'PC games have surpassed console games globally'

By compl3x
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Grand Master

compl3x

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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

Grand Master

trag3dy

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"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.

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Grand Master

neoadorable

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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! 

Grand Master

Raa

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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.

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notchinese

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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.

Grand Master

neoadorable

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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.

Grand Master

McKay

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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.

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greenwizard88

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"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...

Grand Master

neoadorable

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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!

Proficient

Hahaiah

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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.

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Grand Master

compl3x

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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.

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