PlayStation’s foray into the PC gaming market has been a gradual yet impactful journey, beginning with the launch of Horizon Zero Dawn in 2020. This strategic move has seen a steady stream of popular titles making their way from console to PC, including fan favorites like Marvel’s Spider-Man and Ghost of Tsushima. However, a recent report has unveiled a standout success among these titles.
Helldivers 2 Has Sold Well on PC
According to insights from Alinea Analytics, Helldivers 2 has emerged as the best-selling PlayStation first-party game on PC, boasting impressive sales figures. Since its release in February 2024, the multiplayer shooter has reportedly sold approximately 12.7 million copies, a figure that more than doubles its sales on the PS5.
Alinea’s previous estimates from October indicated that Helldivers 2 had achieved a remarkable total of around 20 million copies sold across platforms, with 12.6 million on Steam, 5.4 million on PS5, and 1.4 million on Xbox. Notably, the game experienced a robust launch on Xbox, selling nearly a million copies within just six days. In comparison, the PS5 version sold around 633,000 copies during its debut week, a figure likely impacted by the time needed for word of mouth to circulate. This rapid success has positioned Helldivers 2 as the fastest-selling PlayStation game of all time, solidifying its place at the top of PlayStation’s best-selling games on PC.
The sales data provided by Alinea focuses exclusively on Steam, as Helldivers 2 is not available on other platforms such as the Epic Games Store. The report also highlights the sales performance of other notable titles: Horizon Zero Dawn has sold around 4.5 million units on Steam, while God of War from 2018 has reached approximately 4.2 million copies. Days Gone follows with around 3.4 million, and Marvel’s Spider-Man rounds out the list with an estimated 2.7 million copies sold. The timing of these ports appears to have influenced sales, as Marvel’s Spider-Man was released four years after its PS4 debut, compared to a two-year gap for Days Gone.
In total, these five titles account for approximately 27.5 million units sold, contributing to an estimated 43 million copies of PlayStation-published games sold on Steam, generating around .5 billion in gross revenue for PlayStation, with .2 billion attributed to the company and 0 million to Valve due to revenue sharing.
Alinea’s analysis also sheds light on the evolving landscape of PlayStation’s PC ports, noting a decline in novelty. For instance, God of War Ragnarok and Horizon Forbidden West have not matched the sales velocity of their predecessors. During a 427-day period, 2018’s God of War sold two-and-a-half times faster than Ragnarok, while Forbidden West lagged behind Zero Dawn by threefold over a 608-day span. Similarly, Marvel’s Spider-Man outperformed its sequel, selling 1.4 million copies on Steam in a 294-day period, more than double the sales of Spider-Man 2.
While the overall performance remains strong, Alinea suggests that understanding the shifting demand is crucial for PlayStation. The company must navigate the delicate balance of timing game releases on PC to protect PS5 software sales while catering to a growing audience that anticipates timely launches. This strategy aims to capture peak console demand while capitalizing on the robust interest in premium single-player experiences on PC.
The success of PlayStation’s PC ventures has been acknowledged previously, with sales data from 2022 illustrating a significant uptick in interest following the porting of games to PC. Former SIE executives, including Shuhei Yoshida and Jim Ryan, have emphasized the financial advantages of these ports, with Ryan describing the decision as straightforward. He noted the opportunity to reach a broader audience and the economic realities of game development, which have become increasingly complex as production costs rise. Shawn Layden, Ryan’s predecessor, echoed this sentiment, highlighting the potential pitfalls of exclusivity in an era of escalating development budgets.
