Mudface on 30 October 2009
PC gaming may not be on a visible decline from the viewpoint of PLAYERS, but the profits enjoyed by developers and publishers is down
Is it? And if so, is this specifically due to a decline in PC sales and profitability, or simply reflecting the huge cost of development these days?
I remember seeing a graphic in PC Gamer UK around 2003, which gave the share of PC revenue at about 30% of all gaming revenue. For 2008, Charttrack reckons it at about 29%, or 13 billion out of a total of 45 billion. Where's the decline?
Publishers and developers are obviously making enough to keep on making PC games, indeed Capcom's recent PC releases are generally reckoned to be the definitive versions. Multi-platform games that aren't up to scratch and don't take advantage of the PC's strengths will fail and fail hard (e.g. COD 6 and the new Op Flash), but the likes of Zenimax and EA seem to be happy enough. There aren't as many exclusives, but there again there are very few publishers with deep enough pockets to make an exclusive for any one format these days. What's the point of aiming at 20 million PS3 owners, when you can aim at 40+ million PS3 and 360 owners and up to 200 million PC gamers?
I'm meandering a lot, but I just don't see where all the 'PC gaming is dead/ dying' comes from- it's in the best condition it's ever been.
