About PC sales...

I don't think that a lot of people here really understand PC sales.

While console games have huge opening weeks and sell the majority of their total sales in the first few months, PC games have a much different way of selling. Most PC games sell more and more over time. At first the really demanding games like Crysis do not sell well because of their high specs requirements. Piracy is high becuase people don't see massive value in it and they don't know if their PC can really run it.

Over time though, as PCs get more capable, sales of the high end PC games start to increase. Soon basic PCs from major manufactures like HP and Dell can play these games on lower quality settings. Sales stay steady through these entire period. They are lower than a console games first few months, but they are steady over a few years.

This is one of the reasons why people misconceive that PC gaming is dying. They don't see the massive sales right away and figure that the game is a dud and nobody plays PC anymore. This is a faulty prediction as they are expecting massive sales, when massive sales usually don't come to PC games.

Also as long as there are PCs there will be games for them. Its a free to develop on platform with no licensing fees (if you choose to build the game from scratch). Its a platform that is extremely versatile to handle some of the most complicated games. Finally it is a platform that is in nearly every house in the developed countries of this world. You can't go wrong with PC gaming.

. You can't go wrong with PC gaming.

Wasdie

Congratulations on this thread, it's a good one.

I'll wait for the console fanboys to come here yelling "OMFG WELL CONSOLES IZ R BETTAR BECUZ I HAZ ONES AND I IZ FANBOYS AND U IS LIARS AND PC GAME'Z IS R DIES OUT AND PC TECHNOLOGY SUCKS COMPARED TO GAME CUBE TECHNOLOGY LOLLOLOOLOLOLZ"

It'll happen.

http://www.gamasutra.com/news/originals/?story=22066

I recently read here on SW that Killzone 2 sold some 1.7million by now

didn't crysis sell some 2 million by now?

I recently read here on SW that Killzone 2 sold some 1.7million by now

didn't crysis sell some 2 million by now?

Enosh88

I recently read here on SW that Killzone 2 sold some 1.7million by now

didn't crysis sell some 2 million by now?

Enosh88

I recently read here on SW that Killzone 2 sold some 1.7million by now

didn't crysis sell some 2 million by now?

Enosh88

I always find sales debates funny, because we're comparing the wrong numbers. While you are correct that PC games do sell over longer periods of time, that isn't necessarily a good thing. All things being equal, the console game that sells 2 million copies over 3 months is all but certainly going to be more profitable than a PC game that sells 2 million copies over 2 years, due to the fact the PC game will have it's price significantly reduced over that period of time.

Of course that raises the question of why we even bother comparing sales because we'll never know how profitable the vast majority of games (or consoles, for that matter) are, but that's a whole other kettle of fish.

[QUOTE="Wasdie"]. You can't go wrong with PC gaming.

Dead-Memories

Cool, never knew that. But here is my question. You say that PC games sell overtime as high end specs turn to standard specs. Now even though this may be true doesn't this still hurt the development company? I mean they make a game and spend alot of money on it and they have to wait a lot longer for the return. This would also hinder future projects from the same company because they are waiting so long for a return on their previous investment, so jumping into spending more money on another game could prove fatal. Javy03

[QUOTE="Javy03"]Cool, never knew that. But here is my question. You say that PC games sell overtime as high end specs turn to standard specs. Now even though this may be true doesn't this still hurt the development company? I mean they make a game and spend alot of money on it and they have to wait a lot longer for the return. This would also hinder future projects from the same company because they are waiting so long for a return on their previous investment, so jumping into spending more money on another game could prove fatal. _Pedro_

[QUOTE="Dead-Memories"]

[QUOTE="Wasdie"]. You can't go wrong with PC gaming.

blackace

[QUOTE="_Pedro_"][QUOTE="Javy03"]Cool, never knew that. But here is my question. You say that PC games sell overtime as high end specs turn to standard specs. Now even though this may be true doesn't this still hurt the development company? I mean they make a game and spend alot of money on it and they have to wait a lot longer for the return. This would also hinder future projects from the same company because they are waiting so long for a return on their previous investment, so jumping into spending more money on another game could prove fatal. Wasdie

[QUOTE="Dead-Memories"]

[QUOTE="Wasdie"]. You can't go wrong with PC gaming.

blackace

Why are you comparing Halo 3 sales to Crysis sales? One is a new IP while the other is a third installment of an IP with a huge fan base, not to mention it happens to be a flagship game for a console and as such has a huge marketing campaign behind it. There are very few games on any system that can match the pull of games like Halo and CoD, so it is a bit pointless to bring those up for comparisons because they are in a league of their own.

[QUOTE="Enosh88"]

I recently read here on SW that Killzone 2 sold some 1.7million by now

didn't crysis sell some 2 million by now?

