'PC games have surpassed console games globally'

The PC games market has now surpassed the console gaming sector in terms of revenues, an analyst has claimed.

[heisenberguk]

POPPYCOCK!!!

[Sidewinder-]

Oo-De-Lally!

[randomass171]

Come on Johnny, what are we waiting for?! :D

[FriedGoat]

I agree. Been a pc gamer for over 20 years, now is not the best era for pc gaming, unless you love average third party games, indies and Mobas.

Early 2000 was the best time for pc gaming, it has no decent exclusives, where are the quakes, unreal tournaments, dues ex, kingpin, total annilhations, dungeon keeper, end others? No where to be seen. I haven't played a pc exclusive anywhere near as solid as the say halo or the last of us in over 10 years.

People may buy a lot of cheap junk on steam, but that doesn't mean the industry is bigger.

[levian]

I wasn't able to play PC games back in 2000 (I was 9, and playing Runescape around then!), but I'd agree. Just this year I've been going back and playing some older games, and man they're awesome. I wish we got stuff like that today.

Honestly, I still prefer to play on a console. My computer desk setup sort of sucks to it gets uncomfortable to play for more than an hour. I like using my controller, and not all PC games are well adapted for gamepads.

There are some games that I just love on PC though, so far it's Fallout and any TES game. It just feels better, even without the ability to mod. Quicksave doesn't hurt either!

[thorstein]

I would say even pre 2000 was a great time for PC gaming. This is not to say there aren't some amazing PC games out now, certainly there are but when PC was king and consoles were niche, PC gaming = amazing.

RPGs alone were worth the price of admission. Anything Black Isle touched was pure gold. Richard Garriot was the king and Interplay could do no wrong.

Add to that sims, strategies, and Space Operas like Wing Commander, Tie Fighter, Homeworld...

Yes. I would love to see a resurgence! But, I don't think that right now is the time

[combatcash]

League of legends,DOTA,WOW other mmo's ,Diablo,Starcraft,company of heroes,the original witcher stalker, the arma series plus all multiplats are better on pc tons of quality free to play games and indie games Day z and so on., I agree to a degree with you that pc exclusives are limited and now going multiplat but the fact is there's a lot more variety on that platform. By the way most of the stuff that is cheap on steam is games that people are paying a full 50-60 dollars on console for.

[Clogmaster]

Planetary Annihilation? I know there's nothing like TA, but it's a nice successor.

[papashango]

2007 was the end of proper PC gaming. The next generation of gaming imo hasn't started yet.

It won't start until devs remember why they created games on pc to begin with.

[BlackTar187]

Witcher and stalker are great and amazing PC games

[Ghoul]

natural selection 2

hybrid of RTS and FPS

imo
the best online mp shooter ever created.
pc only since the gameplay never works with a controller

try it out it has a steep learning curve but you will get rewarded with incredible intense and dynamic matches

[FriedGoat]

I like how people who voice their opinions and add to the discussion can see where I'm coming from. I guess these ghost disagrees are from people who unfortunately never got to experience the golden age of pc gaming.

@combatcash MOBAs, RTS and mmo is what the pc is these days, for me, I'm not a big fan. The witcher is no longer pc exclusive and ARMA is not exactly a polished masterpiece, it's a buggy mess. I been playing since operation flashpoint. DayZ is fun, but again, it's not even finished. Diablo is also going to consoles and that doesn't leave much now does it? I'm looking forward to star citizen, it could give me a blast back to starlancer all those years ago, but as I said, PC just doesn't have what it used to.

I'm kind if thinking like papashango, I think next gen for pc hasn't started yet.

[DevilOgreFish]

FriedGoat - "I agree. Been a pc gamer for over 20 years, now is not the best era for pc gaming, unless you love average third party games, indies and Mobas. "

Pfff, Steam, Steam big picture UI, Xbox/PS controller support, DX12 and Mantle are the best times in PC's life. not to mention the abundance of developer support.

with PC, I've never ran out of games to play or things to do.

[FriedGoat]

@DevilOgreFish, steam and all that controller stuff mean nothing, I could get drivers to run whatever controller, I don't need steam, that just makes it easier. DX12? Mantle? What are you talking about? Tech and driver support don't mean squat when you don't have any meaningful games to back it up. I'm talking about quality exclusives. Sure, pc has an abundance of games, the majority of it shovelware. But compare today to the late 90's and 2000's (if you were there, which I VERY MUCH DOUBT by the sounds of it).

