Retail PC games sales decline 23 percent in 2009

[Vrmithrax]

chivenyc said:
True, people wouldn't stop playing WoW if it became free. But the way I think about pay-to-play is that you bind yourself to a game to make it worth, "I just spent $15 on it, so I have to play WoW for a whole month, and nothing else" kind of thing.

Well, then how do you explain Dungeons & Dragons Online, which experienced a resurgence and gained popularity when it went free to play? Or the ongoing appeal of Guild Wars, which has been free to play from the beginning?

I play a few MMOs, have had 1 or 2 active at a time since before they were called MMOs, and I can tell you that I still take time to play good release title games on my PC. Sure, you can find studies where complete WoW nerds play nothing BUT WoW, but I'd gather you could also find plenty of gamers who dabble in it and play games on their consoles as well. MMOs aren't the root of the evils killing PC gaming, it's ease of development and larger market shares that lure the developers to the consoles and away from the PC side. And, of course, the ever-present worry about piracy and DRM that haunts anyone considering PC gaming (the DRM security companies make sure to keep piracy on everyone's mind so they can keep their clients).

Honestly, if you actually looked at raw numbers in dollars spent on consoles and console games, vs PCs and PC games (including upgrades and sub fees for MMOs), you'd probably find that the PC isn't nearly as bleak as it's made out to be. And if you looked at numbers of hours spent gaming, I'd bet the PC places high up on the list. But the MMO is where the PC is shining right now, like it or not. It's keeping people glued to the PC, keeping a good active game-capable piece of hardware present, which PC gaming developers need to be in place before any sale of their product can ever happen.

 

[Relic]

chivenyc said:
http://www.xfire.com/profile/thund3rbolt/

Oh an Xfire user .

 

[chivenyc]

Vrmithrax said:

chivenyc said:
True, people wouldn't stop playing WoW if it became free. But the way I think about pay-to-play is that you bind yourself to a game to make it worth, "I just spent $15 on it, so I have to play WoW for a whole month, and nothing else" kind of thing.

Well, then how do you explain Dungeons & Dragons Online, which experienced a resurgence and gained popularity when it went free to play? Or the ongoing appeal of Guild Wars, which has been free to play from the beginning?

I play a few MMOs, have had 1 or 2 active at a time since before they were called MMOs, and I can tell you that I still take time to play good release title games on my PC. Sure, you can find studies where complete WoW nerds play nothing BUT WoW, but I'd gather you could also find plenty of gamers who dabble in it and play games on their consoles as well. MMOs aren't the root of the evils killing PC gaming, it's ease of development and larger market shares that lure the developers to the consoles and away from the PC side. And, of course, the ever-present worry about piracy and DRM that haunts anyone considering PC gaming (the DRM security companies make sure to keep piracy on everyone's mind so they can keep their clients).

Honestly, if you actually looked at raw numbers in dollars spent on consoles and console games, vs PCs and PC games (including upgrades and sub fees for MMOs), you'd probably find that the PC isn't nearly as bleak as it's made out to be. And if you looked at numbers of hours spent gaming, I'd bet the PC places high up on the list. But the MMO is where the PC is shining right now, like it or not. It's keeping people glued to the PC, keeping a good active game-capable piece of hardware present, which PC gaming developers need to be in place before any sale of their product can ever happen.

I can not say anything about D&D or Guild Wars because I never played it, and don't know a thing about their communities. I bet they are fun games, just like WoW. I also agree that MMO is best played on PC, but I think PC FPS has much larger foothold solely based on the number of hours played according to the xfire statistics.

I understand it is more appealing for the companies to release on console rather than PC; less piracy, single set of hardware makes developing a game much easier, efficient, and cost effective. Then all they have to do is make a crappy port over to PC, just like Infinity Wards did with Modern Warfare 2.

 

[Guest]

It's amazing how many gamers want to give opinions on what's happening without any research or proof.

PC game sales are down 40% in 3 years - and gamers really think it is being made up by digital sales? 40%?! That's millions of units!

But i'll tell you why that's not true - through research that I have done, that any gaming media could do, but cannot be bothered to.

Firstly, every month last year I checked out Steam's, D2D and Impulses top 10 charts and compare that with the NPD charts. Took 5 minutes a month.

Then, using Gamespot as a test site, I checked how many PC games they reviewed in 2008 then 2009. I then averaged the review scores given in 2008 and averaged the review scores given in 2009. Took 30 minutes.

This is what I found:

Generally, excluding 'exclusives', digital services had indie, retro and special offers in it's Top 10's. For example, last year, when Steam carried the X-Com games for the first time, they went to the top of the Top 10 chart, overtaking any NPD titles that were already in the chart. Overall, it's obvious digital sellers are not doing huge numbers by virtue of the titles in their monthly charts. So whereas Borderlands got to No.7, Killing Floor got to No.1. In 10 of the 12 months, there was only 2 or 3 titles that were also in the NPD chart. This research shows that digital retailers predominantly sell titles that do not sell at retail at all. These are indie titles, retro titles (5+ years old) and special offers for titles 1-2 years old.

With regards Gamespot: In 2008 it reviewed 102 PC games and the average review score was 76%. In 2009 they reviewed 78 PC games (an almost 30% decline) and the average review score was 68%! This shows fewer PC games released and a lower quality for those PC games that were. Two reasons for a decline that no one talks about.

One last point. NPD covers only full price $20+ games. It does not include reduced priced or budget label games. This mean it could well be that will fewer lower quality PC games, more gamers are waiting for games to be reduced to become 'value for money'

The reason Steam doesn't give out sales numbers is because people would then see how LOW they were and then the truth would be known of what a state PC gaming is in.

I have been a PC gamer for 20 years. I have never played console. In the 90's I spent 8 years working in the PC games market in both the UK and USA. I don;t say the above because I am happy about it. I say it so we can start having a conversation/debate about this PC gaming decline. As long as the media and gamers, with no proof/research at all, put their heads in the sand by saying this 40% decline over 3 years has been taken up by digital distribution, then this coming disaster is going to be all the worse and arrive all the quicker.

My research above may not be perfect, but at least I have tried to base my comments on the facts, and I have been willing to spend my time to research to come to my point of view. I have not just come to decisions based on what others have said and by wishful thinking.

 

[Guest]

I personally don't even buy PC games anymore because console buys are just safer. With PC gaming, I'll have to upgrade my hardware every year or every other year to play the latest games, but with a console I know that they tailor the game to fit my system and I don't have to worry about what I can or cannot run. To get me back into the PC gaming market some drastic steps would have to be taken. A start would be to see that every PC game have a playable demo available so I can see beforehand how well my PC can handle it. I would also like to see games offer a wider range of video setting because it seems these days that lower settings don't really seem to do much for performance. I know there are lots of people out there like me who simply can't afford to buy the high-end $1500 computers that are going to last more than a few years. Sales will likely continue to decline in these hard economic times because It doesn't matter how great your game looks if half your audience can't run it.