At today’s Games for Windows Presents: The Big Picture event in San Francisco, Microsoft wanted to make a singular statement as we move into E3 2008:
PC Gaming is not dead.
They made this statement with strong sales numbers and growth with a little help from a group of publishers showing off some new games under the Games for Windows label.
I sat down with Microsoft’s Kevin Unangst to get an overview of the state of PC gaming as Microsoft sees things.
The State of the PC Gaming Union
First of all, Kevin wanted to emphasize how much bigger PC gaming is worldwide than any single console. Microsoft is also showing more PC growth than any single console. They hope to see a 75% increase in sales by 2012.
This only includes software sales, subscriptions, and microtransactions. They are not counting hardware sales. It’s also important to note that Microsoft does not get royalties off of PC game sales. The Games for Windows label doesn’t cost a publisher anything, but Microsoft is pushing it to try and become a singular voice for PC gaming.
There are now over 85 titles announced for the Games for Windows label, some of which were just announced today. The goals behind the program are to task developers with coming toward a unified experience through things like simpler installs, widescreen support, and programming that is optimized for 64-bit processors and more than 4GB of RAM.
Kevin didn’t have any new information about Games for Windows LIVE, but assures us that the program is still alive and well. Expect more details about the PC version of LIVE in the future.
Copy Protection and Piracy
I asked Kevin about copy protection and piracy. Recently, companies like Crytek (makers of Crysis) and Epic (Gears of War, Unreal Tournament III) have been vocal about the effects of piracy and their repurposing toward console gaming. It should also be noted that Crysis has sold over 1 million copies so it wasn’t exactly hobbled by piracy.
Kevin doesn’t see this as an issue. He freely admits that piracy is easier on the PC due to the nature of the platform, but calls attention to Sins of a Solar Empire, which enjoyed several months in the Top 10 sales with absolutely zero copy protection. It is worth noting, however, that Sins has CD-Key authentication for multiplayer, but the single-player game can be played without any authentication.
He also notes that MMO’s like Age of Conan don’t suffer from piracy problems because of the nature of the genre. MMO gamers are happy to subscribe to the game without complaining that it is basically a form of copy protection (with the nice side effect of keeping the servers running).
Exclusives
I asked him about the perceived “lack of exclusives” on the PC, but he explained that the PC gaming market is different from the flame war, exclusive title driven console wars. He also joked that they have the biggest exclusive game there is in World of WarCraft (even though there is also a Mac version). Still, the PC doesn't really have its Halo 3's or Metal Gear Solid 4's every few months.
Microsoft is more than happy to share games with other platforms when it comes to the PC. Even for games that belong to genres historically grounded on the PC. Both World in Conflict, a real-time strategy game, and Age of Conan, an MMORPG, are getting Xbox 360 versions in the future. He believes that this only strengthens PC gaming. Now if only they’d enable mouse and keyboard support on the Xbox 360!
So with all this evidence about the growth of PC gaming… why is there this belief that it is somehow dying or dead?
Microsoft believes that it comes from the NPD numbers, which are showing declines because they only measure retail box sales. NPD doesn’t measure sales through online digital distribution through services like Valve’s Steam and Direct2Drive. Valve, of course, does not release their sales figures for Steam, but it is assumed that they are very good figures. MMO subscriptions for games like World of WarCraft, Age of Conan, and even Flagship's Hellgate: London, which has now surpassed 1 million subscribers, are also not included.
Take decent retail box sales, add in digital distribution, throw in World of WarCraft and future Blizzard releases like StarCraft II (and hopefully Diablo III), which will be PC/Mac exclusive, and PC gaming gets stronger. Check out Electronic Arts’ Spore, which will most likely be a giant success and the picture gets even bigger. Remember the casual games market is also huge with titles like Peggle from PopCap games, which even managed to be a crossover success with some hardcore gamers (I love Peggle!).
