Support NeoGAF

[licktheenvelope]

Well up here in Canada all the games went up in price for console, while on PC the games continue to be available on sale almost all the time.

Makes any game I could get on console vs PC a no-brainer now to get on PC.

 

[Grayman]

Very glad that PC gaming continues to thrive, though I am disappointed (but not surprised) that most of the profit comes from MOBAs, MMOs, and f2p. Nudge me when it's profitable (for someone other than Blizzard) to make a AAA RTS again or perhaps a PC-centric Western RPG. Those are the good ol' PC genres that I would love to see thriving and while they are alive and well in the so-called indie scene, it's nothing compared to how it used to be (the RTS genre in particular).

And I can't help but think of the recent article stating that over 35% of purchased Steam games have never been booted up once.

What is popular is always going to change just like it has on consoles, mobile, and in other media. I am not even sure if AAA is a proud badge to cling to if you have a narrow goal like pc-centric western rpg. The market is healthy enough that 3 highly ambitious wrpgs in the classic vein are coming and many more budget ones.

 

[Odrion]

Found it:

That is insane

Crossfire? Really? Crossfire? FUCKING CROSSFIRE?

 

[Atomski]

Crossfire? Really? Crossfire? FUCKING CROSSFIRE?

Its big in Asia. I remember when I was in Thailand seeing a tournament on TV.. kinda blew my mind.

 

[charlequin]

Obviously doesn't mean strategy (a traditional PC genre). I've never had so many strategy games to play in my life.

Yeah I'm kind of curious where someone is seeing a PC marketplace that's under-representing the traditional PC genres like strategy, multiplayer shooter, puzzle, point-and-click adventure, RPG...

 

[ScepticMatt]

How long until the MOBA bubble bursts?

A 10 year "bubble"?

Does this mean we'll see a resurgence in the best type of video games of ALL time, real time strategy games?

If you like World of Tanks. Non-realtime strategy games are doing very well, too. For example, Civ V is selling gangbusters

I wonder if these industry forecasts from Feb. 2014 by Nvidia are at least somewhat relevant now...

or this data from GDC 2013

They strongy underestimated revenue growth on PC. Actual PC gaming revenue was $20B in 2012, not 2015.

or have banned consoles (China).

No surprise that consoles are either expensive as fuck or banned in these countries.

Not true anymore, not saying that Chinese gamers care about consoles anyway.

 

[lightzGamin]

Don't need any DFC intelligence to figure this out, even with normal one you can tell PC gaming exploded these past few years. Like everyone I know plays League, and steam has gotten really popular among my friends. I used to be full on console but I want to build my own PC and play games through steam, it's so much cheaper.

 

[Banananana]

Not true anymore, not saying that Chinese gamers care about consoles anyway.

I'd gather that they wouldn't favor consoles coming for Japan for obvious historical and political reasons.

 

[charlequin]

Does this mean we'll see a resurgence in the best type of video games of ALL time, real time strategy games?

I think RTSes and complicated builder sims are due to come up on the Wheel of Phoenix-Like Genre Rebirths around 2017.

 

[Some Nobody]

Wasn't this always true? WoW was always a freaking monster and now LOL is an even bigger monster. I'm not really surprised, honestly I thought this was true back in 2004.

I do think PC gamers are celebrating a little too hard, though. When FPSes and GTA do super well, as a console gamer I don't get excited because that means more of the same. When you see something like this and notice LOL is doing crazy numbers...well, it's really only something to get excited about if you like MOBAs. Of course, if you do? Hurray! More of the thing you like is a good thing.

 

[DarkLiberator]

Found it:

That is insane

Just out of curiosity, how did they get revenue for TF2? DOTA 2 is not even there and it has ten times more players then TF2.

 

[MogCakes]

Wasn't this always true? WoW was always a freaking monster and now LOL is an even bigger monster. I'm not really surprised, honestly I thought this was true back in 2004.