What i'm saying is, you would not be able to name a pc exclusive that stands up in quality to the likes of last of us. But 15+ years ago, you wouldnt be able to name a console game that rivals PC games like Dues Ex, Half-Life or Quake 3/UT.

that's the tell tale sign that PC gaming's prime has been and gone. (not saying that it won't come back again) but big companies have to support it. Indies and mobas, RTS and MMO just don't cut it.

I've been playing pc all this time, I know what's happening. All these new kids, jeeze.

Oh and ghoul, Natural Selection 2 has nothing on Rocket Arena 3.

[incredibleMULK]

I know. I let some friends talk me into building a mid spec PC and one of the only games I play, crysis 2, is being taken off line. Call of duty ghosts only has like 3,000 players. I guess I'll just play average 3rd party single player, not a big fan of portal, left for dead, or the other popular PC games. I might try counter strike though. All these people rave about steam...and all steam is, is a game store, its not saving crysis 1&2 from going off line but meanwhile I can get on live and psn and play. Plus I can voice chat with people in the game, which I couldn't figure out on PC.

[Mega24]

Marathon was a good pc game! Hell, no one knows about marathon?

[FriedGoat]

@Mega24
Marathon was a Macintosh game.

[starchild]

You people and your damn obsession with exclusives. That's ammunition for stupid fanboy wars and little else. All I care about is the overall experience I get on a platform.

I have been gaming on the PC since the late 80s and I honestly believe that things have never been better on the PC than they are now.

You can point to high profile PC exclusives from the past all you want, but it is a demonstrable fact that the PC today gets more high scoring exclusives than any other platform and still has high profile exclusives like Star Citizen if you really care about hype and things like that.

You're a Sony fanboy so of course you are going to focus on the couple of very hyped high-scoring exclusives on a platform, but how in the world does that affect a person's overall experience on a platform in any significant way? The vast majority of games are mutliplatform and even in terms of exclusives personal taste is going to be a bigger determining factor than anything else. I'd rather a platform have the widest selection of games that I can choose from than a platform that has 2 or 3 very hyped award winning exclusives but has a smaller library overall and inferior versions of most games.

There are so many things that are better about PC gaming today than in past decades. For one thing, the PC used to miss out on a TON of 3rd party games that would only be available on consoles. You basically HAD to own a console unless you wanted to miss out on over half of what gaming had to offer. Nowadays the consoles only have a small handful of exclusives and nearly every 3rd party multiplat is available on PC with better graphics and performance.

There also used to be far more issues with drivers and other incompatibilities, but I find most games on PC these days just work (with a few exceptions).

Steam has also massively improved PC gaming. The competition between Steam and other digital distribution services has resulted in cheaper games and a wider availability of PC games in general. This has caused a surge in PC game sales and developers and publishers have taken note and continue to bring more and more of their games to the PC.

PC gaming has been growing for a reason: it's better than ever.

[dcj0524]

Try some of the Indies or MMOs. Those are AMAZING.

[3-4-5]

PC gaming has probably never been easier to get into than it is right now today.

* Quality PC's for cheap thanks for places like New Egg & such.

* Tons of games of every genre. Multiple control styles.

Certain games are just better on the PC, and some play much better on handheld or console.

[Roccetarius]

Correction: some games just play better with different control input. :)

It's just a matter of software.

[DefenderOfDoom2]

nice comment , but my beef with PC gaming is " I can not afford even low end PC rig to game on . but i really really want one!!! . Maybe the big oil companies can throw me a little money . Oh well , at least i have a PC to post comments , search the web , and play that little hockey game at the bottom right corner , when i come to N4G site!

[ATi_Elite]

I became an EXCLUSIVE PC GAMER after Half Life 2 and NEVER looked back.

Sure I still play the TOP RATED console games from time to time because I am a GAMER but my primary focus and my ONLY system is PC Gaming and all it's GRAND EXCLUSIVES and MODS.

The New technology, The Customization, The Freedom, The Exclusives, The Mods, PC Gaming is GLORIOUS!

P.S. PC has way too many good games. You wanna play New games but meanwhile your old Games get better through support or mods thus making them impossible to stop playing.

