Recommended Posts

The PC games market has now surpassed the console gaming sector in terms of revenues, an analyst has claimed.

DFC Intelligence owner David Cole told PCR: "On a global basis PC games have surpassed console games but the new console systems means consoles should show an increase. 

"Among core gamers there is a heavy overlap with most console gamers also playing on a PC. The big difference is that consoles are now the luxury item and PCs are the necessity. Just a few years ago the reverse was true.  This means PCs have the broader audience."

DFC previously predicted that PC gaming would eclipse console gaming by 2015, and earlier this year it said that the PC gaming market would exceed $25 billion in 2014.

The news comes after DFC published its latest quarterly paid-for report on PC gaming revenues and usage. 

In terms of the most popular PC games, DFC says that MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena)titles and free-to-play games are continuing to perform strongly.

"The MOBA games League of Legends and Dota 2 dominate everything else by an order of magnitude in terms of more usage than other products," added Cole. "In the first part of 2014 we saw some signs that may change with the introduction of new titles and some increased play of games outside the MOBA category.

"But MOBA is dominant. Beyond that it is a nice mix of MMO, strategy and first person shooter.

"We can say that our top 20 list for 2013 had no titles released that year and in Q1 2014 we saw three new titles crack the list: DayZ, Rust and Hearthstone.

"PC player hours have also been remarkably consistent. We had expected hours to fall in 2013 because there were not any major new releases. However, hours were actually flat with 2012 which bodes very well for the market going forward as more triple-A titles are released."

Cole said that Europe has been a big driver of PC trends in recent years especially around free-to-play games, and that the big trend emerging from the US is likely to be more triple-A titles released for console and PC.

He also anticipates an increasing crossover between different platforms. 

"There is a blurring of platforms where it starts to get hard to define what is a PC and what is a mobile device," Cole explained.

"Hearthstone was a great example of this as it released for both PC and iPad. Not all games fit that model but as we mentioned core gamers now tend to play on multiple devices."

 

http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/read/pc-games-have-surpassed-console-games-globally/033849

"Among core gamers there is a heavy overlap with most console gamers also playing on a PC. The big difference is that consoles are now the luxury item and PCs are the necessity. Just a few years ago the reverse was true.  This means PCs have the broader audience."

 

Consoles have always been a luxury, when was that any different? And for the most part so have pcs.

  • Like 3

No offense Complex, and this isn't really directed at you, but this is about as suprising as saying hitting your head on a wall hurts. There's at least a billion consumer "PCs" on the planet, if you tally up anything remotely considered gaming on them, clearly they will outnumber the 200-400 million active consoles out there. I never understood the insecurity PC users feel regarding consoles, especially since most gamers i know use both! 

I'm still not sure where it was proven that console (gaming) sales were exceeding PC sales. (Including digital purchases).

 

Whoever started the whole "PC gaming is dying" crap needs a reality check. Won't happen.

  • Like 3

I'm still not sure where it was proven that console (gaming) sales were exceeding PC sales. (Including digital purchases).

 

Whoever started the whole "PC gaming is dying" crap needs a reality check. Won't happen.

 

If you look at sales of AAA titles consoles sell far more copies. If you include games like WoW, LoL, etc. its a different picture.

Doesn't really make them PC gamers though, does it ....

 

I was agreeing with you...point being that PC gaming can easily be defined to encompass Farmville and stuff like Yahoo Games, which then makes it no contest compared to consoles in terms of player base.

I was agreeing with you...point being that PC gaming can easily be defined to encompass Farmville and stuff like Yahoo Games, which then makes it no contest compared to consoles in terms of player base.

Which is why Apple could truthfully claim years ago that the iPod touch was the most popular "gaming device" on the planet.

  • Like 1

"Among core gamers there is a heavy overlap with most console gamers also playing on a PC. The big difference is that consoles are now the luxury item and PCs are the necessity. Just a few years ago the reverse was true.  This means PCs have the broader audience."

 

Consoles have always been a luxury, when was that any different? And for the most part so have pcs.

10 years ago, a good gaming computer cost a lot of money, and had to be upgraded regularly to keep pace with new releases - well over $1000 over 7 years. Now, Intel graphics are "good enough" that you can game on a laptop - not well, but good enough - and a console is a $500 investment that you don't need unless you want to play a console exclusive like Knack or Halo.

 

Since game graphics has been held back by the 360 and PS3 GPU's, the ability for intel GPU's to run games is more apparent than ever. In a year when games catch up to the power in a One or PS4, it'll be different. but for now, the PC looks like the better platform.

 

Plus it has games like DotA, which is somehow considered a spectator/MLG sport, adding to the appeal...

Pre-Steam? Pre/Early days of MMOs?

 

No, it was never NOT the case. Personal and home computers, i.e. general use computing devices sold to consumers and even businesses, have always outnumbered gaming consoles by a huge factor of maybe 10:1 (figure out of my rear end, could be more, could be less). Steam is the salvation of enthusiast PC gaming, but it certainly did not invent it.

Why would they? They have the XBox division for that, and they promote their toy.

 

Did...did you just refer to X1 as a TOY?! Oh Baron, it is kanli time!

 
 

PC gamers get "nervous" about numbers because they fear that games will move away from their beloved PCs altogether...and we some evidence of that already with some big titles never making it to PC.  My last console was a PS3, which is now hacked and getting some use finally, I found everything about it inferior but my GF loves the damned thing and doesn't notice the graphics difference between that and my GTX 780 SLI rig...I know crazy right? 

 

Developers, especially early on, know they won't have worry about piracy or even cheating nearly as much with consoles and would probably be just fine with only developing for them but the nice thing now is that with the new architecture, we'll see even more for PC than last gen...I for one am looking forward to that.

