back away from PC even as they admit that's not good strategy

On 4/24/2026 8:42 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

But at the same time, I get it. The PC video game market is booming...
but it's not where the young people are at. PC games (and to some
degree console games) are 'unc games', 'unc' apparently being the
newest term for 'boomers' or generally just any old fogey these days,.

Well, just to make you feel older I read today that some younger people
are referring to the 1990's as "The Late 1900s".

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: MS and Sony back away from PC even as they admit that's not good strategy

On Fri, 24 Apr 2026 17:34:37 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> said this thing:

On 4/24/2026 8:42 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

But at the same time, I get it. The PC video game market is booming...
but it's not where the young people are at. PC games (and to some
degree console games) are 'unc games', 'unc' apparently being the
newest term for 'boomers' or generally just any old fogey these days,. >Well, just to make you feel older I read today that some younger people

are referring to the 1990's as "The Late 1900s".

Well, technically they aren't /completely/ wrong ;-)

And I don't really have anything against games that the kids like. I
like some of those games too (Well, except for those advert-/MTX-heavy
mobile gaming scene. I won't play those). I just happen to like
'unc-games' too ;-)





--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: MS and Sony back away from PC even as they admit that's not good strategy

Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

On Fri, 24 Apr 2026 17:34:37 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<dtravel@sonic.net> said this thing:

On 4/24/2026 8:42 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

But at the same time, I get it. The PC video game market is booming...
but it's not where the young people are at. PC games (and to some
degree console games) are 'unc games', 'unc' apparently being the
newest term for 'boomers' or generally just any old fogey these days,.

Well, just to make you feel older I read today that some younger people
are referring to the 1990's as "The Late 1900s".

Well, technically they aren't /completely/ wrong ;-)

And I don't really have anything against games that the kids like. I
like some of those games too (Well, except for those advert-/MTX-heavy
mobile gaming scene. I won't play those). I just happen to like
'unc-games' too ;-)

Fortnite was an MTX game. Think of all those kids and guys who put money
into it as their first MTX game, and it's going to all be gone,

NEXT TUESDAY!

Fortunately I've already had that experience. I also had one game where
I felt the MTX was well done, because they went over the concept many
times that it WAS HELPING THEM, and not just a Facebook-like teen kid addiction shoving quarters in for rubies or diamonds.

Since I've done it once, I think it's usually pretty fun to take the no expenditure route and see where you can end up. I did this with
Fortnite, and I would say my experience was probably better than the
person who shoved $10,000 into it.

NO PAIN,
NO PAIN

--
Pharaoh was so pleased with Hadad that he gave him a
sister of his own wife, Queen Tahpenes, in marriage.
The sister of Tahpenes bore him a son named Genubath,
whom Tahpenes brought up in the royal palace. There
Genubath lived with Pharaoh?s own children.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: MS and Sony back away from PC even as they admit that's not good strategy

On Fri, 24 Apr 2026 11:42:54 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> said this thing:

So, there was news a few weeks back about Sony deciding that they were >backing away from PC and returning to making their first-party games >Playstation Exclusives.

On a somewhat related note: apparently Sony is also going to implement
an online-timer DRM for PS5 digital-download games.* Buy any PS5 game
from the Playstation Network, and you'll have to go online again every
30 days if you want to keep playing. Because, hey, if your hardware
platform is slowly fading into irrelevence, the best strategy is to
make it even less friendly for your customers to use, right?

What's even more galling is that --back when Microsoft was positioning
the XBox One as an online-only digital-download platform-- Sony took
the opposite stance: the Playstation 4 very much did NOT require an
online leash. So Sony's backtracking here is particularly
hypocritical.

This flailing about by Sony just reeks of desperation and panic.









* story here https://kotaku.com/a-surprise-drm-issue-for-digital-playstation-games-has-fans-worried-2000690624

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: MS and Sony back away from PC even as they admit that's not good strategy

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 15:42 this Friday (GMT):

So, there was news a few weeks back about Sony deciding that they were backing away from PC and returning to making their first-party games Playstation Exclusives. Meanwhile, Microsoft recently announced that
it's rebranding "Microsoft Gaming" as "XBox" and putting more focus on
their console market. But at the same time, both have admitted this
may not be the smartest move to make. A Sony exec said that, with game development budgets being as high as they are, he can't see how Sony
will recoup the costs of its games without selling them on PC too, and Microsoft admits that its prescence on PC isn't strong enough.

But at the same time, I get it. The PC video game market is booming...
but it's not where the young people are at. PC games (and to some
degree console games) are 'unc games', 'unc' apparently being the
newest term for 'boomers' or generally just any old fogey these days,.
The kids are all on mobile. So it makes sense to divert some of the corporation's attention from those old markets to free up cash for the youngsters' interests. The PC market has a limited lifespan; it's too expensive, its games tend to be longer and move involved, and they
aren't really made to be played in short bursts and on the move.

Still, it's not like consoles are much better in that regard. Sure,
they may be seen as something a bit more appealing to the younger
set... but only when compared to PCs. If PCs are for the middle-aged
player, then consoles are increasingly for the post-university crowd;
the sort who played "Call of Duty III" as teenagers but now have jobs
and are starting families. So retreating to consoles may give
Microsoft and XBox a few more years... but not much.

Meanwhile, ignoring or downplaying the lucrative PC market (which may
not be as important to the youngsters, still attracts a lot of
youthful eyeballs) seems silly to me. Especially as the economy
worsens, it'll be the old fogies who have the free cash more than the
teens and tweens. You'd think you might want to focus on that group
first.