[heisenberguk]

You want to reply to someone else then reply to them, don't use me to do it!

[ATi_Elite]

Now Witness the Power of the Glorious PC Gaming Master Race and the firepower of this fully ARMED and OPERATIONAL battle station!

Muh ha ha ha ha ha Whose your Daddy Now!

[heisenberguk]

I own a PC too you clown! JOG ON!!!

[Articuno76]

Wow, only just now? I was under the impression that this happened ages ago given that various pricing types outside of the standard $60 retail box model(F2P,subscriptions, cheaper digital prices) have been around for a while now or are more common on PC.

For consoles to get back they need to widen pricing so that there is something filling in the massive gap between cheap indie releases and full price ones (an area I can see A/AA Japanese developers filling).

[Ares84HU]

You mean Rayman, Trials Fusion for $39.99 and MGSV:GZ for $29.99?

I think games shouldn't be $59.99 anyway. It's just crazy expensive. Especially for digital downloads. Every game should be $49.99 retail and $39.99 Digital Download. But money hungry corporations will never agree though I feel like they would sell more since more people would be able to afford the games.

[Articuno76]

I'm thinking more like games that are full packages but cheaply produced. Stuff like the Atelier series for example - mini-RPGs that are far more substantial than your usual indie game, but not as bleeding-edge as the newest AAA release.

[respekanize91]

TRIALS is 19.99, 39.99 nets you the season pass and some extra stuff. and the game is great no matter what the price. Rayman was excellent also

[levian]

And here in Canada it's $69.99. Say what you will about our dollar dropping but that doesn't mean squat to the people being affected. Just means we're stuck paying more while our salary stays the same.

I usually game mainly on PS3 and soon to be PS4 when more games come out for it, but PC is looking better and better. That $10 difference in AAA games is now looking to be $20, unless they raised the prices on Steam for Canada... Haven't checked yet

[TheBurger29]

Games like CoD and other lazy repetitive games should be $4o. I think that games that are actually built well and are not a total pile of crap should be $60

[randomass171]

PCs have actually had a solid market to work with for decades. What people don't consider is that all this time the PC games market has been coexisting and improving thanks to the existence of consoles and vice versa. More competition is more helpful, period.

[JsonHenry]

Pretty sure this happened a while ago. Like, 2003 or so. But when you have how many millions of people that own a "pc" compared to the few millions that own a console and pay higher prices for games this should be no surprise.

The question here is, from a market standpoint, where is the higher rate of return on your R&D?

[MASTER_RAIDEN]

So true. I feel like this should have happened ages ago just based on the massive amount of PCs out there alone.
I think its eaqually as impressive that apparently consoles have stayed neck-n-neck with PC revenue.

[carlingtat]

Just because someone has a PC doesnt mean they use it for gaming. 2003 is way too early for this to happen since a lot of countries were only just getting broadband and steam had only just released .The playstation 2 was dominating sales with games and consoles. You also had the Gamecube, Dreamcast and Xbox. So theres no way PC games were outselling console games in 2003.

[JsonHenry]

And you couldn't get those consoles in many countries. But you could get CHEAP (like half the price of console games) PC games for your run of the mill PC back then. Wolfenstein/Doom didn't set a precedent because no one played them. They set it because EVERYONE played them. And Steam's success was proof that the PC platform was viable and a hot seller. Even back then.

Or for other examples look at the amount of people playing Ultima Online, the first Elder Scrolls games were made popular on PC way back in the late 90s, Diablo 2 online was still rocking, Quake Arena/Unreal Tournament, and StarCraft/Warcraft were so popular they single handily gave rise to E-Sports all BEFORE they ever made an appearance on any console. LONG BEFORE.

So yes, the PC was super popular long before recently.

[carlingtat]

Im not saying PC wasnt a popular platform Im saying it wasn't outselling all the consoles in terms of both hardware and games. You had 4 consoles to one PC. Of course consoles are going to outsell PC. PC games may have been cheaper but there were a lot of people(probably mostly kids) who wanted an easy way to play games such as consoles had rather than be worried if they're PC would be good enough to play the games or have to worry about the hardware.

[green]

Not so surprised. Personally, i have not been very impressed with the current gen consoles. So decided to go back to PC gaming after a 14 year absence and built myself a gaming rig two weeks ago. Graphics from my AMD R9 280X are great and i just downloaded Planetside 2 so will get into it this weekend.

