Current status of PC games by the number of exclusive masterpiece games

Current status of PC games by the number of exclusive masterpiece games

As a gaming platform, there is another unfounded myth about the viability of a PC. In a Slashgear post describing Valve's Steam Machine as "a struggle to save PC games," JC Torres said:

 “PCs that once reigned as kings of computer games suffered a constant downturn, especially due to the fierce offensive of major consoles. The rise of new mobile games is also a bad thing for PCs. The number of high-quality AAA games available for PCs is now less than PlayStation, Xbox and even above… "

Geureolkka really? First of all, PC gaming revenue outperformed the console a year ago, and hardware revenue more than doubled that of the console. Ubisoft's recent PC game sales are on par with PS4 games (much more than Xbox One).

However, there are other parts that I would like to examine in more depth. I agree with Torres' point that the rise of Steam machines and Linux games is good for PC games overall. However, in recent months, through articles and social media channels, opinions are spreading that PCs are too complex to develop games and do not have a masterpiece-only game base like consoles, which is a misconception. Let's look at the reasons one by one.

The skeleton of the PC and the console are the same.

Thefollowing is an excerpt from the Slashier article.

“PCs, especially gaming PCs, are so varied in specifications and parts. Gamers looking for a high-performance gaming PC can customize the CPU, video card, RAM, storage, and even display resolution. It is logically impossible to ensure that the game works perfectly on countless hardware combinations. The PlayStation 4, on the other hand, has only one standard and only a few variants. So does Xbox One. From a game developer's point of view, developing for a console is much less stressful, and as a result, it doesn't have to be roughly ported or built for a PC.”

There's no reason that the PC configuration is much more diverse than the console. However, at the hardware level, the latest console is basically a medium/low-end PC with only a special operating system designed around the Sony and Microsoft ecosystem.

I'm not trying to spark a debate among blind fans as to which hardware is better for gaming. It's just a clear fact. In the past, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 used a much more customized hardware design than now, but all modern consoles use AMD APUs and Radeon graphics, and traditional x86 processor architecture.

AMD's David Nalasco told PCworld at the time of the PS4 release, “In the past, the console used a unique architecture that was completely different from the PC. Now, if you develop a game or game engine and port it to your PC, you don't have to re-optimize it from scratch. 

This is an important issue. It should also be noted that the cost of developing AAA games has risen sharply. It is for this reason that major game publishers are keen on putting together various downloadable content and in-game purchase options.

With the combination of these two important factors, it is advantageous for AAA-class game developers to launch games on as many platforms as possible, and in fact it does. In the past, PC gamers were often ignored, but most of the recently released third-party games are also released for PCs. Here are some examples:

• Grand Theft Auto V

• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

• Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

• Fallout 4 (Fallout 4)

• Star Wars: Battlefront

• Call of Duty: Black Ops III

• Assassin's Creed Syndicate

• Just Cause 3

• Rainbow Six: Siege

• Mad Max Mad Max)

Almost all of the blockbuster games released at E3 this year are also released on PC. Even games released with promotional phrases such as “Console Exclusive” or “Exclusive Release” at E3, like Grim Fandango Remastered, came out for PC. Xbox One's Rise of the Tomb Raider will also be available for PCs next year with the PS4. Even Rock Band 4 will be released as an Oculus Rift.

The status of first-party monopoly games

Of course, Bloodborne is a PS4 monopoly, but the number of true console monopoly games in this generation is incomparably small. Most of the console exclusive games are first party games or series games that have long been rooted in a specific console. Halo 5, Uncharted 4, Last of Us, God of War, Gears of War 4, Forza Motorsport 6 (Forza Motorsport 6), Crackdown 3, and so on.

Even so, these games are breaking down the monopoly wall. Microsoft plans to release the latest Gears of War Ultimate Edition, Killer Instinct, and upcoming Fable Legends on PC to push DirectX 12, which gives developers deep console-level hardware access to the PC. to be.

Of course, first-party Nintendo games are still an exception. The only factor driving the above purchase is the monopoly of first party games. Most AAA games are not released on the Nintendo console.

While console monopoly games have shrunk from the past, PC monopoly games continue to grow. Here are just some of the most recent highlights. Some of these are games with the largest number of gamers in the world.

• StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void

• Civilization: Beyond Earth

• Sims 4

• League of Legends

• Dota 2 ( Dota 2)

• Heroes of the Storm

• XCOM 2 (delayed in February)

• Dirt Rally

• Endless Legend

• Hearthstone

• World of Warcraft of WarCraft and Expansion Pack

• Pillars of Eternity

• Europa Universalis IV

• Crusader Kings

• Total War Series

There are many more. Games that came out for PCs a few years ago and will be ported to consoles in 2016 (Kerbal Space Program, Elite: Dangerous), Aceto Corsa, Invisible Inc. ), etc., Undertale (metacritical average score of 94), The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth (90 points), Downwell (84 points), Prison Architect (Prison Architect) , 83 points) There are countless indie PC games that are gaining popularity. It's true that there are exclusive games on

 However, most are action or sports games, and the number is much less than in the past. Rather, there are many more exclusive games for PC. These are games with a different character from the console, relatively slow progress, and depth. Each person has a different taste. Whether you prefer a PC or a console, there are various reasons.

However, the variety of selectable games is not included in the reason. Nowadays, almost all third-party AAA-class games are released on PCs except for very few titles. This is true for any company game, such as EA, Ubisoft, or Warner Brothers. There are exclusive games for the first party console, but there are as many PC exclusive games. The number of PC exclusive games is certainly no longer less than the console.

The dark ages of PC gaming have passed. Except for the poorly ported parts, cross-platform games boast more brilliant visuals on the PC and also offer free multiplayer functionality. So wouldn't it be better to stop talking about nonsense now?