i think even if pc games don't sell the same numbers, they make much more money per sale on the pc. i believe i read somewhere that you get 60-70% of the money if you sell your game on steam. so 60% of $50 or so for skyrim is much more than the $15 (i believe that was the amount) you make with a console game (rest is royalties, retail, transport and blabla). and you make even less on console if you need a publisher because then you only get a part of the part^^.

and then, games on steam sell much better over the long run than retail games for consoles who sell only the first months and die then. sure there are some games like mariokart which sell over years but most games only sell the first few months on console.

so who cares if you sell only half on pc if you make the same money with it?

It'll either be something F2P or otherwise MMOish or some kinda of Crysis like ultra graphics showoff.

Don't forget The Sims, I don't like the games but they sell like crazy!

Sims 2 moved around 11 million units on the PC, the first one about 13 million and the franchise in total has about 85 million sales (including expansion packs) on PC alone...

Starcraft sold 11 million, this was easily within a period where pirating was becoming an issue. The sequel has likely moved around 6 million units total and was the fastest selling strategy game in history, selling 1.5 million in two days on a single platform!

Diablo II with all its re-releases and its massively popular expansion has sold somewhere around 11-13 million.

World of Warcraft has sold about 10 million to date.

Half-Life 2 has sold about 10 million the PC and the original about 9 million.

Battlefield 2 sold well over 10 millon as well on the PC.

sales2099:

Clearly, the PC is unable to move software. Battlefield 3 sold more on PS360? How strange, its not like they've gained a reputation for being shooter boxes or anything. People probably thought it was Call of Press Win Button and sold their copies to Gamestop the morning after.

The PC as a platform is more viable and relevant today that it was ten years ago, especially in these times of digital distribution and tech outsourcing. Epic branched out from their PC roots and went almost strictly with consoles while Valve and Blizzard stayed with the platform they were born on, which two of those three companies has made the most money, fame and impact again? I seem to forget, getting old I suppose.

I also like how you generalize that all PC gamers are pirates and unworthy of attention, both clever and mature. I'm usually fine about people having opinions but not when they're bad and/or factually incorrect, you manage both.

While a bit in your face, that may actually be a fair estimate, I know a lot of people who play WoW, but for each person that plays WoW, it seems there is also a person who used to play it, but not anymore.

Either way, I think it's a dead cert that Epic Games can more than afford a pc exclusive game, with the fact that Fortnite is multiplatform and PCF will also be working on something.

The figures that roam around are mostly active accounts, some players have more than one account for various reasons, some simply bot and farm while others have region specific accounts etc.

It still takes nothing away from the accomplishment that WoW is (and this is coming from someone who doesn't even like the game at all).