I will get a console later on this year based on what is shown at E3 this year.

[ArbitorChief]

Ha, looks like NVIDIA was right all along. PC will just continue to dominate, it's revenues have been increasing massively over the past few years and the gap will continue to widen. PC, the king has returned to it's rightful throne.
http://www.pcgamer.com/au/2...

[Eonjay]

Then it makes sense for console makers to be cashing in on popular PC titles, especially indies... which get cake.

[MadLad]

But, you know, it's a totally dead and insignificant platform that nobody cares about because #pirates

[Saryk]

Good one!

[The_KELRaTH]

Such an old overused excuse - most PC games are digital.

[Nekroo91]

So since pc games are digital they cant be pirated?!really?

you think most of these pc players actually pay for something? the biggest market out there is the Chinese market and they are pro f2p.

Theres a reason why the biggest studios gave up on pc = piracy.

The witcher 2 sold 2 million copys in the first months and it was downloaded illegaly 12 million!!

[The_KELRaTH]

Well lets try putting it another way:

There's only 1 way there can be more profits from games on PC than console and it doesn't come from piracy rather money changing hands!

[JsonHenry]

"free to play" games actually tend to make a lot of money.

[randomass171]

Piracy is infamously more prevalent on PCs than on consoles, but that does not mean that the PC crowd is not devoted to the platform and doesn't support games for the platform. If that were the case we would not see so many PC ports of games.

[AceBlazer13]

This isn't surprising.PC has something for almost every type of gamer, from shovelware flash games to f2p, to AAA.V ery diverse platform, except JRPG, don't think I saw much of those when I gamed on pc.

[JsonHenry]

Then you must not have been paying attention - http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

[modesign]

a PC website claims pc gaming will overtake console game, WOW no propaganda there. (sarcasm)

[modesign]

dont worry, a xbox site will counter claim xbox will overtake pc games in 2015.

[McScroggz]

What I'd be curious to know is how profitable is it for developers to make games for PC as opposed to consoles. Certainly games like League of Legends would skew the numbers, but I honestly don't know if either platform is better for developers (though I suspect each has its benefits).

[JsonHenry]

The PC tends to have a larger return on your money for most games other than possibly Multi-plat AAA games. The biggest profit margin is the mobile space though.

[AndrewLB]

While PC games tend to have longer development cycles which can increase production cost, PC games spend a fraction of what consoles blow on advertising on either TV or print media. Plus now that the majority of PC gamers are making the transition to services like Steam or Origin and downloading the game digitally, there have been large decreases in costs associated with packaging, producing discs, and being able to buy it online and immediately download a game is great for those instant gratification types.

[ATi_Elite]

Console = Large Dev team, MS/Sony take a percentage, retail store takes a percentage, percentage to advertise

Only Benefit is that Sony/MS pay first party studios upfront and third party studios get paid upfront by large Publishers like Activision EA Ubisoft etc. and then get a bonus if they pass certain sales figures.

Con: You gotta have a hit and push over a million units to be considered a Dev team to keep.

PC: small dev team, ZERO or NO advertisement, Almost Zero retail, Steam is GLORIOUS and has percentage rates and packages to fit every Dev team budget, Digital sales means a higher percentage of the revenue take.

Benefits: Small or average sales can still equal big paydays, The game development had a low budget anyway, free to create, NO publisher to pay as most self publish, your game gets sold forever, mods may make your game super hot after being out for years (See DayZ heating up Arma 2) You get paid per game sold instead of a flat fee for console games.

Cons: You may have to be patient waiting for word of mouth to spread about your game. Small Dev team means longer hours programming, You may not be able to afford the latest greatest engine so you will have to create a game engine to compete with the big PC Devs.

[ultralow]

@green.........i should have done that but i picked up a ps4 on day 1...just sold it ....picked up a gtx760 for my pc.....then picked up an xbone now im thinking of saleing it...

[green]

lol...was so tempted to pick up a PS4 in Febuary for £290 when a colleague at work offered to sell his to me because he was bored of it. I then said i would be bored owning one till uncharted 4 comes out so what is the point?

Want an X1 because of Forza 5 and Killer Instinct 3 but just those two are not enough for me to buy one at the moment.

