Almost every multi-platform release is staggered, and the announcement usually mentions only the first wave. If you are a PC player, the date you read is frequently not your date, and the difference can be anywhere from a few days to several months.
Certification is the main driver
Console platforms require certification before release. A developer submits a build, the platform holder tests it against a technical checklist, and it either passes or comes back with a list of issues. That process is measured in weeks, it cannot be skipped, and a rejection resets part of it.
The PC has no equivalent. A game can ship on Steam the moment the developer decides to. This is why PC is sometimes first, and it is the entire reason there is no incentive for a publisher to hold a PC release for console certification.
Performance work is the other driver
A PC release needs targets configured, graphics settings verified across a wide range of hardware, and often a revised art pass for the lower end of the specification. On a fixed console target that work is unnecessary, because the hardware is known and identical everywhere.
When a game ships on console first, the PC version is frequently not just a port. It is a port plus a performance pass, and the studio will usually prioritise getting the console version correct on the launch date and take the extra time on PC rather than risk both.
Some PC releases are first
It happens, and it is worth knowing that PC-first is not unusual for certain genres and certain publishers. Strategy titles and simulation titles frequently launch on PC first because the audience is PC-heavy and the certification timeline is not on the critical path for the commercial window.
The pattern to watch is that when a publisher announces a multi-platform date and does not specify platforms, it almost always means the console and PC versions are different dates.
How we label this
Where we know a date refers to one platform, we say so on the profile rather than presenting it as universal. Where the platform split is a known pattern for that title, we say that instead. The goal is that you can tell whether a date applies to your platform without emailing us to ask.