PC game sales slide 23 percent in March

Following Burning Crusade's bump, retail revenue from the venerable platform drops; PC games still up 17 percent for the year.

Recently, an oft-cited New York Times article predicted 2007 would be a banner year for PC game sales. Strangely, though, it didn't mention World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, which had sold 1.6 million copies and generated $62.1 million in revenue in the US as of February 28--making it by far the year's top PC title.

The Times' rosy forecast was based on an NPD Funworld report of a 48 percent increase in PC game sales during the months of February and January. However, during March, sales for the platform took a sharp downturn, according to the industry research firm. The month saw just $81.9 million worth of boxed PC games sold at retail, a decline of 23 percent when compared to March 2006.

While, like Julius Caesar, the Ides of March didn't bode well for the platform, PC gaming remains up overall for the year. During the first quarter of 2007, some $285.2 million worth of PC games were sold at retail, an increase of 17 percent over the year before.

And, as always, NPD's PC game sales figures do not include revenue from online transactions such as digital downloads, meaning it overlooks significant revenue streams in the PC space.

171 Comments

  • theKSMM

    Posted May 7, 2007 2:21 pm PT

    Comparing PCs to consoles is like comparing pick-up trucks to compact hybrids. They each have their advantages in different situations. Neither one is superior for all users needs.

    Sure PCs are expensive to keep upgraded, but for some people, it's better than playing a console into obsolescence for the last two years of its life while waiting for the next generation to arrive. And let's not overlook the fact that PCs do far more than just play games. I doubt many of you got to this web site on your console.

    The games are cheaper, the mods and the networking are free, the user community is far more active...I could go on and on. The point is that PCs have a place in the gaming spectrum, and despite what anybody says, it's not ever going to die.

  • evldragon68

    Posted May 1, 2007 4:47 pm PT

    Fact is ever time a new game comes out you have to upgrade your pc!!!! people complain about the price of a ps3. the pc by far is the most expensive gaming machine. at least a console you only buy once every 5 or so years. pc's are every 2 or so years and cost a hell of alot more. i'm surprised pc gaming has lasted as long as it has.

  • audioaxes

    Posted May 1, 2007 9:34 am PT

    pretty hard to buy PC games when nothing is released that i actually want to buy

  • uberjannie

    Posted Apr 30, 2007 6:20 am PT

    With online transactions , I guess most online "transactions" are datastreams from torrents when it comes to PC games.. Which is why the PC genre is dying.

  • Nawras

    Posted Apr 30, 2007 1:37 am PT

    PC games are really good and the platform should not be compared to game-exclusive consoles. The PC games have always had better graphics simply because of the resolution aspect and they have a different taste. Anyway, with all the new graphics cards and physics engines, PC game are going to start to shine again

  • jogunther

    Posted Apr 30, 2007 1:32 am PT

    I second that ,pc gaming, in a separate way, is coming into a new era. Consoles are a different beast.

  • Gurnadar

    Posted Apr 30, 2007 1:03 am PT

    PC gaming is making a comeback.

  • Gurnadar

    Posted Apr 30, 2007 12:58 am PT

    Hey PC gaming is best experience you can have than any paystation or that one scrapbox 360

  • jogunther

    Posted Apr 30, 2007 12:50 am PT

    I built my pc so I understand your love of pc gaming. But, maybe instead of blaming it on consoles, you could buy one(like a PS3), or a 360.

  • owenneil

    Posted Apr 29, 2007 9:12 pm PT

    PC games themselfs are cheaper, even some new ones are coming out at 40 bucks.

  • juxax

    Posted Apr 29, 2007 8:20 pm PT

    it can't be this much of a collosal year for PCs, all theese retarded games companies are making console games, not pc games. it's only beacause their lazy, now that consoles processors have advanced to a stage where they can actually have half decent AI and stuff. All the games comming out nowadays are on Consoles, and they come out on PCs poorly optimised. but when a PC game comes out, it blows every console game, ever made, entirely out of the water. I don't think consoles have ever had a FPS game, where u actually needed to take cover to shoot, pure run and gun. consoles do some games better, like racing etc, but racing games are suck anyway. Anyways lazy-ass games companies need to start making games for PCs, like they used to, instead of getting away with making cheap crappy low detailed games, then making them worse for pc players, by porting them. as for pc gaming being exspensive? not really..

    for the price of a PS3, 3 Games, and a decent HDTV, you could get a PC capable of playing crysis on Max settings, piece of piss however you'll also have a machine that can download/upload/watch films, you name it. so much easier then consoles. aslong as pc's have torrents, and the ability to multitask well, they will own consoles.

