Does PC gaming have a future? Or are PC gamers relegated to an ever-shrinking market of increasingly marginalized, low-quality titles and poor console ports?
There’s been a great deal of gloom and doom in various online forums and gaming web sites. Sales of boxed, retail PC games were substantially down in 2008. You no longer see many AAA PC-only titles being announced (Command and Conquer 4 being an exception.)
The problem isn’t that PC games are dying. The problem is that PC games are evolving, and the way people look at PC games hasn’t changed.
I like to think of PC gaming as a beam of light passing through a diffraction grating.
A diffraction grating takes a beam of light and splits it up into multiple different beams, each at its own frequency and wavelength. On top of that, a beam of light is dynamic – it’s moving, after all, at the speed of light. A prism behaves in a similar way. The same holds true for PC gaming – it’s not a static “thing.” It’s dynamic and ever-changing. In some ways, PC gaming and PC game development evolves much faster than console games, although network connected consoles do create an environment that’s more changeable than the fixed cartridge games of a few years ago.
It’s this dynamic of rapid change and evolution that makes me optimistic about PC gaming. But if you believe in the future of PC gaming, you may need to change your definition of what PC games are. Are you ready for that?
Let’s take a look at the various beams of light emanating from the prism that is PC gaming today. We’ll start with the traditional, and work our way along the evolutionary ladder, to mix a couple of metaphors.
Boxed PC Games
The retail PC gaming business is, in fact, shrinking. Whenever I wander the aisles at Best Buy or Fry’s Electronics, the section for the classic, boxed, major release titles developed by larger studios and backed by major publishers gets smaller and smaller.
What seems to be growing are niche titles. For example, the add-ons and expansions for various flight simulator applications take up a huge amount of shelf space. Titles from smaller publishers, typically priced from $20 – $30, also take up substantial shelf space. As I look at these games, I can’t recall ever seeing reviews or previews of many of them. Interesting games like The Experiment, Rise of Flight (a World War I combat flight sim), and Drakensang seem to get relatively little traction. I’m not suggesting these are good games, (though The Experiment is an interesting, well, experiment.) But it is interesting to see how the bigger publishers are now releasing fewer titles overall.
Still, there are a large number of titles in the works for the boxed retail PC game space. Many appear to be console ports, but these are becoming more sophisticated, often developed in parallel with the console version by PC-centric development teams. A few new exclusives are coming out as well, such as the aforementioned Command and Conquer 4.
One advantage that PC games have had is price. For example, I picked up Call of Duty: World at War for $39.95 when the PC version shipped – $20 less than the console version. Recently, Activision Blizzard put a stake in the ground, and announced that the PC version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 would cost $59.95 – the same as the console version. If this flies, then we may see higher prices for PC game releases from large publishers. The rumbling among potential buyers, though, has been vociferous and loud, so we’ll have to see how successful that experiment in pricing will be.
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Jim says:
August 12, 2009 at 5:43 pm (UTC -7 )
But Loyd…what about Mac gaming?
Loyd Case says:
August 12, 2009 at 5:53 pm (UTC -7 )
Jim, the Mac is a PC. Really. I’m using “PC” generically. The article is not “the future of Windows gaming”, although that’s certainly the bulk of the PC gaming market.
Derek Rost says:
August 13, 2009 at 5:54 am (UTC -7 )
PCs have definitely lost a lot of market to the the consoles – once the consoles caught up in the screen resolution and achieved the processing power to manage a decent AI. But I think there will always be games that will require the keyboard as an input device. Also, sitting 2 feet from the monitor is a different gaming experience than sitting 10 feet from the TV.
Lastly, I think PCs will continue to lead consoles in pure power, allowing better AI, frame rates and screen resolutions. This is tempered by PCs being a generic device that performs a lot of functions compared to a console that does only one or two (gaming and media player).
Cliff Forster says:
August 13, 2009 at 7:25 am (UTC -7 )
Excellent article. I think one of the challenges for the PC to be re invigorated as a gaming platform is the consumers perception of price.
Consoles have become the preferred gaming platform, not because they offer a better experience, but because there is an old market perception that getting a gaming ready PC costs an arm and a leg. A few years ago this was true. The market has changed, the paradigm has shifted, and now owning a quality gaming PC costs no more than any console when you look at the total cost of ownership over a couple of years.
I hope you don’t mind me linking a piece that I did comparing the 360 to the PC in terms of value. I honestly think once consumers are better educated about how little it takes to get into a decent gaming rig, more people will flock to the hobby, and ultimately return the PC to its rightful place as the worlds preferred gaming platform.
http://gaming.icrontic.com/articles/forget-the-console-and-build-a-gaming-pc-a-value-comparison
Loyd Case says:
August 13, 2009 at 9:25 am (UTC -7 )
I think you hit on a point many people overlook — the differences in experience when sitting close to a display versus the 10 foot experience. Both can be excellent experiences, but very different.
Loyd Case says:
August 13, 2009 at 9:29 am (UTC -7 )
Cliff, that’s a very interesting analysis. When I was at ET, we’d regularly build gaming PCs for under $800, so we knew hardware prices were coming down to a point where the hardware wasn’t much more than a PS3. But your pricing over time + functionality takes that a step further. Nicely done.
It will be interesting to see if Activision-Blizzard’s attempt to price the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 takes hold. If so, that will make PC gaming a little tougher sell. PC games have classically also cost less than console games.
trip1ex says:
August 13, 2009 at 12:16 pm (UTC -7 )
The hassle of pcgaming is as big a roadblock as perceptions about price.
And even when you know what you’re doing in terms of drivers and fixing problems it is still time consuming.
