The State of PC Gaming

[Julio Franco]

As ever, PC remains at the forefront of gaming. Whether it's the platform's advantage in hardware, its role as a breeding ground for interesting indies, or attempts to solve the mind-boggling logistical problem of offering nearly Every Game Ever, PC leads so many dances that you'd need to be a human centipede to keep up.

Read the full article here.

https://www.techspot.com/article/1544-the-state-of-pc-gaming/

 

[xtoybox]

I don't see the mining part here.

 

[cliffordcooley]

I don't see the mining part here.

As in mining bitcoins? That has nothing to do with gaming.

 

[BSim500]

"PC gaming’s 2018 will probably resemble its 2017, just as 2017 resembled 2016"

^ Then God help us... I agree there were similarities for 2016 vs 2017, but with only a few exceptions "The state of (AAA) PC gaming" has been disproportionally bad this year, and is definitely on a longer trend downslope given the current cr*p being peddled. ie, 2016-2017 seems to have significantly more "issues" with major devs being incapable of making and selling finished major games without trying to rent them out piecemeal, when compared to say 2012-2013, 2000-2001 or even 1993-1994. I don't even look at EA games anymore, Ubisoft have grown stale as hell, and after yesterday's article, Square Enix seems firmly intent on not wanting my money in future.

Single year comparisons matter far less than long term trends, directions and "visions" and the future AAA "vision statements" we've seen (basically variations of "let's make full priced PC games more like the Google Play Store" and "cheap generic MP shooters with the 'fake-grind + pay2degrind MT combo' are far more lucrative to make than quality SP games") is hardly inspiring for the future. As mentioned yesterday, if it weren't for the Indie's like Cuphead, Divinity Original Sin or Thimbleweed Park plus the ability to replay older titles / find mods for older games, I'd have completely given up on PC gaming altogether in its current "state".

 

[Nobina]

So the whole lootbox fiasco barely gets mentioned. Weird, because that's what I and many others think about whenever someone mentions the state of PC gaming.

 

[Forebode]

So the whole lootbox fiasco barely gets mentioned. Weird, because that's what I and many others think about whenever someone mentions the state of PC gaming.

But that's not just PC gaming. How many of those loot box games aren't on console as well?

 

[bolski]

So the whole lootbox fiasco barely gets mentioned. Weird, because that's what I and many others think about whenever someone mentions the state of PC gaming.

But that's not just PC gaming. How many of those loot box games aren't on console as well?

They are rampant across all platforms, especially mobile. Game of War, Mobile Strike, Clash of Clans, TWD: March To War, Game of Kings, etc are all perfect examples of "pay to stay" games. You pay or you lose everything because a whale comes and clears you out. And to get to the highest levels, you MUST purchase multiple $99 packs if you wish to stay in-step with the whales. So sad that it has now infiltrated the PC gaming arena. I steer clear of those games.

In fact, I have "dusted off" my old games (mainly from GOG) and have started playing them again (the Ultimas, Neverwinter Nights, Gabriel Knight, etc) which have SO much more depth than anything these days and not a whiff of MTXs anywhere. Ahh, the good ol days of gaming when games were fun, had depth, and the developers actually CARED about what they created that would draw you into their world. Now, these days it's about "fast bucks" at the expense of depth of play, etc.

 

[Nobina]

But that's not just PC gaming. How many of those loot box games aren't on console as well?

Doesn't matter, it's still on PC and it's pretty important.

 

[jwdR1]

I don't see the mining part here.

As in mining bitcoins? That has nothing to do with gaming.

Other than I can't afford to upgrade my video card

 

[Vulcanproject]

I love PC gaming but PUBG has kind of been embarrassing for it this year. It's a bad advert for PC gaming. Eating up an unfinished game that runs like crap and looks like crap. All I can hope is that it is tidied up a lot for 2018 since it is supposed to be version 1.0 now, and it becomes a much better game to show your mates why PC gaming is so good.

Fat chance but hey.

 

[TomSEA]

Kind of surprised GTA V isn't mentioned as it hit the "biggest selling video game of all time" milestone which is pretty significant. Obviously Rockstar is doing something right and no doubt other developers will try to emulate that.

Cryptomining has had a negative influence on PC gaming for no other reason than jacking up the price of high-end video cards and keeping those prices high.

