id Software: PC Gaming Is Not Dying.

Texas-based development studio id Software, creators of popular shooter franchises such as Doom and Quake, believe PC gaming is not on its deathbed.

Studio President Todd Hollenshead recently told IGN he believes that given the popularity of Blizzard's World of Warcraft, along with PC technology significantly outpacing the hardware found in home consoles, PC gaming will continue to be a force in the industry.

"Because of the great games you have coming out on the consoles, and for a period of time, the consoles were pretty competitive technically with the PC, it has receded in prominence," Hollenshead admitted during QuakeCon.

"It's probably getting back to the point right now where technically on the PCs you're going to be able to start doing more and more things that you can't do on the consoles."

"It's also hard to say PC gaming is dying when the biggest game franchise, World of Warcraft, is a PC game."

Hollenshead later said that even though PC games aren't as prominent at retail stores anymore doesn't necessarily mean the platform is going away anytime soon. He believes PC gaming's current struggles are only temporary.

"If it's just boxed games at retail, it's certainly in third place behind the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 right now, but that doesn't mean it's doomed to continue to recede or can't come back," he said.

"These things happen over time and every time consoles come out, people proclaim the death of PC and then it may struggle for awhile and have its issues, but it tends to be resilient."

Id Software Creative Director Tim Willits told IGN in a separate interview that PC gaming is shifting form:

"It's definitely changing," Willits said. "The biggest struggle that we have with PCs is, as everyone knows, is that piracy is out of control." Willits said PC gaming is starting to move towards online clients and cloud-based gaming.

"The technology is awesome and the hardware is always awesome, but you see more and more games that are skewed towards these dedicated, client architectures and cloud gaming.

"I can definitely see a shift in combating piracy, and working on games that are more social. Look at Facebook, there are more people playing that silly Farmville than play Call of Duty.

"PC gaming is not dead, but it is a bit different than it was in the past."

Source: ign

Console sheep in 5.....4.....3......2.....1

Meh it's something we already know for the most part.

PC has been dying for soooo many years now, it will be dying tomorrow, it will be dying in 20 years, but will it actually die? :Ptagyhag

This is what I think of everytime I hear PC gaming is dying.

Always dying, but never dies.

I think we should just stop saying PC is dying all together. Don't even talk about how it isn't dying. Its fine as it is, and it does not need anymore of this.

PC has been dying for soooo many years now, it will be dying tomorrow, it will be dying in 20 years, but will it actually die? :Ptagyhag

PC gaming is going just like it always has. Couple things caused all of this weird notion that PC gaming is dead.

1. We had the explosion of NPD showcasing that PC gaming profits were half of what it was then months later, state that online distribution contribulted to 48% of the PC sales market (I.E. 100% lol). Alot of console players look at NPD sales as a notion of a game or consoles success. NPD though cannot assess PC gaming in that same avenue with this new era of digital distribution.
2. In the US, there is a Stereotype that PC gaming is dead because people go to their "gamestops" (the biggest mainstream gaming store nowadays) and see Box games for PC in a small bin. This doesn't help things because they don't want to keep games in their stores. Many members will tell you though that that stereotype is far from off. For Example, I went to my local Walmart yesterday and took these pictures.

1. PC gaming has never been mainstream. You rarely get bombared with commercials on television for games. PC gamers work more on the old principle of finding out about games and buying them then being caught into getting games because friends bought them, commercialization pushing a game, or other moves console games take
2. PC gaming even in the day and age of multiplatforms is still pumping right along with great exclusives and the most diverse genre of games with offcourse allowing for the highest backlog of older games.

I think we should just stop saying PC is dying all together. Don't even talk about how it isn't dying. Its fine as it is, and it does not need anymore of this.

JangoWuzHere

PC has been dying for soooo many years now, it will be dying tomorrow, it will be dying in 20 years, but will it actually die? :Ptagyhag

It will die when your smiling onigiri will stop bouncing @_@

Why pc gaming never will die.

Also try do this on a console: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj2frkROX74

I dont even know why this statement is even being made. Media perception maybe?

Not that pc gaming is as big an issue, but this reminds me of when marylin manson and doom were responsable for kids being nuts. Or when vaccines were supposedly causing autism...

[QUOTE="tagyhag"]PC has been dying for soooo many years now, it will be dying tomorrow, it will be dying in 20 years, but will it actually die? :PN30F3N1X

It will die when your smiling onigiri will stop bouncing @_@

Leace it to console ignorance to say otherwise.

