Valve's Steam Machine may be responsible for Sony stopping PlayStation games coming to PC

Current rumors point to Sony internally deciding to roll back the number of PC ports for PlayStation games, and now Mike Ybarra, the former President of Blizzard Entertainment, has shed more light on the rumors and provided a perspective on why Sony would make such a decision, if true.

Ybarra pointed to the Steam Machine as a big reason Sony would pull back on PC releases, and to the recent fiasco at Microsoft as the "last nail in the coffin there". Why would these two factors result in fewer PlayStation PC ports? The Steam Machine will run SteamOS, which means it will have direct access to Steam's extensive library of games. Valve's catalogue of games is a significant threat to both Sony and Xbox, with Ybarra writing that Valve is being viewed as a "major new competitor" in the space.

Additionally, the former Blizzard President said Valve is likely to enter the living room and console markets with a Steam Machine, along with 3rd-party variants and different hardware configurations all running SteamOS. Valve currently has the largest gaming platform, with nearly 150 million monthly users, exceeding both Sony and Xbox, and is now entering the console market with a console likely to arrive in variants ranging from $500 to $5000.

Sony may now see PlayStation PC ports as additional reasons for a potential buyer to choose a Steam Machine over a PlayStation console. If that is the case, and Sony views exclusivity as the main draw of its platform, there will be a focus on that now more than ever, especially since SteamOS is now looming over the console wars.