  • deadmeat59

    Posted Apr 28, 2007 8:11 am PT

    pc gaming is so expensive and moves so fast . console gaming is just easyer .

  • RyD3n

    Posted Apr 28, 2007 2:43 am PT

    PC's are just to expensive to be a practical gaming machine. And, with the way things are at the moment, consoles are getting most of the good games. With the acception of Crysis, all the good PC games are also coming out on console, but not visa versa. Console games have always out sold PC games though... Well, maybe not always, but for a very long time at least...

  • greystone227

    Posted Apr 27, 2007 3:36 pm PT

    randyynot-
    "I hope halo wars comes out for 360 : )"

    Last time I checked, Halo Wars is going to be 360 exclusive.

  • peon_frenzy

    Posted Apr 27, 2007 2:27 pm PT

    the main problem with pc games is that your average casual gamer doesnt know enough about pc's to either upgrade or build a new machine. It doesnt take that much time to learn but it is still easier for them to just buy a console. I actually have a ps3 and a 360 and dont use either of them right now. gears of war was great but i always find myself coming back to the pc. It is probably because i am a big fan of rts games and they just dont work very well without a mouse and keyboard. these kinds of games can be brought to the new consoles, like C&C3, because of the high definition, but they just really need mouse and keyboard support.

  • bka4u2c_basic

    Posted Apr 27, 2007 12:34 pm PT

    The only good games (for me) that were released during March for PC were C & C 3 and Test Drive Unlimited. So I'm not surprised about the sales. I did purchase Command & Conquer 3 but not TDU. So I contributed a small amount.

  • Excall

    Posted Apr 27, 2007 11:17 am PT

    Right now I have one good gaming rig and 3 budget pc's. The budget pc's have AM2 athalon 3800+, 1.5g of ram, XP, and ati radeon X1600 pro 256mb, and 160gb Sata hard drives - they can run everything pretty well (except Supreme Commander) and that way I can have friends over to play whatever I want. They all cost less than $400 for the whole thing.

    Like mismajor99 said, there is always a good budget graphics card that you can get. back in August 06 when I built these machines the budget card was the Radeon X1600 pro which I got for $96.00 from newegg (Gigabyte with Heatpipe II). If you want a more expensive budget card he is right about the X1950 pro - they are less than $200 and amazing cards if you put them into worthy systems.

  • mismajor99

    Posted Apr 27, 2007 10:13 am PT

    Randyynot, you honestly don't have to upgrade every few months. I've had my rig for 3 years, only recently upgrading my video card to a 1950 pro, which cost 40 bucks after I sold my old one Once you get your rig set, every few years you can upgrade your video card and be fine. Hell, the 8800 and the 2900 will last years, but there not necessary. The new 8600 line from Nvidia has stellar performance for under 200 bucks. Also, you can pick up a an ATI 1950 for under 200 as well, that's more than sufficient.

  • randyynot

    Posted Apr 27, 2007 7:53 am PT

    I like consoles...i own consoles... I respect PCs, i just dont like to be spendin mo'ney every month to upgrade my computer... so i could play newer games... I hope halo wars comes out for 360 : )

  • GyRo567

    Posted Apr 27, 2007 7:49 am PT

    Steam is only getting stonger & Valve is only getting richer alongside the developers publishing through them...

  • combat1818

    Posted Apr 27, 2007 6:00 am PT

    and then imagine having the cheek to think its some kind of untouchable no ones ever seen anything like it kind of console---god that would be embarrasing

  • combat1818

    Posted Apr 27, 2007 5:58 am PT

    bigelf72----well said--god imagine owning a PS3 with its lowly hasbin 7800gtx inside it

  • bigelf72

    Posted Apr 27, 2007 1:19 am PT

    ludacriss, name 1. Consoles are PC's now anywayz, they have internet, hard-drives, cd's, vga/hdmi, they even use ATI and Nvidia graphics cards and the Xbox used a Pentium 3. They even have USB ports, and card readers.