Loot boxes - especially after the fiasco of SW: Battlefront II - was arguably the biggest topic of the year. Look at how much EA lost in stock money after that release. And we already have developers announcing "no loot boxes" for future releases so their games aren't poisoned before release.

VR is a big "meh." Yeah, there have been a few big-name releases, but even those are getting average reviews. I think in its current state, it's doomed to disappear just like the 3D TV craze shoved down our throats a couple of years ago by manufacturers. VR hardware and software quality just isn't there yet for average consumer consumption. Give it another 10-15 years.

All in all, I personally thought it was a pretty weak year for gaming. The hardware side of it was more exciting with AMD's new releases and the GTX 1080ti's arrival and 4k gaming taking a foothold.

Software wise, Divinity: Original Sin II seems to be the only quality game people are talking about in 2017. We're seeing more and more old games released under "enhanced edition" titles. Players are jonesing for the "good old days" when gaming was pretty straight-forward without things like loot boxes, achievements, sub-par online play (especially cheaters), quality story lines, etc. Hoping for a better 2018 when it comes to game releases.

 

[BadThad]

The state of PC gaming - No matter what - cheaters continue to ruin PC gaming. I've been playing online games for 20 years and you can absolutely count on cheaters to show-up every time. The recent release of COD WW2, it isn't uncommon to have 2-3 aimbotters in EVERY round.

The industry needs to get off it's a$$ and stop trying to 100% rely on software anti-cheat systems. THEY DON'T WORK! Determined scumbags have downloadable cheats available on the day of release for most every game. And when the anti-cheat software finally discovers it, scumbags issue a patch to their cheat software to circumvent it.

My solution - PEOPLE! We must have human admins with the power to banish cheaters manually. It is the only way to kill cheating on PC's.

 

[ghostf1re]

So the whole lootbox fiasco barely gets mentioned. Weird, because that's what I and many others think about whenever someone mentions the state of PC gaming.

The article is talking about PC specific things. Loot boxes are all over the place on all platforms. It really doesn't have a place in this article in and of itself. If this article was titled, "The State of Gaming", then you would have a good argument here.

 

[poohbear]

Totalwar Warhammer 2 takes the cake for me. That game is lile crack!!!! So good and immersive on so many levels and many differently unique races! I dont think ive spent this much time on one game in forever!

 

[That Dude There]

[/QUOTE]

The article is talking about PC specific things. Loot boxes are all over the place on all platforms. It really doesn't have a place in this article in and of itself. If this article was titled, "The State of Gaming", then you would have a good argument here.[/QUOTE]

Games are on evey platform, so how dare they write an article on pc games. That is about equal to your logic.

 

[That Dude There]

VR is a big "meh." Yeah, there have been a few big-name releases, but even those are getting average reviews. I think in its current state, it's doomed to disappear just like the 3D TV craze shoved down our throats a couple of years ago by manufacturers. VR hardware and software quality just isn't there yet for average consumer consumption. Give it another 10-15 years..

Why does everyone say or imply VR is dead if it is not in every home, or at least mainstream? Can't it survive as a relatively small niche? Those who like it will pay for a good game, and there are enough fans to keep it not only alive, but it will grow as the tech improves.

This is all assumining that the insane satan worshippers don't destroy life as we know it in the very near future.

 

[cliffordcooley]

Games are on every platform, so how dare they write an article on pc games. That is about equal to your logic.

I could be wrong but I assume the article was referencing the differences that set PC gaming apart from the other platforms. So why would they mention something that is identical across all platform?

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

Relatively speaking VR just isn't a significant share of the market, but it certainly is moving forward in its niche but not as fast as we would like. The main problems holding it back, I feel are (in order): price, game availability, and hardware (display resolution, primarily).

I did jump into VR just a few weeks ago when the Oculus was $350. A killer of a deal. So prices are coming down and will continue to do so. Once people start to realize you can have the experience of VR for the same price or even cheaper than a nice gaming monitor people will start to consider it more.

VR is awesome indeed but game availability and the low resolution display is still a problem for me. I do think higher res VR headsets will come out sooner than more, AAA quality games will though; which won't help it any. Which is why I don't really understand why big companies like R*, EA, Ubisoft, just to name a few aren't trying to get into this market with some quality games. If they did, I think VR would start to push forward a lot faster. They have the funds to do it, they just like their cash cows and wan't to keep them rollin'.