Wasdie

OP is right, but this thread is still very pointless because fanboys won't even click on a topic that has the letters "P" and "C" in it, and even if they do, they'll too blind to read anything.

The way I see it. You might not have a good rig now to play the latest games, but when you do you can pick up the games dirt cheap.Next-Gen-Tec

People say PC gaming is dying because they don't use logic here in System Wars.

Excellent thread. You need only to see the PC gaming charts to see the legs of some games.blue_hazy_basic

PC gamers don't need to buy games, they play the same game for years unlike consolites who switch FPS every few months.-PuLse

I don't think that a lot of people here really understand PC sales.

While console games have huge opening weeks and sell the majority of their total sales in the first few months, PC games have a much different way of selling. Most PC games sell more and more over time. At first the really demanding games like Crysis do not sell well because of their high specs requirements. Piracy is high becuase people don't see massive value in it and they don't know if their PC can really run it.

Wasdie

PC gamers don't need to buy games, they play the same game for years unlike consolites who switch FPS every few months.-PuLse

[QUOTE="blue_hazy_basic"]Excellent thread. You need only to see the PC gaming charts to see the legs of some games.Nintendo_Ownes7

I don't think that a lot of people here really understand PC sales.

While console games have huge opening weeks and sell the majority of their total sales in the first few months, PC games have a much different way of selling. Most PC games sell more and more over time. At first the really demanding games like Crysis do not sell well because of their high specs requirements. Piracy is high becuase people don't see massive value in it and they don't know if their PC can really run it.

Over time though, as PCs get more capable, sales of the high end PC games start to increase. Soon basic PCs from major manufactures like HP and Dell can play these games on lower quality settings. Sales stay steady through these entire period. They are lower than a console games first few months, but they are steady over a few years.

Wasdie

If this is true why do PC games reduce price? If sales improve slowly, why do PC reduce the price of their games? If what you say is corect then: They could make more money if they keep the original price on game over time, but they dont. Why? If games dont sell at full price fast then they go down in price. ... That makes PC games better sales? For us yes. But for companies no. Halo 3 $60 Crysis $30

PC gamers don't need to buy games, they play the same game for years unlike consolites who switch FPS every few months.-PuLse

[QUOTE="-PuLse"]PC gamers don't need to buy games, they play the same game for years unlike consolites who switch FPS every few months.TheGreatOutdoor

[QUOTE="TheGreatOutdoor"]

[QUOTE="-PuLse"]PC gamers don't need to buy games, they play the same game for years unlike consolites who switch FPS every few months.TR800

Over 3.5 years... :|

If you do the math, that's close to playing 5 hours a day every day, though I'm sure that wasn't the case. It's very reasonable to assume he has put that much time into a game over 3 years...especially an MMORPG.

Something console users tend to forget, or ignore, is PC has no dev kit or licensing fee costs.

A console user may gloat about a game selling more on their platform; but how many of those sales result in real income? For example Activision recently said that they paid 500 million in royalties and other costs to Sony last year, the same sales on PC would result in them being 500 million better off.

PC game sales are not equivalent to console sales, you have to sell more copies of a console game to make the same profit.

Something console users tend to forget, or ignore, is PC has no dev kit or licensing fee costs.

A console user may gloat about a game selling more on their platform; but how many of those sales result in real income? For example Activision recently said that they paid 500 million in royalties and other costs to Sony last year, the same sales on PC would result in them being 500 million better off.

PC game sales are not equivalent to console sales, you have to sell more copies of a console game to make the same profit.

AnnoyedDragon

Something console users tend to forget, or ignore, is PC has no dev kit or licensing fee costs.

A console user may gloat about a game selling more on their platform; but how many of those sales result in real income? For example Activision recently said that they paid 500 million in royalties and other costs to Sony last year, the same sales on PC would result in them being 500 million better off.

PC game sales are not equivalent to console sales, you have to sell more copies of a console game to make the same profit.

[QUOTE="TR800"][QUOTE="TheGreatOutdoor"]I agree with this. When I got my first PC, my first game was Soldier of Fortune 2. I ended up not buying another game for over three years. I loved SoF2. And now Guild Wars. I have been playing it for over 3.5 years now with over 5,500 hours logged. I don't buy as many game for PC not because it doesn't have good games, but because it has great games. Games so great I don't feel the need to buy another game for a long time (A lot longer than I do for console).

TreyoftheDead

Over 3.5 years... :|

If you do the math, that's close to playing 5 hours a day every day, though I'm sure that wasn't the case. It's very reasonable to assume he has put that much time into a game over 3 years...especially an MMORPG.

