Sony-owned studios may lean into a wider, non-PlayStation install base in the future

PlayStation-owned game development studios, like the recently acquired Insomniac Games, may look outside of their parent platform for some future releases.

A potential and small departure from exclusivity was mentioned by SIE worldwide studios chairman Shawn Layden in a recent Bloomberg story on that Insomniac Games acquisition, with Layden noting that exclusives are important but the company is still willing to “lean into a wider installed base” with some future titles.

“We must support the PlayStation platform -- that is nonnegotiable,” Layden told Bloomberg. “That said, you will see in the future some titles coming out of my collection of studios which may need to lean into a wider installed base.”

No specific games that might launch on non-PlayStation platforms are mentioned, though Bloomberg notes that PC-friendly multiplayer titles may be the sort of game he alludes to in the interview.

While it’s a small comment, Layden’s words come at a time where other platforms (namely, Xbox) are also lightly tiptoeing away from exclusivity requirements. Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty, for instance, was quoted last week saying that the company would consider letting its owned studios develop for other platforms as long the decision makes sense for that specific franchise.