In a major milestone for Sony’s push to bring more PlayStation exclusives to PC, the samurai action-adventure Ghost of Tsushima has dethroned God of War to become PlayStation’s biggest single-player game launch on Steam to date.
According to data from Valve, Ghost of Tsushima hit a peak of 77,154 concurrent players on Sunday, May 19th, outperforming the previous record held by God of War at 73,529 peak concurrents. This comes just days after Ghost of Tsushima’s PC release on May 14th, when it had a relatively slower start at under 58,000 players on launch day compared to God of War’s explosive debut.
However, positive word-of-mouth and strong reviews praising the high quality of the PC port by Nixxes Software appear to have driven a surge of new players over the weekend. Developer Sucker Punch expressed gratitude to Nixxes, stating “Your technical expertise has been invaluable in making our first-ever PC release a reality. We couldn’t possibly have asked for a better partner.”
The successful launch of Ghost of Tsushima on PC is an encouraging sign for Sony’s renewed interest in expanding its leading game franchises to the PC gaming market. While the live service shooter Helldivers 2 remains Sony’s biggest overall PC release, having sold over 12 million copies, Ghost of Tsushima represents a new high watermark for Sony’s iconic single-player games making the leap to PC.
“Sony executives have indicated that PC is key to the ongoing success and growth of the PlayStation business,” said industry analyst Michael Pachter. “By bringing more of their blockbuster exclusive titles like God of War, Spider-Man, and now Ghost of Tsushima to Steam and taking advantage of the massive PC gaming audience, they are wisely extending the sales lifecycle and reach of these games.”
However, Sony’s policy of requiring PlayStation Network accounts even for single-player games has proven controversial, preventing the PC release of Ghost of Tsushima in markets where PSN is unavailable. While an inconvenience for some, the record-breaking popularity of the game suggests many PC players are willing to make that compromise.
With Ghost of Tsushima’s triumph, the excitement now shifts to speculation over which PlayStation exclusive might make the jump to PC next, with rumors indicating God of War: Ragnarok could be a contender. For longtime fans hoping to experience the cult classic Bloodborne on PC, that dream remains alive as Sony forges onward with its PC expansion.
