Analysts predict PC game sales are gonna top console game sales in 2016?

Alurit · June 27, 2015

The problem is AAA.

There are like 20 games worth buying on both consoles. (Right now) There may be thousands on Steam. The thing is, many of the games on Steam are smaller, more focused titles for $2-$40 each, (and AAA games when on sale) while the gargantuan focus-testing assembly-line industry is diverting a lot to consoles simply because they can charge $60 forever. So people buy quantity on Steam, but buy what they (erroneously) perceive as 'quality' on consoles. A few games worth buying might even be console exclusive, aka. ransomware.

The quantity of Steam sales is spread amongst a huge amount of publishers and developers, while the narrow selection on consoles means that every publisher will make more per game.

Which is why AAA and consoles will never fully disappear. There's too much incentive for the biggest publishers to spew out literal shit like Ryse, The Order, Destiny et al. just because of the profit they can make on a single game. On PC they might have to make 3 games per every 1 console game. And that requires actual creativity and pre-production, which is exceedingly rare amongst said publishers and developers.

yeah from new big AAA games people will buy more on consoles. There are more people to spend money on pc, but there are more games as well, and there are older AAA games that the consoles don't have access to. It's more money but distributed between more games.

Mooshi · June 27, 2015

Once you have the initial hardware, I say gaming on PC is actually cheaper. Yeah yeah consoles are cheap vs a baller PC up front, but PC gamers are able to get tons of games for the dollar vs shelling out 60 bucks on that stuff that isn't very moddable.

Trik'Stari · June 27, 2015

Once you have the initial hardware, I say gaming on PC is actually cheaper. Yeah yeah consoles are cheap vs a baller PC up front, but PC gamers are able to get tons of games for the dollar vs shelling out 60 bucks on that stuff that isn't very moddable.

This has actually been proven, as PC's last longer (they have better performance for a longer amount of time) as well as having cheaper games, free online play (for most games), and it's usually cheaper to upgrade than buy a new console when it launches.

pawan1993 · June 27, 2015

So industry researcher PwC (first time hearing about them myself), did some research and this is what they say. Now basically anyone can do that right? Well before starting a debate, you should probably read the full article, cause it's quite huge.

Btw just to point out that PwC are huge! One of the world's biggest consulting companies (2nd behind Deloitte) and they are regarded very well in the industry. Their industry research is not to be taken lightly.

My take on this is just that PC gaming is moving far too quickly for consoles to catch up. But with cloud gaming becoming a thing and subscription based gaming being a part of the future, you just can't write consoles off. They're much more cost effective and are just better for casual gamers who don't want to break the bank for a few hours a week at most.