PC Gaming ain't dead

PC News | According to Valve.

With a constant stream of irritating news given to PC gamers nowadays, particularly in the loss of things like dedicated servers and super high end ultra graphics due of multiplatform reasons, most people tend to believe that PC Gaming is dying. According to Valve, it isn't.

Speaking to Good Game, Valve Business Manager Jason Holtman says that all the talk of PC sales dwindling are based "on North American press looking at North American reports".

“And North America retail reports don’t have Europe in them, and they don’t have online PCs on them, they don’t have micro-transaction PCs in it. Steam has 20 million users right now and you’ve got figures like the Cartner Group telling us that there's 260 million online PC gamers in the world – and there’s 250 million PCs shipped in 2007; that’s a huge installment,” he says, which is quite a large amount of PC Gamers we have to admit.

What do readers think of the situation with the PC? Is Valve correct in saying that PC is alive and well, or is the market really just grasping onto straws?

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17 Comments

grim-one

1 year ago

Bah... the gaming media has been crying wolf about PC dying for the last 20 years. It's still here and judging by Steam, Impulse, GoG, Greenhouse, Direct2Drive and countless independent game selling sites it is alive and well. It's just not much of a presence at retail anymore, we've all moved on.

If you factor in WoW and Facebook gaming (ad-revenue), it's probably bigger than ever.

PixieGirl

1 year ago

I really don't know why people say PC gaming is dying.. PCs obviously get less games overall than the consoles, but there are still plenty of games coming out all the time on the PC including most of the big releases that come out on the consoles, and then PC players get their own exclusive games too that don't come out on consoles.

I think most people just say it because its become a popular opinion now even without really knowing anything...

I have a good PC and consoles too, but I prefer my PC

I find it better in almost every way! I like being closer to the screen sat upright on a chair because I find it makes gaming more intimate and immersive than being sat on my sofa a mile away from the television squinting my eyes

, I find the controls much easier for anything except a few games, and then I can just plug in my controller

I love how there is more much customisation, and I like being able to have one machine that just does everything... On the other hand I don't like how you need to be very computer savvy because I'm probably only just above average with that, and I think that's what puts people off, as well as the price.. but luckily I have a friend who upgrades my computer for me

I just use the consoles now for some of the games that don't come out on the PC, and I really find gaming much less fulfilling when I use a console... If PC gaming really does die I will have to have some kind of strange setup where I have a smaller TV on a desk with the console and a nice comfy chair so I can sit real close and make it more like a PC.

RWS

1 year ago

PC isn't dying, however there is less Games For Windows Live than their should be... I think if Microsoft is getting serious with PC gaming on Win7, then they should get serious about it and make sure that any game released on the 360 also gets the same on PC and if one gets the Live feature, so should the other, and they should be compatible with each other too.

I have a Games For Windows Live account so I can play online against my friends who have 360s, but there's only one game I have that I can do that, and only one of my friends has that game.

Come on Microsoft! Put your money where your mouth is, show PC gamers you really are serious!

grim-one

1 year ago

RWS wrote

there is less Games For Windows Live than their should be

Ugh... GFW Live is terrible, especially when it's lumped in on top of Steam. I think Microsoft know it too, which is why it's not been pushed to any degree.

Fly

1 year ago

It's dead in so far as there may be 260m PC gamers yet of those gamers only something like 5% of them could then be able to continue to be PC gamers merely because of the ridiculous focus of developers on the hardware. There is little core reason why a PC game needs to incorporate the latest and greatest hardware or projections of because hey, if you can render rain on an AGP card there's no reason you should tell it it cannot because the rain is now more glossy and go out and update.

As a platform though, PC will never die simply because of the sheer number of the install base and that you are still a PC gamer if you game with Dos nowadays.

jesuslol

1 year ago

The majority of hardcore PC gamers who overclock hardware and do all that jazz are the reason why PC gaming is falling apart. Such a large percentage of PC gamers just pirate. It is much easier than pirating on a console since there isn't an physical modification.

Sure people get stuff off steam but PC gamers on general are much much more likely to pirate than their console counterparts.

thatavguy

1 year ago

I'm sick of hearing that PC gaming is dying, also sick of hearing that PC gamers all pirate games.

I do know a bunch of games get pirated.. but then lets face it - a bunch of games are complete crap and get loaded with heaps of DRM which makes the pirated version a much better version to have.

I buy heaps more games for the PC than I do any of my consoles, because PC gaming is much more fun IMO.

I find it very hard to believe that the large majority of PC gamers just pirate when most people I know are happy to pay $20-50 for a game on PC, especially when the same game on Console is selling for $80-120

GooberMan

1 year ago

I'm developing an indie game for the PC. I'd be surprised if I don't make a profit from it.

grim-one

1 year ago

Something relevant just popped up on my Joystiq feed.

PC gaming revenue grew in 2009 as retail PC game sales shrank (Joystiq)

PC Gaming Revenue at $13.1 Billion in 2009 (IndustryGamers)

GooberMan wrote

I'm developing an indie game for the PC. I'd be surprised if I don't make a profit from it.

Really? Even after factoring in your time? High expectations!

heatseeker

1 year ago

No way is it dying.
I personally have converted myself to PC gaming. Recently purchasing games over Steam (mainly due to their sales) and playing them way more than the 20 games I own on 360.

Azza

1 year ago

Stuff like online flash games are keeping the casual scene very much alive on the PC, at least.

Fly wrote

...and that you are still a PC gamer if you game with Dos nowadays.

The most gaming I do on my PC is the ye olde' Command and Conquer games, because A) I can't play an RTS (with a couple of exceptions) without a mouse 'n' keyboard, and B) Because my PC has little to no power behind it. I'm still getting the hang of configuring for DOS, but once I do, It's Duke Nukem 3D all the way!

GooberMan

1 year ago

grim-one wrote

Even after factoring in your time?

I wouldn't be doing anything else with that time that will earn money. The biggest challenge to be honest will be to get the game on Steam, which is notoriously hard to do.

bobkid

1 year ago

IMPOSTABLE as long as theres a FPS on the PC it shall never be.

grim-one

1 year ago

GooberMan wrote

grim-one wrote

Even after factoring in your time?

I wouldn't be doing anything else with that time that will earn money. The biggest challenge to be honest will be to get the game on Steam, which is notoriously hard to do.

Ah ok, so it's a spare time endeavour. Well good luck with Steam! Make sure you consider other options like self-selling, Impulse and other smaller portals.

Puddingfork

1 year ago

If you don't mind me asking bees when is the expected release date?

Lord Haart

1 year ago

GooberMan wrote

I wouldn't be doing anything else with that time that will earn money.

Doesn't mean that there isn't an opportunity cost. Sure, you can make a game and sell 10 copies for $10 each and say that's $100 profit, but that really has no bearing on the question of whether PC game development is fiscally profitable for a business.

That said, good luck with it! Let us know when it hits Steam.

GooberMan

1 year ago

Lord Haart wrote

Sure, you can make a game and sell 10 copies for $10 each and say that's $100 profit, but that really has no bearing on the question of whether PC game development is fiscally profitable for a business.

Slight necro, but since I didn't make my point clear enough I'm expecting it to sell well on release. For reasons that I won't go in to until I have something to show off.

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