Molyneux slammed for PC gamer market 'in tatters' claim
PC Gaming Alliance says Molyneux is 'way off-base'.
The PC Gaming Alliance (PCGA) has hit back at Lionhead boss Peter Molyneux following his claim that the PC gamer market is "in tatters".
The PCGA, a non-profit, US-based organisation which aims to 'drive worldwide growth of PC gaming', called Molyneux's opinion "way off-base" and pointed towards MMOs Age of Conan, Warhammer Online as well as evolution sim Spore as evidence that the PC gamer market is in fact in rude health.
Earlier this month, in the second part of our massive interview with the PC gaming legend, Molyneux said that apart from "high points" like Crysis and Blizzard's games, the PC gamer market is dominated by The Sims and World of Warcraft.
Following the publication of the interview, PCGA president Randy Stude contacted VideoGamer.com rejecting Molyneux's claim.
He said: "We respect Peter Molyneux as one of the legends in the industry, but we think he is way off-base with his assessment of the PC gaming industry. In fact, the PC Gaming Alliance just released the findings of our Horizons research report in August and it shows that the industry is stronger than ever. An industry with 10.7 billion in revenue during 2007 is hardly in tatters. Beyond the financial aspect of this, the PC is still the world's leading platform for gaming. There are plenty of AAA titles like Conan, Warhammer Online and Spore, as well as smaller games that appeal to people beyond the console audience. And even though there are many AAA titles in the pipeline for PC, the success of an industry can't be measured in AAA titles alone."
What do you think readers? Is the PC gamer market in tatters, as Peter Molyneux believes, or is it stronger than ever, as the PCGA believes? Let us know in the comments section below.
User Comments
dreamhunk
http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/ne...e-development/
A new survey from Game Developer Research shows that most developers are creating PC games, and for console developers 360 is number one.
by James Brightman on Wednesday, August 13, 2008
According to the 2008 Game Development Survey, a new 180-page report from Game Developer Research that questions nearly 2,000 developers from North America and elsewhere (mostly Europe), the PC still rules the development roost. 70 percent of those surveyed said they are making games for the PC/Mac, compared to 43 percent who are making console games, 28 percent who are making games for web platforms and 16 percent who are making portable games (DS, PSP).
Interestingly, on the console front, console developers seem to show a preference for Microsoft's Xbox 360. 73 percent are creating games for 360, 58 percent (including some of the same respondents) for PS3, and 42 percent for the Wii. 15 percent are also still creating games for the PS2. "This implies that the greatest amount of Western console developers by sheer numbers are creating games for Microsoft's console-- but due to team size differences, this doesn't necessarily imply that more games will appear on the Xbox 360 than other consoles," explained Game Developer Research.
In terms of portables, of those developers making handheld games, 75 percent said they are creating games for the Nintendo DS compared to 45 percent for the PSP – not too surprising considering the massive installed base of the DS.
The rest of the report delves into trends in programming language, purchasing habits and development choices regarding tools, game engines, etc. The report is selling for the price of $2,495 at the Game Developer Research website.
dreamhunk
Today's NPD numbers left out sales for PC games, as is typical, but this month the market research firm decided to take a look at PC game sales anyway to see how they would fare.
"Although PC games sales are not included in these numbers, there were two that should be pointed out," wrote NPD analyst Anita Frazier in a press release accompanying September's sales data.
"Spore realized sales of 406,000 units and Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning sold 274,000 which would put them both in the top 10 list of combined console, portable and PC games sales for the month," Frazier continued.
In fact, Spore's numbers would place it squarely in third place for September, just below the explosive launch of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (PS3, PS2, 360, Wii, DS, PSP) and perpetual best-seller Wii Fit. Warhammer Online, on the other hand, would take eighth in a combined PC-and-console sales chart.
If Warhammer's sales look at odds with the 500,000 players the game picked up in the days after its September 18 launch, it's because NPD only looks at United States retail sales whereas Warhammer's subscriber base is a worldwide number.
dreamhunk@ White Wolf
http://gamextract.com/?p=3486
so much for your perfect platform!!!
White Wolf
dreamhunk@ Ryan
There is just as much pircay on consoles as pc that is fact. These game devs don't talk about it. They blame everything on the pc! If they care about their fans they would not call them criminals. There is huge communties around one soft ware. Look at companies like vavle, bio-ware, blizzard, anet these companies care about their fans! No console has beaten half life, daiblo, guild wars, wow,linage,sims in sales! there is none!
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/world/2...e-piracy_x.htm
http://www.forbes.com/2005/07/18/vid...718piracy.html
Ryan
Personally, I love playing both, and in fact, probably play more on the PC since my favorite genre is RTS (FPS close second) I would like to try and see this from a developer's perspective though. For a console developer, you have the security of being able to make a game that runs smoothly on only one platform (or 2 or 3 if you're counting PS3, Wii, and 360 as all separate) while a PC developer has to have the skills to make his game run smooth on a wide range of hardware to increase sales just enough without sacrificing quality of the game.
Also, what about pirating? PC developers go through all the hard work that console developers do, but end up with less money in the end because kids all over the world know how to pirate games before they are old enough to work. Console devs, once again, have the security of knowing that their new blockbuster hit will yield a great return.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, while the PC market isn't "in tatters" from a quality of games perspective, I do believe it is in tatters from a financial perspective. Console developers simply make more money, and the gap is only going to widen if PC devs don't start finding ways to make their games completely piracy protected. I am glad that there are still PC gaming titans out there like Blizzard keeping the industry very much alive.
dreamhunk@ h0py
Consoles are old machines
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVsT4D2_VTI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBPegjNG2qw
It's fact that pc gamers will spend $ 2 000 or more for their hardware to play the latest games. it has always been like that.
http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,6...f_their_times/
Pc gaming is world wide and is not limited, Game devs have alot more room to be creative and push their dreams on the pc. You can't get complex or deep rich games on consoles. Pc games can keep a gamer playing the same game for 1 to 3 years or more. exmaple guild wars it sold over 5 mill units 2 years ago and still selling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DOYuktGGe0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMxhA...eature=related
By the way pc has all the genres even fighting games, In fact there is fighting mmo's. moo's begin the must complex games there is to date
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loxtu6uDLig
It will be along time before you will ever see a game like this on console it's a new genre
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ko1a73VG1U
this how complex they are
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPZIYiiVi9Q
check out warmonger a free game for pc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8DdEtBMRQY
h0py
The PC market has been focused down to four genres.
RTS
FPS
Simulation
MMORPG
Crysis
WoW
Conan
Warhammer Online
Spore
Sims
C&C 3
Red Alert 3
Far Cry 2
I wouldn't say it's "in tatters"
but it's genre appeal is becoming more and more limited.
A pity.
kayonseth
RecoN
Yes ok consoles are selling like hot cakes, but those who can afford to mod there rigs will happily do it and get the best games out. I class myself as a hardcore gamer and i spent 65 hours a week on game from steam, thats without any other game i play. PC gaming has changed alot to keep up with other formats. Yes there are alot of sim based games out, but when it comes to FPS shooters etc, just look at DOOM3, HL2, COD4. All those versions are no doubt better on a PC than a console.
I can understand why hes gettin labelled "way off base" because hes not really stating the positive points about present and future possibiltys.
dreamhunk@ Kaldo
No console game will ever beat wow, sims, nacy drew, guild wars, daiblo, starcraft, half life. linage in sales.
Kaldo
kayon.seth