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Similar to certain Xbox titles, Sony may ask PC players to have a PSN account in order to play ports of its PlayStation games.

Justin Carter, Contributing Editor

August 11, 2022

1 Min Read
Spider-Man in the trailer for Spider-Man Remastered on PC.

As more of Sony's first-party PlayStation games get ported to the PC, those ports may require users to have their own PlayStation Network accounts. An FAQ section on the PlayStation website says that players "currently" don't require a PSN account to play PC ports. But the framing hints that could change in the near future. 

Sony fairly recently began porting its exclusive first-party titles to PC in its efforts to expand the brand. The 2018 God of War, along with Horizon Zero Dawn and Days Gone, all came to Steam and Epic Games Store in the last two years. All three games were said to have brought in $80 million in net sales in 2021. 

While PlayStation games can currently be played on PC without the need for a PSN account, that's not entirely the case with Xbox. Several of Microsoft's games on Steam, such as Forza Horizon 5, require an Xbox Live account. With those games, achievement and save progress is transferred between systems. 

This week sees the PC release of Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered. 2020's PlayStation 5 game Spider-Man: Miles Morales is expected to release on PC later in the year. A PC version of Naughty Dog's Uncharted Collection is also in development.

For PlayStation users playing PC ports, Sony also confirmed that it's "currently" not possible for the save data of a PlayStation 4 or 5 game to transfer to its PC counterpart. Additionally, PC trophies will not sync with a player's PSN profile. 

Sony has previously said it expects PC game revenue for 2022 to jump to $300 million, and has said it will release more of its first-party games to the platform. 

About the Author(s)

Justin Carter

Contributing Editor, GameDeveloper.com

A Kansas City, MO native, Justin Carter has written for numerous sites including IGN, Polygon, and SyFy Wire. In addition to Game Developer, his writing can be found at io9 over on Gizmodo. Don't ask him about how much gum he's had, because the answer will be more than he's willing to admit.

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