PC games software market to exceed $35bn by 2018, says OGA

[HEXUS]

Meanwhile both console and handheld game software markets are expected to decline.

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[ZaO]

Maybe people are just starting to get tired of still playing games at a target framerate of 30fps with a horrible, sickening Fov. That's what I like to think anyway haha...

[crossy]

Meanwhile both console and handheld game software markets are expected to decline.

Not really surprising. I'd expect Nintendo to have a hard time due to the wide availability of smartphones and tablets, even some with gaming features like the Playstation branded ones or the NVidia Shield. The handheld market surely has been going downhill for some time?

The decline in consoles I'd put down to a variety of factors, key of which being the horrendous prices that both major consoles (PS4 and XBO) launched at, with no backward compatibility. I'm also seeing an upswing in the power of budget PC's, so it's probably an easy decision to make - buy a new console or a basic PC. Then again there's all these Steam, Origin, HumbleBundle, etc sales which means that the cost of a PC-based games library will be a fraction of the cost of a similar one for PS4/XBO. I'd also suggest that the miss-steps that Microsoft made in the XBO launch haven't helped, the always-on/not always on, the Kinect required/Kinect optional, etc.

I've got shelves of XBox360 games, yet I've not even toyed with the idea of a "next gen" console, instead preferring to spend my hard-earned on Steam sales. Likewise I had various DS models, yet haven't bought any of the "3D" models, and all that kind of gaming is now down on Asus or Samsung tablets.

[shaithis]

High cost and VERY low relative performance is putting me off of consoles...and I suspect others.

Consoles always used to cost an amount I didn't need to think about and when they released they gave a reasonably high-end PC a run for it's money......now they cost twice as much and are low to mid range PC spec. This means the relative cost has actually sky-rocketed.....and that's before we talk about £65 games!

Both Sony and MS have limited their sales this time around, I do wonder if that's what they wanted tho, less sales but more profit per sale can mean lower overheads.

Sell the consoles for £200 and make the money from the £65 titles and we might be more interested.........they set that model and it worked well for years, now they want their cake and eat it....and surprise surprise, people are starting to move to PC. I do believe that some of the shift has been due to more console gamers being wooed by TV adverts where they keep showing the PC version, they then buy their XB360/XB1 version and then head to the internet to find out why it doesn't look like the advert....

I know so many gamers who always bought the new consoles, yet I cannot think of any of them that have bought into the latest gen at all......it still surprises me how many they have sold so far. TBH, I think they have done pretty well considering.

[DemonHighwayman]

I think the reason it appears that the PC market is growing is down to people buying digital/download games more than disc based games these days which from what i've seen is always almost more expensive, unless your getting a humble bundle or steam sale or off a dodgy site.

[abaxas]

My view is that the current state of gaming in general is sh?t. Pc gaming is sh?t, current gen console games are sh?t, etc. Things peaked around the early 00s and since then all we have had is better graphics and more energy used.

So how does that relate to the above? Pc gaming is increasing as it's cheap, people like cheap. Cheap but also sh?t.

[nitro912gr]

I hope publishers/developers get the memo this time...

I'm tired to be second rate customer when it comes to video games from some big publishers who put the console version first and give us a terrible port...

[crossy]

My view is that the current state of gaming in general is sh?t. Pc gaming is sh?t, current gen console games are sh?t, etc. Things peaked around the early 00s and since then all we have had is better graphics and more energy used. So how does that relate to the above? Pc gaming is increasing as it's cheap, people like cheap. Cheap but also sh?t.

I'd suggest you're being a little unfair. Certainly the major titles have gone onto the "never mind the gameplay, drink in the spectacle", but there's still quite a few titles out there that have remembered little things like storyline and characterisation. I blame Crytek for some of the graphics-obsession, Crysis undoubtedly being very lush, but playability was lacking. Then if someone else puts up a good title with passable graphics they'll get absolutely slated - the "omg, this looks like something out of the 80s", etc.

I also think that there's a "fashion" aspect that I hate. So if you haven't got the latest in-vogue title then shame on you. So we get the hype around GTAV etc, ignoring whether it's actually a decent title or not, then there's the usual October furore over CoD, and don't get me started on the FIFA, Madden, etc.

I hope publishers/developers get the memo this time... I'm tired to be second rate customer when it comes to video games from some big publishers who put the console version first and give us a terrible port...

I read a survey recently that said that PC gamers tend to play a title for a lot longer than their console-based counterparts. In which case I'd argue that perhaps the "this years title" view of the publishers is more suited to the console crowd. After all, how difficult is it going to be to sell "CoD:2016" or "Assassin's Creed:2016" if the PC punters are still playing the "2015" title. Heck, I still occasionally play JC2 and that's nearly five years old!

Remember that consoles are fixed platforms, so it's obviously going to be easier to develop for than the PC market where you'd be very lucky to find two setups the same - even to basic stuff like controller or mouse/keyboard.

[abaxas]

I guess the point is that it costs multiples more to write a top title (due mostly to graphics) than it did 10-15 years ago.

More risk in cost = less risks taken.

The question is does any modern shooter offer than much more than CS or quake3 did?