Then again, I have an obvious bias towards that strategy, being 'unc'
myself. ;-)

Admitting youre making a dumb move does not make it a smart move.
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: MS and Sony back away from PC even as they admit that's not good strategy

On Tue, 28 Apr 2026 12:20:05 -0000 (UTC), candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> said this thing:

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 15:42 this Friday (GMT): >>

So, there was news a few weeks back about Sony deciding that they were
backing away from PC and returning to making their first-party games
Playstation Exclusives. Meanwhile, Microsoft recently announced that
it's rebranding "Microsoft Gaming" as "XBox" and putting more focus on
their console market. But at the same time, both have admitted this
may not be the smartest move to make. A Sony exec said that, with game
development budgets being as high as they are, he can't see how Sony
will recoup the costs of its games without selling them on PC too, and
Microsoft admits that its prescence on PC isn't strong enough.

But at the same time, I get it. The PC video game market is booming...
but it's not where the young people are at. PC games (and to some
degree console games) are 'unc games', 'unc' apparently being the
newest term for 'boomers' or generally just any old fogey these days,.
The kids are all on mobile. So it makes sense to divert some of the
corporation's attention from those old markets to free up cash for the
youngsters' interests. The PC market has a limited lifespan; it's too
expensive, its games tend to be longer and move involved, and they
aren't really made to be played in short bursts and on the move.

Still, it's not like consoles are much better in that regard. Sure,
they may be seen as something a bit more appealing to the younger
set... but only when compared to PCs. If PCs are for the middle-aged
player, then consoles are increasingly for the post-university crowd;
the sort who played "Call of Duty III" as teenagers but now have jobs
and are starting families. So retreating to consoles may give
Microsoft and XBox a few more years... but not much.

Meanwhile, ignoring or downplaying the lucrative PC market (which may
not be as important to the youngsters, still attracts a lot of
youthful eyeballs) seems silly to me. Especially as the economy
worsens, it'll be the old fogies who have the free cash more than the
teens and tweens. You'd think you might want to focus on that group
first.

Then again, I have an obvious bias towards that strategy, being 'unc'
myself. ;-)

Admitting youre making a dumb move does not make it a smart move.

In a way, I almost have sympathy for the C-levels of these major
publishers. It is really a very difficult time in the industry.
There's just so much changing that it has got to be hard to make any
sort of business plans.

What platform(s) will be the dominant rigs for gaming? Will it be PC,
or Playstation, or Switch? Will it be mobile? Will there be a sudden
swing to streaming so the platform the games run on becomes
irrelevant? But then... which streaming platform?

What's the best distribution method? Retail is almost gone, and Steam
dominates on PC, but is it better to roll out your own app or go with
a third-party distributor? Do you focus on mobile? How much
advertising do you slap in the game? Is the live service gravy-train
going to keep rolling? What about MTX and DLC? Or, again, is it all
streaming?

The gaming habits of kids are changing; more mobile, more social, less
running to the newest and latest game as it comes out. But the uncs
are still demanding the next Call of Duty and new games? Which do you
focus on?

AI is big now... but people hate it. Do you use it or not? How many of
your staff can you fire if you do? How many customers will that lose
you? At the same time, increasing hardware costs (and economic woes)
mean that people have less cash to spend on games and hardware. Do you
keep targeting the high-end market? Is it better to release only three
or four big AAA games a year, or should you shove out a bunch of
smaller ones?

Plus, Indie is huge. Do you find some talented up-n-comers and just
pay them a few million to buy the rights to their game, or is the old
in-house developer model the way to go?

It's not that most of these problems are new, but they're all coming
to a head at the same time andif you're a multi-billion dollar
business, you've got to decide how to position your company; when
games take three or four years to develop, you need to plan ahead. But
with the underpinnings of the industry so uncertain, you're as likely
to make the wrong choice as the right one, and your pick could cost
the shareholders billions of dollars a few years down the line.

It's not an easy job, I'll be the first to admit (although I'd have a
bit more sympathy for the C-levels if they weren't paid so obscenely
much, and if they ever faced real consequences for any errors in
judgement).

One thing that might help, though, is if these publishers weren't
trying to be the answer to ALL video-gaming problems. Smaller
companies that focused on just a segment of the customer base probably
have an easier time of it. But the AAAs want to satisfy everyone with
as few products as possible; they want to make a game that mobile
gamers, kids, boomers, casuals, hardcore gamers... everyone! But
that's never really possible, and it's even harder today. But for
years they sorta managed to do just that, and changing the habit to
have smaller and more streamlined design philosophies is hard. It
potentially means less profit too. The AAAs are sort of trapped by
their own earlier success.



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: MS and Sony back away from PC even as they admit that's not good strategy

On Sat, 25 Apr 2026 16:14:31 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> said this thing:

On a somewhat related note: apparently Sony is also going to implement
an online-timer DRM for PS5 digital-download games.* Buy any PS5 game
from the Playstation Network, and you'll have to go online again every
30 days if you want to keep playing. Because, hey, if your hardware
platform is slowly fading into irrelevence, the best strategy is to
make it even less friendly for your customers to use, right?

Sony has now done an about-face and that thirty-day countdown has
become a 'one-time online check'. Of course, given that the game was
purchased through a digital store-front and is being accessed again
through that digital storefront, it's not quite clear why an online
check is needed in the first place. But regardless, Sony has blinked
and now you only need verify your license the one time.

At least for now. Sony may try again in the future when they think
nobody is looking (or when they think people have no alternative but
to just suck it up)




--- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)