I am waiting for that game that ushers in that new way of gaming for these consoles the way games like Uncharted, Gears of War and Mass Effect did in game play, story telling and graphics for last gen consoles. If they do not come, then i will just stick to my PC.

[Stapleface]

I would probably be in the same boat but I kept my ps4 to give to my son. Though it's nice to have it around for exclusives. It's a great console and all, but I've been significantly happier with my pc since I built it. Playing Skyrim modded has been a significantly better experience than any of the games released for next gen consoles so far, of course that comes down to my personal preference.

[Dirkster_Dude]

When the statements in this article actually become true there would be no need to purchase a console. Therefore, I am skeptical of the claims made by the author.

[Illusive_Man]

What about in terms of profit?

[ninjahunter]

I dont know the current numbers, but in 2011 revenue on pc games matched the revenue of console games across all current and previous generational console games sold that year.

[OwnageDC650]

I love the Playstation 4 and Xbox One when it comes to simplicity and playing with friends and family. I love PC gaming because the games can be WAY cheaper along with smoother frames and prettier graphics.

It's nice to see PC gaming doing well.

[Stapleface]

Nothing like 4 packs on steam for games that you want to team up with friends. Saves everyone money. Consoles companies could learn something there, as far as customer appreciation goes..

[randomass171]

That's one of the best aspects of Steam. Gifting is an absolute godsend. Wii had that but Wii U took it out from what I was told. Total disappointment. :[

[incendy35]

Lately I have been buying way more games on PC for sure. Especially since so many of the new games aren't on PS4 or X1. Walking Dead Season 2, Wolf Among Us, Dark Souls II, Broken Age etc.

[starchild]

Yeah, that's one thing I love about gaming on the PC, it's all generations at once. It has essentially complete backwards compatibility and I have been able to buy recent games like Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2 (last gen) and Battlefield 4 (new gen) and play them all on the same machine. I have the entire Deus Ex series, The Witcher series, the Thief series and many other series of games all in one single place.

[MilkMan]

Yes, this is the elephant in the room. BUT there is no need to get all defensive about it. I think we are in a good place right now. The number of games on the PC is staggering, with more stuff coming out almost daily. Consoles not so much. PC has proven year after year to be king of versatility. There is simply no comparison.
It is truly a chameleon.
This is not to say that other platforms do not have their strong suits as well.
But in all my years I've never stopped gaming on my PC, in fact its gotten more used as time has gone on.

And even more so now with the new generation and the "wait until we have stuff to play but lets release the hardware 1 and a half years earlier" mentality or worse "Let's do HD remakes of last years game and sell for full price" (throws up in mouth)

Look at Steam.
Every day, new things are out. For every taste. Ever genre represented.

and the prices are phenomenal.
Whats not to like?

[Stapleface]

Let's not forget G2A with preorders selling for 50% off of retail. 50% off of a game before it even comes out, that's certainly unheard of on consoles. I got Watch Dogs for $33. Not exactly 50% but close enough.

[turgore]

Does that include farmville ?

[AndrewLB]

Farmville is so last year. Everyone's playing "Goat Simulator".

.. i'm serious.

[Parhelion69]

Just for perspective:

It's not the PC AAA games that are thriving, these still have a better place in consoles, where they sell much better.

PC is having huge success with free to play games (mobas being in this category).

Microtransactions and paywalls are giving bigger profits, simple as that

[incendy35]

Many of the MOBAS are definitely AAA. Especially the ones that are doing well. A lot of money is put into them.

[pop-voxuli]

Seinfeld says it best.

[brainfart]

I love pc gaming been doing it off and on for ten years.my first pc was commadore vic 20 thought I was going to plug and play yeah right I had to type in the program to play sh@ts took me about five hours I didnt know squat about a computers, after reading the manual and typing the game programs the shit didnt work (im sure it was my doing).I boxed it up that was the end of that till ten years ago.Wonder what my mom did with that vic 20!!!

[bienio]

Good!! More games for Pc and consoles👍

[TitanUp]

pc gaming is fun but with everything i have to switch different devices or i get bored.

ps2 got bored went pc then ps3

ps3 got bored went pc now ps4 and in a few years ill move back to pc.

i dont have the financials to play on more than one platform at anytime, mostly because im an impulse buyer.