  • Like 1

This article is discussing revenue, not whether every PC in the world is capable of playing games or not. Gaming revenue was considerably lower pre-steam/MMO and before free-to-pay. Steam brought convenience and impulse buying while free2play has monetizes gaming with add-ons, cosmetic upgrades, etc.

 

Somebody playing solitaire at work is not raising revenue for anyone.

 

The worst thing about this is that we might now see an avalanche of MOBA games because every company tried to cash-in.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • My father still uses a programme written in dbase3. Still manages to work with a little help from dosbox. 
    • Microsoft hides these secret Windows 11 performance boost settings available on every PC by Sayan Sen Windows enthusiasts often look for ways to extract as much performance out of their systems as possible, and it's often the case that they try and do so while trying to minimize the heat and power consumption. This is especially relevant in the case of mobile Windows PCs since laptops and notebooks tend to get hot and management of that heat and power is harder in such a form factor. As such users often turn to techniques like under-volting which can be used to squeeze out the maximum capabilities of a chip while also maintaining lowered power levels. There are official apps from AMD and Intel with the likes of Ryzen Master and XTU (Extreme Tuning Utility). While these are quite handy, most enthusiasts probably prefer to dig into the BIOS and play around with settings there like Curve Optimizer on Ryzen, which lets users set various frequency-voltage scaling values. These are essentially called P-States. If you are not familiar with them, Processor Power Management is done through Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) P-states and C-states. While P-states or performance pwoer states handle CPU voltage-frequency scaling, C-states deal with CPU sleep states so that some of the CPU functions, which are not necessary at that moment, can be disabled. The P-states and C-states work together to make the processor run more efficiently. It helps the OS and apps determine which cores can be parked and which should be boosted. Of course not every user is an enthusiast or knows the technicalities and integrities of how things like overclocking or undervolting work. Thankfully for them Windows itself offers something pretty cool, though it is hidden by default on all systems. By default, Windows only has two P-States, "Minimum Processor State" and "Maximum Processor State." However, this can be changed with a Registry trick to expand the options under a secret "Processor performance boost mode" dropdown. This essentially enables the HWP or hardware P-States available on a device, and these are not controlled just by the OS itself as the underlying hardware gets involved too. In total there are five Processor Performance Boost Mode profiles that control how Windows requests and allows CPU turbo/boost behavior under the different power policies. They are: Disabled: In this mode, processor boosting is effectively turned off. The CPU will avoid entering turbo or boost frequencies and instead operate closer to its base frequency ceiling. This can significantly reduce power consumption and heat output, but at the cost of reduced burst performance and responsiveness in short workloads. Enabled: This is the standard behavior where boost functionality is allowed under normal conditions. The processor can opportunistically increase frequency when workload demands it, balancing performance gains with power and thermal constraints as managed by the system. Aggressive: Aggressive mode favors performance more heavily, allowing the CPU to enter higher boost states more readily and sustain them longer. This should in theory improve responsiveness under bursty or heavy workloads but increases power draw and thermal output compared to the default enabled behavior. Efficient Enabled: This mode still allows boosting, but with a stronger bias toward energy efficiency. The system attempts to use boost more selectively, avoiding unnecessary frequency spikes when the performance gain is marginal. Efficient Aggressive: This is a hybrid approach where boost is still performance-responsive, but the system continuously weighs efficiency more heavily than in Aggressive mode. It aims to deliver noticeable performance improvements while reducing wasted power in less demanding scenarios. Here's how to enable the Processor performance boost mode: Open Registry Editor: Press Win+R, type regedit, and click OK. Go to: HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\54533251-82be-4824-96c1-47b60b740d00\be337238-0d82-4146-a960-4f3749d470c7 (where HKLM stands for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE_) Modify the value of Attributes from 1 to 2 (you can find modify option by right-clicking) After that, exit Registry, you should now be able to see the new "Processor performance boost mode" dropdown menu: As you can see there are now five new P-States or CPPC states or power profile available that help define the boost mode processor setting on your PC. Wrapping it up here's a quick run-down of the settings as defined by Microsoft itself. Setting Description Disabled The corresponding P-state-based behaviour is disabled. Collaborative Processor Performance Control (CPPC) behaviour is disabled. Enabled The corresponding P-state-based behaviour is enabled. CPPC behaviour is Efficient Enabled. Aggressive The corresponding P-state-based behaviour is enabled. CPPC behaviour is Aggressive. Efficient Enabled The corresponding P-state-based behaviour is Efficient. CPPC behaviour is Efficient Enabled. Efficient Aggressive The corresponding P-state-based behaviour is Efficient. CPPC behaviour is Aggressive. Aggressive At Guaranteed Windows calculates the desired extra performance above the guaranteed performance level, and asks the processor to deliver that specific performance level. Efficient Aggressive At Guaranteed Windows always asks the processor to deliver the highest possible performance above the guaranteed performance level. In the next part we shall be comparing these settings to explore how much of a benefit or regression they can provide in terms of performance and power efficiency. If you decide to change the values on your system and are experiencing problems like crashes or an overheating PC, make sure to revert the steps back to the original state.
    • I think he means you haven't reviewed previous UFC games. Of course it doesn't matter... Every time you just report on something that involves the President even if just simply what happened you guys usually get accused of being anti-Trump. We live in fun times.
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      Leroy Jethro Gibbs earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Conversation Starter
      flexorcist earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • One Month Later
      AndreaB earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      agatameier earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      agatameier earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      518
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      198
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      147
    4. 4
      ATLien_0
      93
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      77
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!