Exactly, PC gaming has never died. I've always seen PC games and console games as two different sets of game types, they have their audiences and while there is overlap it isn't so large that one market could consume the other.

The DFC quote is pretty inflammatory, it did a great job of setting the stage for yet another PC-console penis measuring contest over what should amount to nothing more than good news for PC devs. Consoles aren't suffering just because PC is doing well.

 

[Atomski]

Wasn't this always true? WoW was always a freaking monster and now LOL is an even bigger monster. I'm not really surprised, honestly I thought this was true back in 2004.

I do think PC gamers are celebrating a little too hard, though. When FPSes and GTA do super well, as a console gamer I don't get excited because that means more of the same. When you see something like this and notice LOL is doing crazy numbers...well, it's really only something to get excited about if you like MOBAs. Of course, if you do? Hurray! More of the thing you like is a good thing.

But PC is doing fine in other places as well.. there have been success stories all over the place. Just because Mobas are on top doesn't make that any less meaningful.

 

[MutonCommander]

PC gaming goes from strength to strength while the triple-A console market is imploding. Good news all around! Also, a pretty amazing turn of events considering the "PC gaming is dying" rhetoric of the mid-00s.

 

[iceatcs]

Nice, pretty much what I'm doing. Play real game on console or ios but most played FTP on PC. Not played much but I do stream sale just for laugh.

 

[cookie-monster]

'Real' / 'AAA' gaming are the stock, aitken and waterman of video gaming.

 

[DocSeuss]

Yeah I'm kind of curious where someone is seeing a PC marketplace that's under-representing the traditional PC genres like strategy, multiplayer shooter, puzzle, point-and-click adventure, RPG...

Need more RTS and SP FPS...

 

[MogCakes]

PC gaming goes from strength to strength while the triple-A console market is imploding. Good news all around! Also, a pretty amazing turn of events considering the "PC gaming is dying" rhetoric of the mid-00s.

Are you celebrating what you perceive to be bad news for consoles? I know you're a PC die-hard but goddamn.

 

[neoemonk]

Has Minecraft made more money on PC or console?

Whichever one wins is clearly the best so you can all stop arguing.

 

[Blearth]

Found it:

That is insane

TF2 made $139m in 2013?

Holy fuck that's a lot of hats.

 

[Metal Gear?!]

MOBA with a controller? Haha no.

I'm sure the same could be said for Diablo and every MMO at some point. League is like what, 8 buttons? It could be done.

Without changing the gameplay? Or making parts of it easier / more casual? No.

Torchlight was turned into a Gauntlet-like on console and worked well, but it was already a simplified Diablo. And of course the PS1 Diablo port back in the day.

Modern Military and Future Manshooters were made easier and more casual on console and manage to be successful anyway.

Of course, no matter how much they were simplified and made easier, RTS games on console died a horrible death last gen, and the big MOBAs on PC are closer to RTS games than anything, being based on an RTS game mod and all.

If any MOBA is going to be truly successful on console it will likely be an entirely different, direct control, simplified game, something like Awesomenauts or Monday Night Combat.

 

[MogCakes]

If any MOBA is going to be truly successful on console it will likely be an entirely different, direct control, simplified game, something like Awesomenauts or Monday Night Combat.

Movement would be with an analog and not point-click based for one, which would change the gameplay completely.

 

[R_Deckard]

PC gaming goes from strength to strength while the triple-A console market is imploding. Good news all around! Also, a pretty amazing turn of events considering the "PC gaming is dying" rhetoric of the mid-00s.

I think this article delivered on flaming the Fan wars.

We are 6 months into the Most successful console launch's (EVER) with big games and cross convergence aplenty, this article not only delivers no actual figures but just refers to the DFC which is a analyst firm predicting trends and gather a sample of data to come to conclusions.