    Consoles couldn't compete with the PC market, so they became PC's themselves.

  • ludacriss

    Posted Apr 27, 2007 1:03 am PT

    @ LoJo10 - "consoles are not more and more popular"

    Oh, yes they are. There's more advantages for a console.

  • matrixman2k

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 11:31 pm PT

    Maybe 'cause vista makes nearly all games crawl due to it killing all resources.. and if you want to buy a new pc you ain't got a choice it's vista and thats it. I know there's something going on between MS and system builders/shops. Last i heard vista was doing poorly and MS blaming all those pirates... sad thing is i know people that installed it and soon got rid of it due to compatibility with their software/games etc.

    It's like trying to run one of those badly programmed piece of software such as a game console emulator on a state-of-the-art or gamer pc and it's making the system crawl literally... Obviously it's the fault with the software and not the machine.

  • kappareign

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 11:00 pm PT

    PC gaming use to have some good exclusive action/adventure games... now everything is either ported to a console or just another shooter, strategy, or mmorpg

  • KandyKornMan

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 9:18 pm PT

    id agree with you combat on the whole pc gaming will never die.all game creation starts on the pc so it cant just go away.the tech in pc games gets better all the time.as long as the hardware is there it wont get worse.some genres of games dont really work well on pc though.the oneslike racing and sports they belong on consoles.

  • combat1818

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 4:53 pm PT

    pc gaming will never die the reason being--i am now 39 and have bin around since the begining of gaming as we know it,cant be bothered to list the computers and consoles and hand helds ive had over the years,they have given me pleasure all my life--i cant explain to you how it felt to play commandos on the zx spectrum 48k(STILL A COOL LOOKING MACHINE-WHICH I PRIZE AND TREASURE)nothing i play today even comes close,or final fantasy on the sony systems--but unfortunatley ive grown older, and now i need games that make me think,games that are deep and complicated,games that educate me,games that will always bring something new and fresh to the scene,these thing are only possible on PC--will i still be playing when im 69 hell i hope so,im not ashamed i grew up with gaming and it has grown up with me

  • lithus

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 4:17 pm PT

    Hakk9 says " I've had my computer for 6 years with minimal upgrades ($150-) and I have been able to run every game up to now on max to minimum with playable framerates (30+). " Righttt. That would make your system a what...Intel Pentium® III 800 MHz? You ain't running anything with that today. And for the people who build their rigs to save $, that's great, but not everyone has the time or "know-how" to do so. That argument is out the window. As a console gamer, I'm comfortable knowing that when I buy a 360 game, I just put it in without worrying about system requirements.

  • mattxavier

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 2:49 pm PT

    Since I got Vista, I've almost gone of PC games. On saturday I'm reinstaliing XP and restarting my game life.

  • jetsethi

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 2:43 pm PT

    Well, the sliding sales can be explained by one thing, A transition phase.
    Since the release of Vista, there have been people jumping over, but the game makers have not prepared themselves and the Updated games have yet to release. Leaving the game loving Vista PC users waiting for games, so they hold off on the buying.Simple!

  • ahyumifan

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 2:37 pm PT

    its only because of WOW burning crusade, period.

  • mismajor99

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 1:15 pm PT

    "And, as always, NPD's PC game sales figures do not include revenue from online transactions such as digital downloads, meaning it overlooks significant revenue streams in the PC space."

    I was waiting for that, I bought 3 games during march, all online for the PC, and GHII at a brick and mortar...

  • rokkuman09

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 12:51 pm PT

    Awesome! PC gaming is way to go! Good that more people realize this, it's only for the people willing to spend the money though.. Not for the casual gamers.

  • limbofrog

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 12:48 pm PT

    People just bought WOW BC, C&C3, SC, among any other title they may have been catching up too. We don't all have unlimited money. I wait and buy only the best games. I still have Medieval TotalWar2 and WarhammerChoas whatever sitting on the shelf. I installed them both but have not really played either much. I got stuck playing 2142 and yet even more WOW BC... too many games, not enough time for me.

  • YukoAsho

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 12:32 pm PT

    Funny how all PC gamers ever talk about is power. You ask me, PC gaming was better off before everyone was stroking their E-penii about graphics. Give me Baldur's Gate and Fallout (not the buggy crap Bethesda's going to release) over the all-flash games of today.