There are wii, xbox 360 and ps2 games that have sold over time as well. This isn't some special aspect of pc gaming. As for Crysis the sales were dissapointing which is a major factor as to why Crytek went multiplat.

PC game sales have declined for some genres like shooters so I also disagree with the op's belief about the pc being the best platform to target.

John Carmack on declining pc game sales

http://blogs.pcworld.com/gameon/archives/007422.html

PC gamers don't need to buy games, they play the same game for years unlike consolites who switch FPS every few months.-PuLse

There are wii, xbox 360 and ps2 games that have sold over time as well. This isn't some special aspect of pc gaming. As for Crysis the sales were dissapointing which is a major factor as to why Crytek went multiplat.

PC game sales have declined for some genres like shooters so I also disagree with the op's belief about the pc being the best platform to target.

John Carmack on declining pc game sales

http://blogs.pcworld.com/gameon/archives/007422.html

dc337

Don't try to debunk it, the ONLY reason you post on this board is to antagonize PC gamers.

There are wii, xbox 360 and ps2 games that have sold over time as well. This isn't some special aspect of pc gaming. As for Crysis the sales were dissapointing which is a major factor as to why Crytek went multiplat.

PC game sales have declined for some genres like shooters so I also disagree with the op's belief about the pc being the best platform to target.

John Carmack on declining pc game sales

http://blogs.pcworld.com/gameon/archives/007422.html

dc337

http://www.incrysis.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=612

EA: Crysis Sales Strong-Exceeded Expectations

This just supports his argument. It's how PC games work, they usually sale more later than at release. Why? Hardware gets cheaper, more people can play the games. Yes, console game sales continue, but not at the same level as PC games. Console games that don't sell well at first, don't reach a million as fast as Crysis did, if at all.

[QUOTE="dc337"]

There are wii, xbox 360 and ps2 games that have sold over time as well. This isn't some special aspect of pc gaming. As for Crysis the sales were dissapointing which is a major factor as to why Crytek went multiplat.

PC game sales have declined for some genres like shooters so I also disagree with the op's belief about the pc being the best platform to target.

John Carmack on declining pc game sales

http://blogs.pcworld.com/gameon/archives/007422.html

dgsag

Don't try to debunk it, the ONLY reason you post on this board is to antagonize PC gamers.

As for pc games I would actually be playing them more if there wasn't such a drought.

It doesn't help that on pc I like turn-based rpg and tactical squad games which have become a rarity. If it makes you feel any better I will be buying Battlefield 3 on the pc. I will also be taking a game vacation for diablo 3 so I'm not as anti-pc as you think.

No I'm more of a manticore that thinks pc gaming elitism is silly. I do enjoy antagonizing people that build their ego around their computer, so I suppose you got that right. I suppose I would antagonize ps3 fanboys more but that has become too easy. Don't get so upset, it is system wars after all.

As for pc games I would actually be playing them more if there wasn't such a drought.

It doesn't help that on pc I like turn-based rpg and tactical squad games which have become a rarity. If it makes you feel any better I will be buying Battlefield 3 on the pc. I will also be taking a game vacation for diablo 3 so I'm not as anti-pc as you think.

dc337

What about Arma 2? That sounds like the perfect "Hardcore PC" game.

[QUOTE="dc337"] No I'm more of a manticore that thinks pc gaming elitism is silly. I do enjoy antagonizing people that build their ego around their computer, so I suppose you got that right. I suppose I would antagonize ps3 fanboys more but that has become too easy. Don't get so upset, it is system wars after all.

As for pc games I would actually be playing them more if there wasn't such a drought.

It doesn't help that on pc I like turn-based rpg and tactical squad games which have become a rarity. If it makes you feel any better I will be buying Battlefield 3 on the pc. I will also be taking a game vacation for diablo 3 so I'm not as anti-pc as you think.

dgsag

What about Arma 2? That sounds like the perfect "Hardcore PC" game.

I really prefer turn-based tactical, stuff like Jagged Alliance 2. Too bad Helldorado sucked.

Though I don't play MMORPGS I may give wakfu a try when it is finished. I still haven't played through king's bounty so though I do have stuff to play on the pc the selection just isn't what it used to be. Almost all the pc games I will play this year are foreign which I think says a lot about how much pc gaming has changed.

An example. The Elder Scrolls III still has a large following on the PC. It is still on the shelves, and still selling. Game came out in 2002.

Cool, never knew that. But here is my question. You say that PC games sell overtime as high end specs turn to standard specs. Now even though this may be true doesn't this still hurt the development company? I mean they make a game and spend alot of money on it and they have to wait a lot longer for the return. This would also hinder future projects from the same company because they are waiting so long for a return on their previous investment, so jumping into spending more money on another game could prove fatal. Javy03