PricewaterhouseCoopers is about to release a new industry report titled "Global Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2008-2012". The overall video game industry is expected to grow 10.3% annually but console games will continue to dominate sales which will grow at a healthy 6.9% per year. Online games are predicted to see the highest annual growth rate of 16.9% but will still have a way to go to catch up to console sales. Video game advertising, a relatively new entry, is also predicted to have strong growth at 16.7% annually. PC games will continue to be the industry laggard with an expectation of decreased sales between now and 2012. They are predicting an annual growth rate of negative 1.2%. This news doesn't bode well for hard-core PC gamers as this will likely lead to a reduced investment in quality titles.
Read the extended article for actual sales figures and predictions of 2012.
Read the extended article for actual sales figures and predictions of 2012.
Overall video game industry:
2007: $41.9 billion --> 2012: $68.3 billion
Console games:
2007: $24.9 billion --> 2012: $34.7 billion
Online games:
2007: $6.6 billion --> 2012: $14.4 billion
Video game advertising:
2007: $1 billion --> 2012: $2.3 billion
PC games:
2007: $3.8 billion --> 2012: $3.6 billion
negative ghostrider. pc gaming is dwindling because console gaming is FAR more lucrative. there are more people willing to spend 400-600 bucks on a console every 4 years then twice that upgrading computers. people are also technically challenged, and dont like the process of installing and possibly troubleshooting pc issues. they would rather put in game in and go. the modding community and online communities are no longer enough to keep pc gaming afloat. especially with consoles being more and more online-enabled.
The PC gaming market isn't as big as the console market. Piracy accounts for about a 20-30% loss for a PC game at most. That's a big loss, but a PC game with a <$10M budget could easily make a good profit.
It's the combination of overall market size, piracy, and overblown budgets (mostly on advertizing, star cameo appearances, and eye candy) that's resulted in some companies losing money on big-budget flops.
Another thing that harmed PC gaming recently was Vista. DX10 and high requirements killed the sales of games like Crysis. PC gamers won't upgrade for a single game like they used to, they're sick of the 6 month upgrade cycle Nvidia wanted to put them on. Some of them bought consoles for this very reason.
That's why Valve is so successful. Valve's games work on just about any PC built in the last four years, they don't have massive budgets (compared to a giant ****fest like Halo 3), and Valve doesn't spend tens of millions advertizing them. Also, Valve self-publishes, so they get all the profit and there's no reason to screw themselves over like publishers routinely screw over developers.
What's really happening is that corrupt game publishers like EA are finding it hard sell their crap to PC gamers. The kind of garbage they can pawn off on clueless console gamers by brainwashing them with hype doesn't work as well on PC gamers. It's a fact that console gamers are much younger on average than PC gamers. It's two different markets and publishers who treat them the same will fail.
negative ghostrider. pc gaming is dwindling because console gaming is FAR more lucrative. there are more people willing to spend 400-600 bucks on a console every 4 years then twice that upgrading computers. people are also technically challenged, and dont like the process of installing and possibly troubleshooting pc issues. they would rather put in game in and go. the modding community and online communities are no longer enough to keep pc gaming afloat. especially with consoles being more and more online-enabled.
Well that's definitely true but piracy or hacking to be precise are definitely helping it lose the race too .. I know I completely quit PC gaming overall because of it. I'm sick of small kids cheating their asses off because they can't learn to live that in life you can't be best at everything and that you need to actually practice to get good.
Not only that console gaming is more comfortable..the systems are closed up so no cheating is possible. So essentially it's real skill. I don't mind kids language and similar, you can always mute but you can't prevent wallhacks, aimbots and similar.
Sure, the price is number one reason but this is also very reason why I know many people are dropping PC gaming and going consoles. I know I did.
An old card can still last many years, providing you don't mind tuning graphics to get the right balance of performance and quality. It's the obsession with having to run every game at full quality that requires an upgrade every few months.
An old card can still last many years, providing you don't mind tuning graphics to get the right balance of performance and quality. It's the obsession with having to run every game at full quality that requires an upgrade every few months.
In that regard I think all PC games should check your specs the first time you run (some do this already) and set the right settings to give you the best quality and performance you can get. Having the gamer dig through and do a hit and miss tweak till they get it right is a pain for most I bet.
Oh and I suppose they can also code their games better. Multithreaded anyone? It's about time they start using dual cores and more (for those with 3 or 4) better.
An old card can still last many years, providing you don't mind tuning graphics to get the right balance of performance and quality. It's the obsession with having to run every game at full quality that requires an upgrade every few months.
In that regard I think all PC games should check your specs the first time you run (some do this already) and set the right settings to give you the best quality and performance you can get. Having the gamer dig through and do a hit and miss tweak till they get it right is a pain for most I bet.
I always prefer it when they auto-detect (CoD is the first that springs to mind) although I often still tweak them because there are some things I prefer over others (I'd rather have higher resolution textures than AA and loads of particle effects).
they will. pc gaming will always be 'alive', but fewer and fewer games will be released on PC as its obviously far more lucrative to make a game for a console.
LOL!!! I was thinking more along the lines of StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3. I was going to buy Spore until I heard about the DRM it comes with.
LOL!!! I was thinking more along the lines of StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3. I was going to buy Spore until I heard about the DRM it comes with.
I believe they are no longer doing that crazy DRM (checks in every 10 days and you have to play every 10 or it deactivates... something like that) if that is what you are referring to. Will still come with the usual SecuROM that EA use, I imagine.
Keyboard + Mouse support has been around for years now and the PC hasn't died yet...
Keyboard + Mouse support has been around for years now
+1. There's a device for the 360 that allows you to play with a keyboard and mouse. I think it's called the JoyFrag. You can play with a keyboard and mouse onthe PS3 as well. You don't even need an add-on. They just have to be USB.
Besides: Blue screen of death and the red ring of death? Consoles and PCs are coming closer and closer as it is. I wouldn't be surprised if budget PCs and consoles become one and the same.
I personally cannot stand using a KB and M on a console, it just feels out of place and doesnt allow me to sit at my couch, rather i have to sit at my desk. I just dont see it happening.
It is quite clear that ff PC gaming were to die, gaming-related technological development would fall rapidly.
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