  • redskinStu

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 10:28 am PT

    A "news" story yesterday said PC gaming is making a comeback.

    Then today you've got this guy saying it's dying.

  • chevydriver1123

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 10:17 am PT

    I havent touched my PS2 and GC in ages

  • gbrading Site moderator

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 10:03 am PT

    I'm sure it's only a slight and temporary dip in the figures. After all, overall they are still up on last year. Fluxuations happen all the time.

  • Excall

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 9:48 am PT

    I have three consoles, but I have always been a pc gamer and I spend most of my time gaming on the pc. I basically have the consoles because good pc rpg's are few and far between these days, and most rpg's seem to be diablo clones. So I have consoles mostly so that I can play Baten Kaitos, FF, Dragon Quest, Mana etc. Fps may be popular on a console, but they are best as pc games. I love single player games with good storylines, but I'll settle for good multiplayer action online. I play Halo PC, Counterstrike Souce, America's Army, UT2004 etc.

    I think definitely one of the problems in the PC game industry is that a lot of people pirate the games. This could be a reason that the consoles are becoming more popular. Console games can be pirated too, but most people that have a console don't know how to install a mod-chip. A hardcore PC gamer knows everything about his system and can do whatever he needs/wants with it. However, I don't think hardcore pc gamers are the ones pirating the games. Most hardcore pc gamers I know have an obsession with collecting Game boxes and cd's so that they can show off their collection to their friends .

    I'm glad that sales are up overall this year. PC games will never die, even if they become just little flash games for a while. If the influx of games slows down a lot more someone will inevitably release a really cool game and make a lot of money from it - and the money will attract the dev's again - I'm not worried.

  • kingrich06

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 9:32 am PT

    surprised its lower with all the great titles released in 1st quarter

  • Morehouse007

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 9:24 am PT

    meh......

  • Pumper

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 9:11 am PT

    I own a 360 and PS3, but use my PC laptop for gaming almost four times as much as these consoles. Yes, as someone mentioned, if you use a PC all day, you want to come home and play a console on a big TV while sitting on your couch. This is true - but I use a PC all day at work and when I want PC gaming at home, I simply have my lap top on a lapdesk which rests on my recliner . Comfortable, and no control pad fiddling for RTS or RPGS games. Not to mention, I can play games like Zuma or a zillion other "casual" games through flash, or M.AM.E. for my retro fix, without spending MS points.

  • listlurker

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 8:58 am PT

    Speaking sideways to what Shtinky said last, I think part of the problem behind any supposed "drop" in PC game sales is that there haven't been a whole lot of high-interest titles released for PC since Burning Crusade. As a PC gamer, it sometimes feels like PC games now follow the movie industry pattern, where there's one season a year (Fall, for PC) where all the "big" titles come out in a huge swarm, and then the rest of the year, it's just fits and starts, bits and pieces. Anticipated console games seem to be releasing constantly, year-round. My opinion, anyway. Your mileage may vary.

  • thephoenix365

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 8:43 am PT

    On what ludacriss said, i would like to see year on year growth figures for consoles, and see if they have improved since the launch of the last generation. Just for comparison.

    Also i think games in general are more and more popular, so we should expect growth in all areas. As for improving the PC market, perhaps if people didn't try to copy WoW's success with MMO after MMO then we might re invigorate the genre!

  • LoJo10

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 8:14 am PT

    ludacriss - that's ludicrous - consoles are not more and more popular

  • ludacriss

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 8:00 am PT

    That's because consoles become more and more popular. That's why.

  • Sandlynx9

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 7:51 am PT

    Its good to hear PC games are doing well, that interview with the pres of Epic recently was rather depressing when he alluded to the weak market for PC games nowadays

  • Shtinky

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 7:46 am PT

    NO i wont go buy a 360 or a ps3 because frankly the "powerhouse" ps3 has a quarter of my systems power. as soon as dx10 games come out they will start dumbing them down for you console guys so those of you who cant run a mouse and keyboard at the same time can play with your joysticks on your rediculously stupid sux-axis controller.....just you saying that consoles offer the same performance shows how much you know.

    You know... you seem to care more about the technology and the specs of your system than the actual games you're playing on it.

  • mareaper

    Posted Apr 26, 2007 7:40 am PT

    Nice to see that PC games still prosper.

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