Lets be honest this is all MMO and MOBA, not the most exciting and casual game type and by definition requires 100's of hours of play anyway, 2013 figures are flat...why because no big games where released, I mean GTA5 on 2 platforms that are "imploding" did more money in 24 hours than any PC did in a month. It IS the fastest selling Entertainment property (let alone Games or Movies) to hit 1 billion $ in 3 days..This did not mean that all of a sudden ALL consoles games were going to re-take the world. I think this is just a flag for some to carry (as was the GTA stats).

This figure merges Tablets,PC, Laptops etc etc in to 1 Brand. For me this just amplifies the maintstream view of "PC" gamers playing League of Legends and the like which (IMHOP) is a shame and not what I play on My PC.

 

[patapuf]

I can't tell the trolls from the legit posters.

...you realize X Rebirth isn't even any good? Why pick that of games to make your dull point? What, did you accidentally click on the thread thinking it was about the Monolith game?



They saw the 00's decline of some of these genres. Now they're not overhearing the super nerds talk about PC gaming at the lunch table anymore, so they treat the space as though it is still 2005.

Strategy especially is downright overcrowded...

There's still room for good RTS games. Turn based strategy is in a pretty good spot right now.

 

[Zarx]

Has Minecraft made more money on PC or console?

Whichever one wins is clearly the best so you can all stop arguing.

PC sales are higher and most of the sales on PC were at a higher price point. That will change once the PS4, Vita and XBOne versions are out tho.

 

[bj00rn_]

So much sourness and moving goalposts in this thread..

Anyway, it's not just MOBAs of course, it's not a surprise that PC gaming in general (and the enthusiast market especially) is on a rise since we've seen this overall trend over the last few years.

It will be interesting to see when this trend reaches word of mouth to see how much of the "casual crowd" is eventually going to join in.

 

[Ikuu]

If any MOBA is going to be truly successful on console it will likely be an entirely different, direct control, simplified game, something like Awesomenauts or Monday Night Combat.

I think something like Smite could work well on consoles, Hi-Rez needs to take that Tencent money and get in before anyone else.

 

[dejan]

Two things I've learned in this thread:
1.) A couple of PC exlusive games generate a shitton of revenue.
2.) A console gamer's insecurity knows no bounds.

 

[IncandescentPrecept]

In China and SK, no doubt.

 

[Amazeballs]

This has me wondering which is the more sustainable model: competitive online games like MOBAs or the hit-driven AAA console games.

 

[Renekton]

What do the numbers look like without MOBAs, Minecraft and WoW?

 

[-MD-]

This has me wondering which is the more sustainable model: competitive online games like MOBAs or the hit-driven AAA console games.

Didn't the latter already prove unsustainable with the large influx of indie games and a big dialing back on AAA?

 

[Saty]

Same old song and dance. I've said it multiple times, if anyone want to argue those figure and what they mean and how relevant they are for specific type of games, then:

1. Stop comparing 4,5,6,7 SKU's against a single one. If you want to discuss sales of titles, do it by SKU basis. What's the point of pointing out 2,3,4 SKUs and saying they sold more combined than the one PC SKU? No shit. That's irrelevant. Compare sales on SKU level. It's meaningless to bring up example of consoles versions selling more.

2. You do realize that the tally of console revenue\sales in this kind of statements doesn't only pertain to 6-8 separate platforms but also that part of it originates from games you love to dismiss in any other occasion? Dance games, Music games, Casual games, Party games, Kids games. Heck, even regular Sports games. They all pretty much means jack shit for the type of game the average NeoGAF user is interested in.

So if you can't bring data on how much these genres make up from the total console pie, then you have no right to dismiss PC data by saying 'well, how much is MOBA' because it can just easily say about the Consoles data 'well, how much is Just Dance' and the other loads of games that are 'frowned upon' here.

I've yet to see anyone who dismisses the PC data addresses those 2 major points.

 

[ScepticMatt]

I don't get why people dismiss MOBA. They are one of the most hardcore, pure game play focused games out there. The antithesis to dumbed down or streamlined

 

[alstein]

I think RTSes and complicated builder sims are due to come up on the Wheel of Phoenix-Like Genre Rebirths around 2017.

