NEWS
PCGA Claim Consoles Are Dying, PCs To Take Crown
The new president of the PC Gaming Alliance, Matt Ployhar, has said that despite a lot of critics stating that PC gaming is dying out, it is in fact the consoles that are holding back the industry. He also claims the gaming crown will soon belong to PCs once again.
The spotlight has absolutely shifted back to PC gaming. I don’t believe this phenomenon is going to slow down. A good portion of the companies that are flush with cash right now are coming from abroad, which largely ties in with my postulation about globalization spilling over into the PC gaming ecosystem.
Despite his obvious bias coming from his position as president of the PCGA, it is hard not to agree with him. Ployhar's claims come at a time when big name developers such as DICE are specifically catering for a PC gaming audience with their upcoming game, Battlefield 3. Sony's console, the PS3, has also recently been merged with Steam to enhance their gaming service - something PCs have had for a while now.
Ployhar also goes on to state why it is PC gaming that sets out the future of the industry as a whole:
Investment dollars are also shifting back largely in favour of PC gaming for a variety of reasons. Most of this is tied to the profitability margins largely favouring PC gaming for the game developers themselves. For example, ‘free to play’ and micro transactions, practically no secondary sales market, and the shift to digital distribution to name just a few.
A big problem for the video game industry as a whole has been the surge in the second-hand market (claim publishers). Companies like GameStop have been said to have a negative impact on the sale of new games due to their push for the used game market. Recent efforts by the chain have been made towards the ever-growing digital distribution market that solve some of the problems of used game sales. Publishers such as EA tackle the problem digitally through an online pass that encourages gamers to buy games new rather than used. It is this growing trend that Ployhar says will push PC gaming to the top.
Not stopping there, Ployhar claims that the way of measuring sales between consoles and the PCs is inaccurate and not a true representative of how dominant PC gaming is:
Globally, consoles don’t have anything close to the market penetration that PCs do. The market has been incorrectly articulated as if consoles were all part of the same team, which is frankly ludicrous. The reality is that it’s not really a console versus PC question – it’s really a matter of saying we have at least four or more very distinct gaming ecosystems all competing for the same mind and dollar share.
Lastly, Ployhar suggests that countries that do not prioritise PC gaming are being held back in their respective industry. In particular, the US, UK and Canada can arguably be said to favour console development, and are miles behind countries like China who hold the biggest PC gaming market in the world.
PCs, by their nature are where innovation takes place. The countries that have prioritized the PC from a gaming standpoint are now starting to see the early benefits of doing so and reaping those rewards.
I also agree with the PCGA's claim that the PC is the platform for innovation, and it is the one leading the industry, as it always has been.