My hypothesis:
They are preparing to compete with Steam, and to do so they need to have a compelling argument to make PC gamers consider their store instead of Steam.
EPIC became relevant by giving free games for years; Sony will build an exclusives’ portfolio and then launch its own store.
As this store will be available only where PSN already is, they probably don’t want to commit to keep the game working on these countries after migrating from Steam, so better to not sell now to avoid headaches later.
I don’t think they can replace Steam, PC gamers trust Steam… a lot. But with the exclusives they can have an offer compelling enough to be real competition. Maybe offer the game on PC and their consoles for example (that would be neat).
My hypothesis: They are preparing to compete with Steam, and to do so they need to have a compelling argument to make PC gamers consider their store instead of Steam. EPIC became relevant by giving free games for years; Sony will build an exclusives’ portfolio and then launch its own store. As this store will be available only where PSN already is, they probably don’t want to commit to keep the game working on these countries after migrating from Steam, so better to not sell now to avoid headaches later.
Ah. An EEE move by Sony? Embrace (Steam), Extend (add PSN requirement), Extinguish (bye Steam).
I don’t think they can replace Steam, PC gamers trust Steam… a lot. But with the exclusives they can have an offer compelling enough to be real competition. Maybe offer the game on PC and their consoles for example (that would be neat).