My ultimate gaming platform would be the Mac. Too bad no one makes games for it.
Matt Jancaitis says:
August 13, 2009 at 1:16 pm (UTC -7 )
With due respect to Cliff above, and with the same hope that you don’t mind us linking back to another site, we did a counterpoint to show some inaccuracies and fallacies in the “PC as a better value” argument here:
http://gaming.icrontic.com/articles/sorry-pcs-consoles-are-the-better-deal/
Yes, PCs are great gaming experiences, and yes, they’re cheaper and certainly more varied lately, but consoles aren’t exactly leaving the MMO, digital download, or social gaming aspects behind, either. Several MMOs are being planned on consoles – The Agency, All Points Bulletin, CrimeCraft, Marvel Universe Online, etc. Only time will tell if they’ll be successful there and tear people away from their PCs as well. Both the PS3 and 360 are active proponents of the digital download system as well, with XBLA and PSN titles spanning from low-budget indie games made by folks with XNA to Warhawk on the PS3. Microsoft has recently said they’ll be enabling entire-game downloads from the network. As far as social gaming goes, Microsoft already has a well-acclaimed social game in operation (though it may still be invite-only beta) – 1 vs 100. Things are moving there, whether it’s for good or bad – it’s just inexorable.
As long as consoles continue to move up in power, catching up to PCs, the line gets thinner, and more people want to sit on their couch than want to sit in front of their desks, I’d wager. It may not be how you or I or Cliff wants to see it happen – I love PC gaming, fear not – but the console is a powerful force, and the market is receptive to shifting to accommodate it.
Loyd Case says:
August 13, 2009 at 2:06 pm (UTC -7 )
Yeah, but given RRODs, game crashes, patches and updates to existing games, ease of use and stability for consoles has taken a big step backwards. Still not as much a pain as a PC can be, but no longer a matter of just sticking a disk in and playing, either.
Matt Jancaitis says:
August 13, 2009 at 11:31 pm (UTC -7 )
The updates and patches might be annoying, but you never have to worry about whether your PC has the horsepower required to play the game. If you buy a console game, it’s guaranteed to run on that console. That’s about as easy, stable, and consistent as you can get. Crashes on a console are a fractional portion of crashes on a PC.
I miss the days when publishers would put out a completed game that was as bug-free as they could make it rather than putting out something good enough because they knew they could patch it later… but at least they do fix things.
And RRoDs were fixed (permanently) at least a year ago. Still everybody’s favorite talking point, though.
Raspop says:
August 14, 2009 at 2:43 am (UTC -7 )
Defense Grid has eaten far too may hours of my life – anxiously awaiting a sequel.
Good article and ET hasn’t been the same without you, Mr Case.
Thanks for keep on keeping on, or is that keeping on keeping onning?
Either way, keep it up.
3d training says:
August 14, 2009 at 4:49 am (UTC -7 )
Your article is very nice to read. I love to play PC games Generally. I think we can get a nice game quality and features in PC games.
Chris says:
August 14, 2009 at 2:45 pm (UTC -7 )
Lloyd, I would first like to state I was very bummed when they canceled your podcast.
First if anyone from the gaming industry is reading this. STOP MAKING THE SPECS EXCEED my PC’s in less then a year.
I know you have done $800.00 gaming rigs Lloyd. However were able to play the latest FPS on it a year later. I bet not. It’s a simple fact of economics. I can’t afford to shell $800.00 every year, that’s why I own consoles too. You get a longer gaming life out of consoles. And we are old men in a kids world here. And Game companies do not see us as their demographic. And parents will go for a console that gives them 5 to 6 years of gaming life over two maybe three. So any game companies reading this, keep the games interesting and you do not need to use the latest physics engine that runs on only top end hardware.
Kev says:
August 16, 2009 at 8:44 am (UTC -7 )
Well my major concern why the store of PC games are reducing due because a lot of games are downloadable. Steam, NCSoft launcher and etc.
Also there are tons of game pirating so it is unstoppable. Mouse and Cat.
dreamhunk says:
August 27, 2009 at 8:49 pm (UTC -7 )
I found a funny video on youtube about pc gaming dying lol, I find it funny pc gaming is 60 billion dallor Industry and every chances console gamers get they keep saying it’s dying.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsTwgUo9Blw&feature=related
when pc gaming clearly has the must games made for every year.
http://kotaku.com/5037023/more-developers-working-on-pc-xbox-360-titles
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10291692-1.html
http://adrianwerner.wordpress.com/games-of-2009/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7960498.stm
http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/why-the-future-looks-bright-for-pc-gaming-589422
YS says:
August 29, 2009 at 11:18 am (UTC -7 )
Maybe the US$800 system will not be able to play a new game at maximum graphics a year or two later, but nowadays game graphics are good enough such that it’s ok to lower the detail a bit, and still get a lot of satisfaction and fun from the game.
What I’m not liking about some console games in-general is this feeling of “restrictiveness”. Two of the recent games that slightly disappointed me were Prototype and HAWX. Prototype had some areas with cheap-looking graphics that brought down the overall look and feel, along with simple mini-games that don’t quite fulfill the “sandbox” experience. HAWX was really overly-simplified, and was put together with very little dramatic tension, if you ask me. Yet both were well-reviewed in their respective console versions.
Now I’m not saying all console games suck, or simplified games are bad. I played GTA3 a long time ago, and had plenty of fun with it, despite not completing the game (I was exhausted by the time I got to the second island). The Call of Duty series is a simplified, almost “on-rails” FPS, but I still love them, because of the gameplay and the writing. And despite Knights of the Old Republic being another example of the “smallness” feeling a console port brings, it still was plenty enjoyable, if rather short.
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