Slow Death of the PC continues.

[DrunkenThumbmaster]

Not death but the hardcore cutting edge PC game is going the way of the Dodo bird so says Cliffy B.

Epic's Cliff Bleszinski has said that the studio is focusing on producing console titles for the time being, claiming PC gaming is currently in "disarray".
"I think people would rather make a game that sells 4.5 million copies than a million and Gears is at 4.5 million right now on the 360," he told MTV Multiplayer.
"I think the PC is just in disarray... What's driving the PC right now is Sims-type games and WOW and a lot of stuff that's in a web-based interface. You just click on it and play it. That's the direction PC is evolving into."
"For me, the PC is kind of the secondary part of what we're doing," confirmed Bleszinski. "It's important for us, but right now making AAA games on consoles is where we're at."
Bleszinski declined to name said games, refusing to be drawn on a much-rumoured sequel to the multi-million selling global hit Gears of War. However, he did say Epic is sticking to making games for the demographic it's familiar with.
"I don't want to win over [someone's] little college sister, because that's not the kind of game I do," he said. "I'm not going to make f***ing Cooking Mama."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=33095

Well I guess that leaves Valve with Steamworks (which looks sweet) and Blizzard to hold down the fort eh.

[ilnadmy]

Yeah. And CD Projekt. And Crytek. And Massive Entertainment. And GCS Game World. And Creative Assembly. And Relic Entertainment. And BioWare (Dragon Age). And Maxis (SPORE!).

Idiot.

Plus, Epic isn't dropping PC games completely, they're just not going to use the PC as the lead platform. To be honest though, the only Epic game I ever really like was Gears of War. If they decide to just make more games like that, then that's fine by me.

[DrunkenThumbmaster]

Did you read Cliffy B statement. He's right about what's driving the PC market. The Withcher despite how good it is isn't driving the PC market. The PC is going casual it's starting to Wii-out.

Infinity Ward at once was PC exlusive now COD4 is biggest on the consoles. The same with Valve games and they are doing more for the PC market than anyone next to MS. And maybe more.

You can't deny the focus on the High end major releases are going to be focused on the consoles.

[ilnadmy]

I'm not denying that more and more developers are moving to consoles, but the PC still has its fair share of exclusives. Crysis and The Witcher are some of the best games released last year IMO, and they're PC exclusive.

But hey, as long as I'm getting games like COD4 and Gears and Mass Effect on the PC, I really don't care if they're also released on consoles. I will admit though that if the 360 weren't so similar to the PC architecture this might not be the case, so in a way the 360 is helping PC gamers get their shooters.

[Dancer O_o]

Not death but the hardcore cutting edge PC game is going the way of the Dodo bird so says Cliffy B.

Well I guess that leaves Valve with Steamworks (which looks sweet) and Blizzard to hold down the fort eh.

If console price trends continue, eventually it will be cheaper to game on a PC than a console. The next consoles to come out may be 700 bones or more. And apparently a good hard search will yield you a current technology PC that can play cutting edge games for about 6 large, minus monitor, K&B.

[DrunkenThumbmaster]

It's more than price. It's ease of use variety, comfort. It's what people are used too. Most people find PC gaming a hassle so they choose consoles.

[T.Tashi]

The same thing is happening on consoles, do a degree, with the Wii. Point and click eh?

Consoles have their hardcore "core" that devs can still cater to. The actual question might be what's happening to the hardcore PC gamers? I guess the good is Epic is saying we're not selling out, we're gonna make games for the hardcore demographic. The bad probably is, we're probably not gonna get much variety.

[Mochan]

Valve and Blizzard? DTM you've been away from PC gaming for so long you don't even know who makes the good games anymore.



Infinity Ward at once was PC exlusive now COD4 is biggest on the consoles. The same with Valve games and they are doing more for the PC market than anyone next to MS. And maybe more.

COD4 on the PC is as big as it the previous Call of Duties were. The console market is just bigger -- and it ALWAYS has been. AAA Console games that sell in the multi-millions are fairly common, on the PC not that common -- and even in days past the "casual" games Cliffy B is talking about have historically tend to do better in sales compared to the hardcore games -- I'm talking Civilization, I'm talking Myst, I'm talking the Sims, these games aren't just recent trends you know. Only a few developers like Blizzard ever really managed to gain that great success with hardcore games in Diablo and Warcraft. And yet despite not selling "multimillion copies" like many AAA console games, PC gaming is still alive and healthy today.

PC still has its great exclusives, but that isn't even really important, what is important is that the PC still gets tons of great games -- whether they are also available on consoles is beside the point.

So what if these multiplats sell more on consoles? Just because COD4 sold more on the 360 doesn't make COD4 on my PC play any less better. Defections of PC devs to consoles doesn't concern me in the least, not if they port the games to the PC anyway. It's great actually. These devs make more money on the consoles, get better funding to make bigger games, and I get to enjoy the spoils of war on my PC.

So hate all you want on PC gaming, in the end I am still laughing.



It's ease of use variety, comfort.

People can do what they want and be comfortable doing whatever they want, I find the PC to offer lots of variety and comfort, thank you.

[ThaMaskedGamer]

Hmmm 5 million sales compared to 1 million!

5 million x $60 or 1 million x $40. Cheaper development costs(on the 360) versus more costs. Closed architecture and XBLA versus open architecture. This is a no-brainer, if you aren't making games on 360 you simply have too much money or don't like making money.