Would Sony Be Afraid Of Valve And Its Steam Machine?

A few days ago, Bloomberg and its journalist Jason Schreier, one of the most reliable sources in the sector, released information that could be only the visible face of the iceberg. Sony no longer plans to bring its major first-party single-player games to PC. Ghost of Yotei, Saros, and likely all future flagship PlayStation Studios titles will remain exclusive to PS5. Gone are the days when we waited a year or two to play God of War or Spider-Man on Steam.

Officially, the decision would be partly motivated by disappointing figures. PC ports would have only representedapproximately 1.5% of PlayStation revenue over the last four yearsa drop of water in the ocean. But behind this purely financial calculation, there is another, deeper fear and everyone in the industry understands it without needing to formulate it. Sony definitely does not want to find itself in the situation of Microsoft and its Xbox gaming division.

The Microsoft counterexample

Because that is the heart of the matter. Microsoft has, in recent years, made the bold bet of putting its games everywhere, whether on PC or PlayStation via certain titles. As a result, Xbox has rarely been in such a bind, with many seeing it as the next to suffer the fate of SEGA by shutting down hardware to become solely a game publisher. When games are everywhere, why Buy the console?

And here’s where it gets really interesting. According to the Bloomberg report, the next Xbox console would be designed more like an open PCcapable of accessing several stores, including potentially Steam. Which would mean that PlayStation games that Sony has already published on PC, like God of War or Spider-Man, could theoretically be accessible from this future Xbox. Sony obviously learned its lesson before it got worse.

Valve arrives in the gamers’ lounge

There’s another player in this story, and it’s one that few people saw coming: Valve. Mike Ybarra, who we’ll quickly introduce for those who don’t know, is a real regular behind the scenes in the industry. He spent 22 years at Microsoft, notably contributing to Xbox strategy, before becoming president of Blizzard Entertainment. According to him, PlayStation is especially afraid of seeing Valve seriously enter gamers’ living rooms with the Steam Machine. He sums it up by saying “ Valve doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, and Sony is smart enough to realize it ».

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I wish this wasn’t the case, but in many ways it makes sense if true.

They see the last nail in the coffin with Xbox and the churn there (hope it turns around).

Most important: they view Valve as a major new competitor. Valve will enter the living room and console market with…

— Mike Ybarra (@Qwik) March 2, 2026

This is a point often underestimated in the debate. If the Steam Machine becomes a permanent fixture in living rooms, it will change the rules of the game. Suddenly, playing PC games in couch mode becomes as simple as a console. And if Sony continues to feed this platform with its best solo exclusives, it is shooting itself in the foot.

What if it was Nintendo who had it all figured out from the start?

Basically, Sony is simply returning to what has always worked, AKA the Nintendo model. A console whose games cannot be found elsewhere sells hardware. And who says hardware sold, also says PlayStation Plus subscription and sale of PS accessories.

Of course, live service games like Marathon or Marvel Tokon will continue to be released everywhere, because these titles need as many players as possible to survive. But for God of War, Wolverine and other narrative blockbusters? It will be PS5, or nothing. In the meantime, Sony has made its choice and frankly, it’s hard to blame it.