RTS is a pretty safe bet to come back strong in 2-3 years due to Oxide Engine.

 

[petran79]

this shows that computer games changed completely and adapted to new genres to generate revenue worldwide.

however what worked in Asia may not work in Europe or the Americas and vice versa.
Computer market is more fragmented, targeting specific users, depending on each region's demographic.

this is only one aspect of computer games. the fragmentation still continues to exist, though it covers a lot of genres found on consoles too, even if the gamer base for those games is less. Due to regional and language barriers.

While consoles rely on a more unifying model. A model that tries to surpass marketing boundaries and in some cases even enforce and set its own cultural and economical restrictions

it wouldnt be wise to compare those two really.

Only if you count free to play. In a few years I see f2p playing a much bigger role on console too.

not if there is a mandatory fee for online play (PSN+, Xbox Gold), even if the game itself is F2P

But they could easily exempt those games from that fee. though based on the current model, that move wouldnt be wise sales wise.

you buy a console to pour cash into games, not for f2p.

 

[Ikuu]

not if there is a mandatory fee for online play (PSN+, Xbox Gold), even if the game itself is F2P

But they could easily exempt those games from that fee. though based on the current model, that move wouldnt be wise sales wise.

you buy a console to pour cash into games, not for f2p.

PSN allows F2P to be played by everyone, kind of funny that free games don't cost anything to play but I need to pay to play the games I buy.

 

[nynt9]

I think this article delivered on flaming the Fan wars.

We are 6 months into the Most successful console launch's (EVER) with big games and cross convergence aplenty, this article not only delivers no actual figures but just refers to the DFC which is a analyst firm predicting trends and gather a sample of data to come to conclusions.

Lets be honest this is all MMO and MOBA, not the most exciting and casual game type and by definition requires 100's of hours of play anyway, 2013 figures are flat...why because no big games where released, I mean GTA5 on 2 platforms that are "imploding" did more money in 24 hours than any PC did in a month. It IS the fastest selling Entertainment property (let alone Games or Movies) to hit 1 billion $ in 3 days..This did not mean that all of a sudden ALL consoles games were going to re-take the world. I think this is just a flag for some to carry (as was the GTA stats).

This figure merges Tablets,PC, Laptops etc etc in to 1 Brand. For me this just amplifies the maintstream view of "PC" gamers playing League of Legends and the like which (IMHOP) is a shame and not what I play on My PC.

This post... I have no words. GTA 5 was an anomaly and doesn't make a point anyway, the fast sales of PS4 don't mean anything for games revenue, "moba's aren't real games", and a new gem, "laptops and desktops are different SKUs so you should separate their numbers (and one more "mobas aren't real games" to top it off).

 

[R_Deckard]

This post... I have no words. GTA 5 was an anomaly and doesn't make a point anyway, the fast sales of PS4 don't mean anything for games revenue, "moba's aren't real games", and a new gem, "laptops and desktops are different SKUs so you should separate their numbers (and one more "mobas aren't real games" to top it off).

Wow...angry much!..just calm down there no rage or reading into needed.

Where did I say GTA is NOT an exception (when infact I stated the opposite) and where did I call MOBA's not "Real games" (whatever the hell that means??!). I think you are too busy defending a phantom king..I mean the bolded part is like all kinds of illogical.. With the PS4 having sold over 21 million games from its sales meaning a 3 times attach rate...yeah means nothing at all..clueless!!

My point on SKU was you could as easily a portion Tablet and Mobile to console as PC..it should be its own sector as I can bet it is a HUGE portion of the playing figures.

 

[MutonCommander]

Are you celebrating what you perceive to be bad news for consoles? I know you're a PC die-hard but goddamn.

Not console in general, just the bloated triple-A part of it.

