After months of rumors about Horizon Zero Dawn releasing on PC, Sony finally confirmed that the lauded PlayStation exclusive will indeed launch on Steam this summer. That doesn’t mean, however, that PlayStation-exclusives are suddenly all going to be on PC. According to Head of Worldwide Studios Hermen Hulst, Sony remains “100% committed to dedicated hardware,” and Horizon’s PC release will prove to be the exception, not the rule.
Speaking with the PlayStation Blog’s Sid Shuman, Hulst said that Horizon Zero Dawn just made sense and it doesn’t mean that there are plans for “day and date” releases of PlayStation exclusives on PC. In fact, many games will still remain PlayStation exclusives.
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.
While Worldwide Studios will continue to put out narrative-drive single-player games for dedicated PlayStation hardware, Hulst added that the network of studios is open to experimentation. Horizon’s PC release is one of those experiments, reaching beyond the boundaries of what’s currently baked into the teams’ DNA.
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.
The announcement of Horizon Zero Dawn on PC follows Death Stranding also headed to PC. Both games use the Decima Engine, and while it hasn’t been explicitly confirmed, Hulst’s statement about Horizon being a great fit could have come from the Decima Engine already getting a PC port via Death Stranding. Horizon on PC could also open up the doors of interest to new players who want to play the unannounced but inevitable sequel that is expected to come to the PS5.
[Source: PlayStation Blog]
