Last week, God Of War's PC port arrived on Steam and it promptly surpassed the record for the highest concurrent player count of an ex-PlayStation exclusive in its launch week and sat at the top of the bestsellers list on the digital storefront. I mean, this isn't that surprising, but it is another testament to Sony Santa Monica's astonishing work on the epic game.
James gave us the lowdown on what to expect from the PC port of God Of War in his review, and argued that the journey of our angry Spartan and his rebellious son shows what is possible for this beloved game and others if they were brought to brand new audiences. As well as bonus content, PC players enjoy true 4k resolution, unlocked frame rates, NVIDIA DLSS and Reflex, and customisable mouse and keyboard controls.
Not embarked on Kratos and Atreus' odyssey? This is what you've got to look forward to in the PC port of the acclaimed PlayStation game!
According to SteamDB, God Of War saw a peak player count of 73,529 players on January 16th. The previous record holder for PlayStation PC ports, Horizon Zero Dawn, had 56,557 players at its most popular point in time, so it's evident that a lot of people were waiting for the game to land on Steam. Furthermore, God Of War is ahead of Monster Hunter Rise, Ready Or Not, and Elden Ring in Steam's list of the top selling titles on its storefront. Neat.
Three years ago, it would have been preposterous to think that God Of War would leap over to other platforms, yet it is part of a shift in the priorities of PlayStation, and this was sparked by its studios rather than its higher-ups, interestingly. "I think it was the collective of studios all over saying this is a really good idea. We should be looking into this. Eventually, I think it reached that tipping point," said creative director Cory Barlog in an interview with Game Informer. "It’s a process. We’re still figuring it out as a company and as individual studios how to do this and what the process and strategy will be."
Given the triumphs of the PC ports of God Of War, Days Gone and Horizon Zero Dawn, there is a train of thought that suggests Sony will streamline the release of God Of War Ragnarok and Horizon Forbidden West onto Steam so we aren't waiting as long as we were for their predecessors.
"Right now, we’re taking it one game at a time, kind of looking at each one and determining, 'Okay, is this the best thing?'" qualified Barlog. "And we’ll gauge how it does. Do people enjoy it? Did we do it right? Is there anything we did wrong? What can we do better in the future if we do this again? But at the end of the day, ultimately, it’s Sony’s decision."
Featured Image Credit: SonyTopics: God Of War, PC, Steam, PlayStation