 

[Ikuu]

I mean the bolded part is like all kinds of illogical.. With the PS4 having sold over 21 million games from its sales meaning a 3 times attach rate...yeah means nothing at all..clueless!!.

Wow... angry much!

 

[Alej]

So when comparing power, PCs are only one mighty high end PC with superior versions everywhere.
And when comparing sales, low-end PCs, laptops, even Windows tablets count?

Mmmm'kay.

What I only see: gaming industry is really healthy as a whole, providing a whole range of different experiences for everyone to enjoy across any platform. In particular, MOBAs and MMOs are major success this past years.

 

[nynt9]

Wow...angry much!..just calm down there no rage or reading into needed.

Where did I say GTA is NOT an exception (when infact I stated the opposite) and where did I call MOBA's not "Real games" (whatever the hell that means??!). I think you are too busy defending a phantom king..I mean the bolded part is like all kinds of illogical.. With the PS4 having sold over 21 million games from its sales meaning a 3 times attach rate...yeah means nothing at all..clueless!!

My point on SKU was you could as easily a portion Tablet and Mobile to console as PC..it should be its own sector as I can bet it is a HUGE portion of the playing figures.

21 million sales with a high attach rate doesn't mean anything when software has been consistently down YoY in NPDs. Also, regardless of that, these stats show that the PC gaming revenue is higher even with the shot in arms that console gaming got. Think about that for a second.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Not console in general, just the bloated triple-A part of it.

That bloated AAA market consists of multi platform games shared with PC. It's not a console exclusive thing.

Anyways good for the PC market. Hope to join up in the near future.

 

[TyrantII]

Of course you would. Console gamers would rather die than let PC get any positive acknowledgement.

Nice victimization. 10/10.


/games doing well is good for gamers. Period.

 

[stef t97]

such as call of duty,.

Call of Duty died on PC because year on year the developers continuously fuck over the competitive scene and the editing scene. They give us a worse game every year and we don't stand for that shit. Almost every pro cod4 player moved to league or cs:go or just quit playing competitively. Fuck appalling how Activison killed off such a popular competitive fps just because they wanted more money.

Nothing to do with the state of PC gaming. Just Activision being arseholes.

PC gaming has become a desolate wasteland of lazy console ports and candy crush knock offs.

35 out of the 38 games listed are neither of those. Fuck off. I don't even get where you are getting half of this stuff from.

Edit: in fact there are no candy crush rip offs there and only 5-6 console ports. The conclusions you got to are completely ridiculous.

 

[Htown]

35 out of the 38 games listed are neither of those. Fuck off. I don't even get where you are getting half of this stuff from.

Edit: in fact there are no candy crush rip offs there and only 5-6 console ports. The conclusions you got to are completely ridiculous.

uh... pretty sure that was sarcasm

 

[patapuf]

35 out of the 38 games listed are neither of those. Fuck off. I don't even get where you are getting half of this stuff from.

Edit: in fact there are no candy crush rip offs there and only 5-6 console ports. The conclusions you got to are completely ridiculous.

He was not being serious.

In fact there seems a higher rate of missed sarcasm than usual in this thread. Like people taking the attach rate dig seriously.

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

Lets be honest this is all MMO and MOBA,

 

[EternalTruth]

But the PC versions of games like Diablo III were way more profitable than the console version ever were so again, who cares that a lesser % of the platform bought it? I doubt Blizzard cares, it was that platform that got them the most cash.

The way Blizzard has handled the console versions of Diablo 3 doesn't make any sense to me. You rank up your character in level and gear on the PS3 version but then no expansion is offered to you, instead you have to make a transition over to the PS4 Ultimate Edition, where I am assuming your character doesn't transfer over or if it does you have to buy the full version of the game all over again and a new $400 console. Then when the inevitable 2nd expansion is announced and released your screwed all over again...

Why people buy the console version over the PC version that has infinitely better support from Bliz (and can run on just about any shitty computer) boggles my mind?!