PC Game sales to overtake consoles by 2017

[ave]

I found this interesting.

Sales generated by PC games are poised to overtake those for video game consoles, a monumental shift that is many years in the making, according to data from industry researcher PwC. By the end of 2016, PC game sales are expected to reach $29 billion around the world, compared with $28 billion in sales for the console market.

The gap will continue to widen over the next few years, thanks to the growing popularity of PC-based gaming in other countries, like China and India.

So what's causing a change? In a single word: Steam.

Three out of every four times a game is sold for a PC, it's sold through an app and website called Steam. Part social network and part online store, the service is offered by game maker Valve. It's like Apple's App Store for the iPhone, only it launched nearly a decade earlier.

There's another thing going the PC's way: A trend called e-sports -- competitive gaming between highly trained professional gamers -- has become an international phenomenon grabbing the attention of tens of millions of people. The top competitive games are available only on a PC: Riot's League of Legends and Valve's Dota 2.

I must say I didn't think PC game sales were anywhere close to consoles.

 

[GregRedd]

The swing (back?!) to PC has been coming for a while now. This info needs to be heard by all developers. Time to stop your shitty ports and start treating the PC gaming market with the respect it deserves.

Are you listening Warner Brothers?!

 

[Hagan]

The swing (back?!) to PC has been coming for a while now. This info needs to be heard by all developers. Time to stop your shitty ports and start treating the PC gaming market with the respect it deserves.

Are you listening Warner Brothers?!

They're in their graves, but I'm sure the company will have learned their lesson.

 

[ave]

The swing (back?!) to PC has been coming for a while now. This info needs to be heard by all developers. Time to stop your shitty ports and start treating the PC gaming market with the respect it deserves.

Are you listening Warner Brothers?!

That's exactly what I was thinking. I'm so tired of them removing local coop from pc version or releasing a half finished product. I'm just glad that the fans dug their heels in. The only way this will change is when developers start feeling a financial backlash.

Anyway I think once VR takes off we will see an even bigger PC uptake. I don't think consoles are quite powerful enough to do this properly. I also found the following quote from the article quite interesting:

Oculus is also partnering with Microsoft, using its Xbox One game controller as a way to control games. The two companies will also bring Xbox One games to the Rift headset by streaming them to a PC. The catch: Console owners won't get to experience those games in true VR. Rather, players will have to settle for a virtual home theater, with the Xbox game playing on the wall.