NVIDIA and AMD are also getting prices on graphics cards lower and lower. NVIDIA is also pushing the ceiling up higher with their new high-end cards, while AMD hopes to hit a sweet spot of performance and affordability with their new ATI Radeon line. It's now possible to build a "Crysis PC" for about $600.
Is PC gaming dead? Absolutely not!
Check back tomorrow for my impressions and details on:
- Call of Duty: World at War
- Ghostbusters
- Bionic Commando
- Civilization: Colonization
- Space Siege
- Devil May Cry 4
I'll also be summarizing the event itself and giving my opinion on PC gaming. Unfortunately, with E3 just around the corner, the publisher's are holding back their media for the show. I can't give you guys any new video, but you'll definitely want to tune into our E3 coverage because these games are all looking great.
Comment(s)
We need more REAL pc games.
Microsoft... build an operating system that out performs windows xp and you will bring back pc gaming. Vista is not doing it! Vista=Fail in gaming terms.
@Tino4488
Cant agree more. Cept PS3 is more like a PC than the xbox is so thats where a mouse and keyboard would be more handy :\
But with the bullS%^& thats games for windows live (paying for multiplayer, acheivments; both which can be found with steam for free), you sure want it that way
(i hate you all, age of conan got craped on for the damn 360)
There is absolutely no doubt over the strength and control the Pc has over the gaming industry. Yea, it's not in the console war, but that is what makes it successful. The Pc has been out for so many years so far, that if a company was to take it head-on with their new "Pc-like" console, they would bet burned immediately.
A big reason why Pc gaming is so alive is the simple reason that a huge majority of of not only the United States but Canada, Europe, East Asia, and small parts of the Middle East HAS a computer. Not every person around the globe with a computer has an XBox 360 or a Ps3. And trust me, if you find ANYONE who has been growing up from the 70's to the present, THEY WILL HAVE A COMPUTER and THEY WILL HAVE GAMES FOR IT. The Pc gaming franchise won't die until Pc's grow appendages, start spawning themselves, growing sharp teeth, and take over the world.
What I would have loved to see is a sequel to Alpha Centauri with a new engine (well, if you MUST, use the Civ4). The problem with using the Civ4 engine is that you feel as if you are playing the same game, not a new one.
Subscription based games and services are not, but most games outside of that indeed are indeed dead. Or at the very least, not able to compete sales wise with the consoles.
A game like Crysis, hands down the best looking game of this gen of gaming - only does 1 million copies. But, the best looking/playing games on the consoles (and their PC versions)do much more than that, like COD4 - 10 million sold and counting, on a much smaller installed base than Windows PC's.
If they can get a handle on how to reduce piracy, either through a subscription based model (why can't that apply to other games other than MMO?), get some kind of standard set of specs out there into pc hardware so gamers can have the plug n play style of experience of a console, then the sales of all forms of pc gaming would benefit.
I disagree. although certain genres are doing well they are genres that any console could handle in the near future. also, why the hell would i pay a subscription to any game. the fact that MMO people do this blows my mind. I have the attention for about 1 month of 9 games out of 10, I would never renew a subscription and I would be pissed if I couldn't play a game I bought because of it.
Also, even if you had PCs with standards, they still go up so often. for instance, I just spent 3k on a computer. it's great and all, but I know in 6 months I won't be able to play new games at full capacity
@tino that's wrong on so many levels. there is a lot to be said about a mouse + kb for fps. you get a lot of control and more control options. also it doesnt take 7k to beat a pc in any way. if you'll remember crytek didnt put crysis on consoles because "they simply can't handle it" and as said in THIS article you can build a crysis pc for 600.
consoles will never keep up with pc's on performance. every 8 years they leap ahead for 1 year. ...thats sooo hardcore...
But yeah, PC gaming never dies, itsjust something they say everytime the new consoles come out - afterawhile, they always go "oh yeah! Look, it's PC" to get them through the trough years between console gens. FEAR, Orange Box, Sowrd of the Stars, and just about to jump into Conan... don't need know TV box thingy.
I wonder how many billions Sony can stomach to lose with the inevitable PS4...