The big picture: Among the several former PlayStation exclusives that Sony brought to PC this year, signs indicate Naughty Dog’s last two Uncharted games are experiencing the lowest player numbers. Whatever factors impacted the release, Uncharted’s performance could influence Sony’s PC port strategy.
The Uncharted: Legacy of Thieve’s Collection PC port seems to have peaked with a fraction of the number of players as other Sony titles on Steam. The primary cause behind the lukewarm launch is unclear, but multiple factors worked against it.
The bundle, including Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and the standalone expansion Uncharted: Lost Legacy, hit a peak of just under 11,000 players, according to SteamDB. Days Gone did more than double that, while other former PlayStation exclusives at least quintupled the Uncharted figures. Uncharted also failed to crack the top 100 titles on Steam.
Horizon Zero Dawn peaked at over 56,000 players, while Spider-Man Remastered did somewhere north of 66,000, and God of War almost hit 75,000. SteamDB’s numbers are only rough estimates, but they show a sharp decline for Uncharted. Sony’s PC games are also available on the Epic Games Store, but there’s no reason to believe that Uncharted alone would get a higher proportion of sales from that storefront.
Uncharted’s biggest problem likely boils down to timing. Sony and Iron Galaxy released the title against Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, A Plague Tale: Requiem, and Gotham Knights. Meanwhile, Sony released its other PC ports in quieter periods of the year.
Compounding the problem is the game’s age. Uncharted 4 is the oldest title Sony has brought to PC, initially launched on PlayStation 4 in 2016. The PS5 edition of Legacy of Thieves came out in January this year, but a six-year-old game may still see headwinds when migrating to a new platform.
Many prospective PC players are likely concerned they may feel lost starting a franchise with its fourth entry. God of War is a soft reboot and stands apart from its earlier games, but Uncharted 4 follows three other entries that aren’t available on PC. Sony’s other PC releases are also mostly either standalone titles or inaugural entries in their respective series.
Perhaps releasing a PC port of Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection — the set that brought the original PlayStation 3 trilogy to the PS4 — could help bring more players aboard. However, the performance of Legacy of Thieves Collection could put Sony off reaching further back in time.
It’s not all about age, though. One of the most requested Sony PC conversions is 2015’s Bloodborne. The PS4 remake of Shadow of the Colossus might also do well on PC.
Sony confirmed its next PC exports include Sackboy: A Big Adventure on October 27 and Spider-Man: Miles Morales coming November 18. Leaks also indicate a PC version of the award-winning Returnal may be imminent.
