Regarding Sony's alleged tightening of PC ports for major narrative-driven single-player games, former President of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida speculated that the platform business side, which advocates for retaining console-exclusive content, may have gained the upper hand in internal discussions. He emphasized that he has left the company and is not aware of the exact reasons behind current decisions.
Previous reports indicated that Hermen Hulst, head of PlayStation Studios, had told employees that such games would remain exclusive to PlayStation consoles in the future. Major narrative-driven single-player games like Ghost of Yōtei fall within the scope of this statement. Shuhei Yoshida discussed this trend in an interview with The Verge.
Yoshida recalled that during the PS4 era, Sony prioritized console exclusivity for major first-party titles to enhance the appeal of its consoles to players. In the PS5 era, some online games launched on PC simultaneously with their console versions, with Helldivers 2 being one example; major single-player games like Horizon Forbidden West and Marvel's Spider-Man 2 were ported to PC after a period of console exclusivity.
Yoshida believes that delaying ports allows console players to experience the games first, while also introducing them to PC players, who may then become interested in PlayStation. He speculates that Sony may now be leaning back towards using exclusive content to drive its platform business. This remains Yoshida's personal interpretation of the trend, not an official explanation of Sony's PC release policy.