Once the price is good, there are good games, and the hardware quality is better; then we will have other issues like FPS game locomotion challenges to deal with. Teleport just isn't involving enough. Some attempts to solve this issue such as the Virtuix Omni may help, but there is a lot of work to be done here and there may never really be a perfect solution.

Most other game types though, like racing, flight, and even RPG and such really do work well with VR and I hope they will help push the VR tech forward.

So it certainly has a ways to go, but I don't think it is going to go away.

 

[Potato Judge]

The only thing I hate about the state of PC gaming is not having enough console exclusive games ported. XD

 

[cliffordcooley]

The only thing I hate about the state of PC gaming is not having enough console exclusive games ported. XD

Fine by me if they are going to be that shortsighted and not share with yet another large audience.

 

[That Dude There]

I could be wrong but I assume the article was referencing the differences that set PC gaming apart from the other platforms. So why would they mention something that is identical across all platform?

You assumed wrong. The article is about "the State of PC Games". They are trying to cram everything relevant to PC games in a small article. Many things will be common between gaming systems. In the end, games are games.

 

[cliffordcooley]

You assumed wrong.

Forgive me if I don't take your word for it.

They are trying to cram everything relevant to PC games in a small article.

Yet you were advocating for someone else asking for the inclusion of loot-boxes in said small article.

 

[hkhan1989]

How come no one has mentioned Windows Store?
I'm not the biggest fan of it, but I like how Windows 10 is more gaming orientated.

The latest update has an entire Xbox option under settings - testing Xbox Live status etc.

No mention of Cross Play?
Gears of War 4 had an update which enabled full on cross play with consoles.
Also note Street Fighter V on Steam has cross play with PS4 consoles, and we all know about Rocket League.

EDIT
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-09-07-killer-instinct-getting-cross-platform-play
Just confirmed that KI was released on Steam, and support cross play with Win10 and Xbox one.
I find that a very relevant point to be made on the future of PC gaming.
Cross play helps both platforms (PC and Consoles) especially with Multiplayer games.

I bough Gears of War Ultimate Edition on PC, this did not support cross play.
I have yet to play one online game on PC, the lobbies are totally dead.
Yet on Xbox One, there are players.

 

[Tgard]

I have yet to play one online game on PC, the lobbies are totally dead.
Yet on Xbox One, there are players.

Don't say that too loudly. I have been lambasted for saying similar. I love my PC and the resolution etc. but I have found it far easier and faster on the xbox to find and especially to get into a lobby for some games. With the shooters I have found that is exceptionally true. The last COD I played I ended up purchasing twice, once on PC and then later when the price was down on the xbox, after all the frustration with a PC lobby. It just seems to work better and especially quicker on the consoles in my opinion and experience. Again I say that is my opinion after several experiences in which I have found it to be the case (at least 3 different games). Your experiences may vary. It's a shame too.

Another thing about the state of PC gaming in my household: My daughter is currently finding the heartaches of PC gaming, after I just built her a nice gaming computer. She is currently mad at Steam because the games she plays on consoles just work and she doesn't understand why she has to tweak so much just to get some games playable on Steam (especially the Batman games). She was used to just turning it on and joining a lobby or turning it on and just starting to play. Doesn't always work that way with Steam in the beginning of a new game. Works well after the patches etc., but in the beginning some games can be such a pain with Steam. I am immune to it, and don't see it as a problem because I have done it for so long, but someone new to computer gaming will have to quickly find their patience and learn it's not the same as a console.

 

[ShagnWagn]

The state of PC gaming - No matter what - cheaters continue to ruin PC gaming. I've been playing online games for 20 years and you can absolutely count on cheaters to show-up every time. The recent release of COD WW2, it isn't uncommon to have 2-3 aimbotters in EVERY round.

The industry needs to get off it's a$$ and stop trying to 100% rely on software anti-cheat systems. THEY DON'T WORK! Determined scumbags have downloadable cheats available on the day of release for most every game. And when the anti-cheat software finally discovers it, scumbags issue a patch to their cheat software to circumvent it.

My solution - PEOPLE! We must have human admins with the power to banish cheaters manually. It is the only way to kill cheating on PC's.

One of the biggest reasons I love hosting my own server. I can manage people who are cheating. It also allows us to continue networking once support has gone away. The industry is trying to remove that option from all of us.