selnor said:
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Why are you bringing up the sales of Gears of War 1 when we're talking about sales of Mass Effect 1 & 2? You can't just compare the breakdown of PC games to 360 games for any PC/360 game for reasons stated below. Factors you SHOULD but haven't taken into consideration:
- Gears came out 1 yr after the 360 version, was poorly ported and still has problems for many PC gamers today that means it's actually unplayable. Mass Effect PC version came out approx. 6 months later and was a relatively good port and was slightly improved over the console version. This would have an effect on sales ratio of PC:360 of these 2 games relative to each other.
- This site doesn't track PC sales figures, so we have no way of knowing how well or poorly the PC version of Mass Effect has sold. Considerring EA are releasing this sequel at the sametime as the 360 version suggests the original's PC version DID sell well enough to warrant a same day release for the sequel (i.e >300K).
- PC sales of any game tend to be much longer and drawn out compared to console sales which are much more front-loaded. Digital distribution platforms really help with this.
- In certain markets in Europe and Asia, PC gaming is MUCH larger than console gaming. This is the main reason MS stopped releasing games on PC and 360. Games like Alan Wake have now gone 360 only so PC gamers have to buy a 360 to play it. Same with Halo 3, Gears 2 and Fable 2 & 3. I would argue that even in console-centric markets PC gaming is still more popular than believed due to digital downloads but we have no way of proving or disproving that.
- Bioware still have a very big PC fanbase that remember the days of Baldurs Gate. The sales of Dragon Age Origins proves this.
- Numerous publishers having seen the success of Steam are now releasing their own digital distribution systems and online profile schemes. It seems odd they would be investing like this unless PC games were at least bringing in some decent revenue.