PlayStation quietly removed the “Cross-Buy” and “PS5/PC” icons from its store backend, and the discovery is adding more weight to reports confirming that Sony has officially changed course on its strategy of releasing first-party games on PC.
The removal was first brought to wide attention today by user Zuby_Tech on X, though Push Square later confirmed that the icons had actually been deleted back in December 2025, shortly after they were originally discovered and made headlines. The timing was not a coincidence, Sony apparently saw the coverage and acted fast. No announcement was made. The icons simply disappeared.
PlayStation Removes “Cross Buy” & “PS5/PC” Icons From PlayStation Back End pic.twitter.com/oisTKCEKp2
— @Zuby_Tech (@Zuby_Tech) April 4, 2026
Those icons had been found in November 2025 by dataminer Amethxst, who spotted them embedded in the PS5’s backend. The “Cross-Buy” badge and the “PS5/PC” marker matched Sony’s official design language exactly, using the same visual style as existing store icons like the PS5/PS4 cross-buy tag. Leaker billbil-kun corroborated the find, confirming he had located a “crossbuy-tag” reference in PlayStation Store’s CSS files that had been added as recently as June 2025.
The discovery sparked considerable speculation: was Sony building a PC launcher? Was a Cross-Buy system between PS5 and PC genuinely on the way? For a few weeks, it really seemed like it.
Now, with those icons gone and Sony also having quietly edited its website to remove references to PC associated with several of its studios, the answer appears to be no.
Sony’s shift back to console exclusivity
The icon removal doesn’t exist in a vacuum. In early March 2026, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, one of the most reliable sources covering the games industry, reported that Sony no longer plans to release its big PlayStation 5 single-player games on PC, marking a significant reversal after six years of expanding onto the platform.
The company had started bringing first-party titles to PC in 2020 with Horizon Zero Dawn, followed by Ghost of Tsushima, God of War Ragnarök, The Last of Us Part I, and both Marvel’s Spider-Man games. The strategy appeared to be working, at least on paper.
Insider Nate the Hate provided additional context on the timing: “You’ll be seeing fewer single player games arrive on PC. The decision to shift away from supporting PC was made last year. Naturally, some may still release, pending how far along the ports were, but it no longer appears to be a priority for Sony moving forward.”
The reasons behind the shift are a combination of disappointing data and strategic concerns. PC ports generated around 1.5% of PlayStation’s revenue in the four years since the strategy launched, a relatively small return, with much of it driven by Helldivers 2. Sony’s internal data also reportedly shows that PC ports don’t drive “platform stickiness” the way console ownership does.
A PC gamer who buys God of War on Steam isn’t necessarily becoming a PlayStation customer. There’s also the Xbox factor: Sony executives were reportedly uncomfortable with the possibility that the next Xbox, rumored to function more like a gaming PC, could potentially run PlayStation’s own games if they continued releasing them on PC.
It’s worth noting that this pullback doesn’t apply to everything. Live-service titles like Marathon, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, and Horizon Hunters Gathering are still planned for simultaneous PC and console releases, since those games depend on large, unified player bases to survive. Externally developed titles published by PlayStation, such as Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and Kena: Scars of Kosmora, are also still headed to PC. The change primarily affects Sony’s in-house single-player productions.
What games are now in question, and what happens to Nixxes
The most immediate title affected by this shift is Marvel’s Wolverine, developed by Insomniac Games and confirmed for a September 15, 2026 launch exclusively on PS5. Schreier stated he “wouldn’t be surprised if it never came to PC,” and the same uncertainty now surrounds other upcoming PlayStation titles like Housemarque’s Saros and Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Yotei, whose PC port was reportedly scrapped entirely.
Equally interesting is what this means for Nixxes Software, the Dutch studio Sony acquired in July 2021 specifically to handle PC ports of first-party PlayStation games. Nixxes is responsible for the majority of the PC ports released during Sony’s multiplatform era, and Sony has kept it open, unlike Bluepoint Games, which was shut down on February 19, 2026, resulting in roughly 70 layoffs. Reports suggest Nixxes will likely shift its focus toward live-service projects or legacy title maintenance, though Sony has made no official statement on the matter.
Sony has also not publicly acknowledged its change in PC strategy at all. No press release, no blog post, no statement. The removal of the Cross-Buy and PS5/PC icons from the backend, combined with the scrubbed website references and the stream of credible reporting, is as close to a confirmation as the company appears willing to offer, at least for now.
What do you think about PlayStation stepping away from PC ports? Are you picking up a PS5 or is this a deal-breaker for you? Let us know in the comments!