The CEO of BioWare has told us that, contrary to numerous 'PC gaming is dying' claims, the sector's in fine health on a number of fronts.
"I think there are more people playing PC games and more dollars being spent on the PC space than ever before, but it's taking a different form," Ray Muzyka said in a recent interview.
According to Muzyka the PC gaming landscape is changing as audiences and technology evolve, and it's the job of developers to adapt to these new market conditions.
"MMOs are one way that's occurring... And there are more people playing flash-based games and casual games, even core games that are played in a casual way, so maybe [they have] a more core experience and you only play them for short bursts or for half an hour or something.
"It's not a bad thing if people want to play more types of games than they did 20 years ago, it's natural and normal as the audience and technology evolves... As creators we have to adapt to that and continue to make sure that we're satisfying the audience, but it doesn't mean we have to compromise.
"We can still make deep rich experiences but we have to make them easy to access, you have make the control system really easy to use, and you have to make people feel like they're playing an experience that they can play how they want to play it, whether that is long sessions or short sessions."
PC gaming does appear to be doing well, Steam especially is buzzing with new PC games every week and the deal with EA and SOE is proof that the PC has a lot of potential for the game industry, however first time PC gamers are finding it harder and harder to afford new gaming rigs with the potential to last. How long will it be before we can play Crysis Warhead (at full detail) with a gaming PC for less than Ł500?
The point to Crysis was to push the boundaries of the PC format, which is why it runs like a dog on anything that doesn't have a big graphics card.
If Counterstrike, World of Warcraft and Starcraft's userbases have taught us anything it's that PC Gaming is more about the multiplayer experience than anything else, and has been the ethos at work for the last few years.
PC Gaming is dead? Tell that to Valve; tell that to professional PC Gaming which is bigger than it's ever been; tell that to the 10 million, again, TEN MILLION WoW subscribers!! Tell that to the people that have been playing Starcraft, or the people who still play Counterstrike. Tell it to everyone who bought the Orange Box. These assertions that the 'PC is dead' are from either grief baiting morons, or console fanboys who don't have/own/use PC. The ligitimate truth of the matter is that PC Gaming is still going strong, and will continue to long into the future- the games are too rich and depthful, and offer too much replay value not to. While Microsoft try to charge for every little thing on the XBOX, including on-line play; with a PC you need a copy of a game (Non MMO of course except Guild Wars.) and the internet and you're laughing- they don't control it. No-one does.
Valve haven't even released their full sales figures yet, yet we know from the ones they HAVE released that they're doing a roaring trade.
The point to Crysis was to push the boundaries of the PC format, which is why it runs like a dog on anything that doesn't have a big graphics card.
If Counterstrike, World of Warcraft and Starcraft's userbases have taught us anything it's that PC Gaming is more about the multiplayer experience than anything else, and has been the ethos at work for the last few years.
PC Gaming is dead? Tell that to Valve; tell that to professional PC Gaming which is bigger than it's ever been; tell that to the 10 million, again, TEN MILLION WoW subscribers!! Tell that to the people that have been playing Starcraft, or the people who still play Counterstrike. Tell it to everyone who bought the Orange Box. These assertions that the 'PC is dead' are from either grief baiting morons, or console fanboys who don't have/own/use PC. The ligitimate truth of the matter is that PC Gaming is still going strong, and will continue to long into the future- the games are too rich and depthful, and offer too much replay value not to. While Microsoft try to charge for every little thing on the XBOX, including on-line play; with a PC you need a copy of a game (Non MMO of course except Guild Wars.) and the internet and you're laughing- they don't control it. No-one does.
Valve haven't even released their full sales figures yet, yet we know from the ones they HAVE released that they're doing a roaring trade.
Well said that man!
I have bought loads of games for my PC in the last couple of months. Most games that you can get on the consoles are also available for PC. They are on the whole cheaper too. So I am a happy bunny!
The point to Crysis was to push the boundaries of the PC format, which is why it runs like a dog on anything that doesn't have a big graphics card.
If Counterstrike, World of Warcraft and Starcraft's userbases have taught us anything it's that PC Gaming is more about the multiplayer experience than anything else, and has been the ethos at work for the last few years.
PC Gaming is dead? Tell that to Valve; tell that to professional PC Gaming which is bigger than it's ever been; tell that to the 10 million, again, TEN MILLION WoW subscribers!! Tell that to the people that have been playing Starcraft, or the people who still play Counterstrike. Tell it to everyone who bought the Orange Box. These assertions that the 'PC is dead' are from either grief baiting morons, or console fanboys who don't have/own/use PC. The ligitimate truth of the matter is that PC Gaming is still going strong, and will continue to long into the future- the games are too rich and depthful, and offer too much replay value not to. While Microsoft try to charge for every little thing on the XBOX, including on-line play; with a PC you need a copy of a game (Non MMO of course except Guild Wars.) and the internet and you're laughing- they don't control it. No-one does.
Valve haven't even released their full sales figures yet, yet we know from the ones they HAVE released that they're doing a roaring trade.
Bingo! The PC gaming market isn't about to die out; not even close. What the good doctor stated in the article makes sense. Now if only he would be willing to apply a similar amount of sense to opposing EA's insistence on using DRM and limited activations in BioWare's titles (which he and his co-founder both appear to have accepted and gone along with). Those are the types of tomfoolery that just *might* have the potential to kill PC gaming given enough time. It saddens me that in the space of a couple of months I went from not being able to get enough of BioWare games to now never buying another new BioWare game unless they change their ways. How quickly the mighty have fallen in my book at any rate.
It is finally nice to know that another company other than Steam see the PC not as a dying market but a large competitor in the world of gaming and it is just getting stronger and stronger every day.
Right. While reading the article, Steam was the first to come to mind, but there's also an entire segment that's not yet been accounted for: Free-to-plays. It doesn't seem like Nexon is hurting in any way, and more and more f2p's arrive in the Western Market on a daily basis. PC gaming dead? Not so much. wasd ftw!
You have it partly right, but no, not only MMO's and casual but many many many continue long term long hours of play in classic and new PC games, major titles, both new and old. Many many of us do NOT like platforms, and will never use them. We LOVE classic PC game play, single player and all genres. I study this constantly and discuss it in many many differnt forums, as I study 3D world making and game development both from interest and as my work. I am an artist in 2D but moving in to 3D and i have studied game development for many years now. Do NOT be fooled by the marketeers of the platforms, many millions LOVE PC and intend to stay with that format. I am glad you understand this partly and hope you will continue to plan Biowar games for PC. thanks chris
Chris Gerlach M.A. C.F.A. Oxon, M.L.S. Royal Academy 1979 Admin 3D Worlds and Game Developers Group Linkedin http://chris-today.blogspot.com http://www.christophergerlach.com
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, UK BA1 2BW England and Wales company registration number 2008885
