PC gaming not as dead as we though?

[lars573]

We've all seen the numbers. In 2007 console game sales were $19 Billion, while PC game sales were a platry (comparably) $911 million. According to The NPD Group, a research firm that tracks such things. However according to a study by the PCgaming alliance that's not the whole story. According to them, and their study, in 2007 PC gaming revinue was $10.7 billion. So how do you get such a disparity? 911 million is only the US, and (this is key) only at retail. The NPD groups numbers don't track digital distrobution, or subscritions to MMO's. And the PCG alliance states that retail sales are a mere 30% of PC gaming sales internationally.

According to the PCGA's Horizons report, games on the oldest active gaming platform generated around $10.7 billion in sales worldwide. Of that, $4.8 billion--nearly half--comes from online revenue, including subscriptions for massively multiplayer games such as the omnipresent World of Warcraft. Digital distribution sales hit $2 billion globally, with in-game and game portal advertising revenues reaching $800 million.

Linky

If you want to read the report follow the link to the PCG alliance website.

[naut]

Yeah, I can see that being the case. I buy alot of my PC games from gamersgate.com, etc, simply because the retail stores often don't have the titles I'm looking for, because they're smart and have stocked up on the profitable Guitar Hero type games, etc.

[KarlXII]

PC gaming died?

[Martok]

Who are you, and what the hell have you done with lars573??! The real lars would never be this optimistic!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

My (lame) joking aside, I'm not surprised by the numbers. As an afficianado of Stardock (who are big champions of online digital distribution), I have a halfway-decent idea as to how much PC game sales are under/mis-represented by the mainstream gaming media.

[lars573]

Well I've been shown that the numbers I saw were skewed, to say the least. Although the PCGA didn't give any numbers on global console revinue. As that would probably be 100's of billions of dollars. I just though that good news in PC gaming would be welcome. My mistake.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Martok]

While I've had some concerns the last few years, I've still never believed that PC gaming was dead (or even dying, for that matter). It's certainly *changing* -- no one can deny that -- but I don't think it's for the worse.

The situation is fluctuating quite a bit at the moment, and I think it will continue to do so for another year or two before we start to get a clearer picture of how the PC gaming landscape will look. Do I believe it will be different from what it is currently? Absolutely. But I also believe it will be an improvement over what it's been.

[lars573]

I've never partaken of online stores for games, yet. For my other less mature hobby I have, many times. However the day will probably come. Thing is most forms of digital distro really can't apply to me. Most require a credit card. I don't have one, and probably couldn't get one (for 2 reasons).

And the "PC is teh deadz!!1!!" wasn't really me. It was a general sentiment. I though it was declining. But changing is the better word.

[hrvojej]

*rant*

Well, I don't think PC gaming is going to die if other developers learn a few things from Stardock, for example. PC gaming is losing the fight with the consoles for the bells-and-whistles audience, but it may win out on the people who like involved, complex gaming experience - myself included. Things I like about Stardock's GalCiv series:

- complex yet open-ended games, obviously the work of love, which is a rarity on the shelves today
- one of topmost priorities is the AI development, which equals fun and rewarding experience
- the games are single-player only, meaning that every improvement to the game directly enhances MY enjoyment
- the patching support is excellent, showing that they care
- there is no copy protection, and therefore no hassle for their customers to play the game
- though it doesn't affect me personally right now, I applaud their focus on scalability of graphics so their games can be played on older rigs
- online distribution means that most of my money goes to the devs who made the game, and not some middleman schmucks

Online distribution also means that the devs tend to listen to their customers who pay them directly, and not some shady publisher company who financed them and is now calling the shots. The middleman in the gaming business model usually makes the decisions that are detrimental to the game and to me as a customer, like "put in bells and whistles, the AI takes too long to code" or "don't patch the game for which you have already been paid for", because they care about things other than the game itself. And even if the devs want to do something about it, they can't because of their financial and other dependencies. But looks like this approach is finally coming back to bite those big publishers, and it is their own decisions, and focus on short-term gain, that brought this 'end of PC gaming' upon them, and not the lack of audience. The audience is there, you only have to know how to reach it.

And you bet that for games like Stardock's I don't mind putting my money where my mouth is. The older I am, the more I prefer complex games, but at the same time I can also afford to pay more for games now than I could when I was a teen. I gladly paid full price for both GalCiv2 itself and its expansions, whereas in retail I bought 99% of my games at discount prices. Heck, at Stardock they even convert all the prices directly from dollars to other currencies when you buy online instead of having special pricing per region, so even the exchange rates are going in my favor right now!

It sure feels good to again be a part of the target audience in gaming after so many years.

*end rant*

[caravel]

I must admit that I'm one of those people that likes to actually go out to buy a game and I would never consider buying a game that had to be downloaded through a system like Steam. Though I would occasionally order a game online to be delivered to my door. I did this with RTW Gold Edition. I ordered it from Jersey (that's a little island we have over here in the English Channel) because it worked out much cheaper.

I rarely buy any games these days and that's probably partially due to the poor selection available in the stores. It seems that every time I go into a games store that yet another whole shelf, or often a whole isle, has been take over by crappy kiddy or family oriented console garbage. I remember when the PC section was 6 whole shelf loads in the games store I used to visit, now it is only 2.

...stocked up on the profitable Guitar Hero type games, etc.

How those kind of games could actually appeal to anyone above the age of 3 I've absolutely no idea.

[JR-]

as someone who spends a fortune buying the biggest and shiniest and newiest hardware, i am delighted that PC gaming is dieing otherwise i would have to face up to my 'habit'.

but, while i applaud online distribution as an excellent way to cut out the publisher and retain profit for the developer, i loath an despise intrusive DRM systems, particularly those that require online authentication.

i dislike the idea of gaming as a service, i want a product that i own, that if i come back to a decade hence and try to install, i won't be asked for an internet connection to a developer six years bust.

http://www.positech.co.uk/talkingtopirates.html