Lol, when did pc gamers start buying games

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.

Of course Gamestop barely cares about it anymore. The market Gamestop are based in is console-driven. Not to mention a large proportion of Gamestop's PC gaming pie has been taken up by digital downloads. If you go to certain countries in Europe or Asia then the market is very different.

MS have taken note of this trend which is why games like Halo 3, Gears 2, Fable 2 & 3 and Alan Wake are now completely exclusive to 360. If MS could do the same with Mass Effect then they'd have done so. MS gets more money for each 360 version sold due to royalties. They get no money for every PC version, unless they're the publisher and the sales of the PC version eat up sales of of the 360 copies. Not to mention that if people can play on PC in these PC-based markets they might not purchase a 360 at all.

But PC sales don't seem to be bringing publishers the ROI they're looking for on major budget releases or there wouldn't be the shift in emphasis we've been seeing to console gaming. When this comes from long standing traditional PC game developers, the message should be loud and clear.

Personal preferences aside regarding platforms, it's hard to overlook the comparative numbers between PC and console game sales in all but the most hand picked examples.

Long term sales on PC games may not be the factor some are making it out to be in terms of generating revenue as PC games are virtually always discounted sooner and often to clearance level prices. Love the Steam weekend and holiday deals, but can't help but wonder how much purchases on these games are actually benefiting publishers. Not hurting them since there's no inventory being processed, but when you buy a game like Mass Effect for $5, it's hard to think you're giving Bioware your money.

You would be right except for 1 small thing. Every big PC/360 game or M$ exclusive has sold 80+% of it's sales on 360 over PC. Gears 1, ME1, Fable, Halo the list goes on. The majority of PC gamers out there buy and play MMO's, or strategy games. This whole belief of loads of PS3 owners buying a gaming rig to play certain games is so far out of the order. Sales prove it. You will be lucky to see StarCraft 2 hit 1 million first week sales when it's released let alone ME2 on PC. PC players will have downloaded it illegally or will have no rush ( busy doing instance runs on WOW ). Thats why console exclusives hold so much weight and M$ know it. Dont you think if the PC version sold millions then M$ would realise it's hurting there console? They know the 2 markets dont work together and sales show this.

Give me proof that Gears of War 1, ME1, Fable and Halo sold over 80% on xbox, and less than 20% on PC. I just ask you for proof, because so far no one has shown me anything that concludes your statement.

Dude, Starcraft 1 sold only 1.5 millions in it's first year.... now it should be well above 11 millions sold. PC games sell for ages and ages.

And you contradict yourself. Why do you think that Microsoft stopped selling PC versions of their games?! It's because PC affects console sales.

It doesn't really matter, because it's a constant revenue string that almost never ends. Starcraft 1 sold only 1.5 millions in it's first year... over 11 millions right now. And with digital distribution, games give higher profit and need less costs.

Why do you think that big publishers like EA, Square Enix, Capcom, Konami, etc... are more and more giving support to the PC platform?

That's wonderful news, but blockbuster of 2010? Don't think so, there are many great games coming out too =)

Dude your posting on a sales site. It's very easy to look for it yourself. I have already posted the link which shows you Mass Effect 1 at 2.13 million lifetime sales. And that when the PC version came out it had already sold 1.8 million. Now this site puts both together. All you have to do is a bit of math.

Gears 1 is another example. When it came out on PC Gears 1 had already sold 5.8 million on 360. It currently sits at around 6.2 I think ( without looking again. Do the math. Fable is the same etc etc. And M$ havent stopped them being released simulataneously. They have just been games which started dev on 360 first. Then ported to PC. For a certain even ME2 was 360 dev first, but I bet we would have had it sooner if it wasnt for EA stalling for both versions to release.

Lack of hard inventory is why DD services can offer big sales on older titles as I pointed out; units are not sold at a loss as opposed to physicial inventory clearing either through distributors on discontinued games, or at retailers themselves in the interest of clearing shelf space of slow moving product.

DD is ideal from the standpoint of keeping old, out of print titles available to consumers through legit means. Of course this torpedos one of the few semi-legitimate reasons given for pirating games: they're out of print and I couldn't buy them even if I wanted to.

But don't think that having a game rack up 30-60k sales at sub $10 special weekend sale prices is some sort of revenue boon that keeps publishers and developers in the black. Those revenues are more like royalties received for back log songs or CDs as opposed to the profit publishers receive from new game sales at $50, or whatever the initial MSRP happens to be.

Try not to interpret major publishers having their products available to the PC market as some sort of indicator that's where the emphasis within the game industry is heading. As it's been pointed out often when discussing the sense (or lack there of) of platform exclusive titles, it will always make more sense for a publisher to make their games available for as many viable platforms as possible for a better end ROI. When you see Capcom and Konami and SE releasing PC ports month after console release, no one can interpret that as anything more than an effort to improve the bottom line on revenue generated by a given title. Unless development is being subsidized by the platform company, whether it be MS, SCE or whoever, there's no good financial reason to keep a game exclusive to one platform as it only limits your overall market.