[QUOTE="N30F3N1X"]

[QUOTE="tagyhag"]PC has been dying for soooo many years now, it will be dying tomorrow, it will be dying in 20 years, but will it actually die? :Ptagyhag

It will die when your smiling onigiri will stop bouncing @_@

Nah, if you replace it, I'll digitally eat it and keep it warm, fuzzy and bouncing in my belly :twisted:

People have been saying its dying for as long as I can remember - maybe PC gaming has become a zombie?

For me the system died as serious game machine long time ago. The inability of most game developers to work within reasonable system requirements really put me off.

I remember walking school uphill uphill both ways and when PC Gamer ran issues with hundreds of pages, as opposed to the 80 or 90 pages they run now...

Console sheep in 5.....4.....3......2.....1

Rougehunter

The inability of most game developers to work within reasonable system requirements really put me off.d_parker

Consoles are the ones that die every generation. SilverChimera

[QUOTE="SilverChimera"]Consoles are the ones that die every generation. MushroomWig

I would love to have a gaming rig, but paying for a processor or a graphics card when I could just buy a console with the same amount of money is not what I really want.

[QUOTE="JangoWuzHere"]

I think we should just stop saying PC is dying all together. Don't even talk about how it isn't dying. Its fine as it is, and it does not need anymore of this.

Mystic-G

powerful gpus are not just made for gaming. workstation gpus would still be made . Technology does not make the game. pcs line up is fps land .

I would love to have a gaming rig, but paying for a processor or a graphics card when I could just buy a console with the same amount of money is not what I really want.

Hatiko

I would love to have a gaming rig, but paying for a processor or a graphics card when I could just buy a console with the same amount of money is not what I really want.

Hatiko

[QUOTE="Mystic-G"][QUOTE="JangoWuzHere"]

I think we should just stop saying PC is dying all together. Don't even talk about how it isn't dying. Its fine as it is, and it does not need anymore of this.

dontshackzmii

powerful gpus are not just made for gaming. workstation gpus would still be made . Technology does not make the game. pcs line up is fps land .

If PC gaming took a steep dive into nothingness, expect consoles to end up rolling in the same grass they're already in until it's nothing but a green mush.

I have the feeling you're trolling, but I'll stupidly cling to the blind hope that you're serious. FPSs inhabit all systems (minus the Wii for obvious reasons), though I prefer mine with a M&KB.

[QUOTE="dontshackzmii"]

[QUOTE="Mystic-G"] I'd be curious if it did die. I'd love to see how stagnate the console generations would turn into due to the lack of high performance technology being developed between cycles. That and the lack of unique games where the indie developers couldn't get a foothold in gaming because they couldn't get a publisher at first to break their way into console gaming. Sheppard212

powerful gpus are not just made for gaming. workstation gpus would still be made . Technology does not make the game. pcs line up is fps land .

If PC gaming took a steep dive into nothingness, expect consoles to end up rolling in the same grass they're already in until it's nothing but a green mush.

I have the feeling you're trolling, but I'll stupidly cling to the blind hope that you're serious. FPSs inhabit all systems (minus the Wii for obvious reasons), though I prefer mine with a M&KB.

i am trolling because people use gpus for other things but gaming? fps started on the pc and has infected console gaming like a virus . Its all devs seem to make these days .

I respect this guy's response a lot. Why? Due to the fact that he doesn't take a "bury your head in the sand" approach. He talks about PC gaming as it is, and the biggest factors working against it -- which everybody already knows about.

He brings up some great points. PC gaming is not dying, it's changing. For the better? For some people, i'm sure, myself included. However not everybody is gonna be happy with everything, so you just have to roll with the punches.

I respect this guy's response a lot. Why? Due to the fact that he doesn't take a "bury your head in the sand" approach. He talks about PC gaming as it is, and the biggest factors working against it -- which everybody already knows about.

He brings up some great points. PC gaming is not dying, it's changing. For the better? For some people, i'm sure, myself included. However not everybody is gonna be happy with everything, so you just have to roll with the punches.

lundy86_4

[QUOTE="lundy86_4"]

I respect this guy's response a lot. Why? Due to the fact that he doesn't take a "bury your head in the sand" approach. He talks about PC gaming as it is, and the biggest factors working against it -- which everybody already knows about.

He brings up some great points. PC gaming is not dying, it's changing. For the better? For some people, i'm sure, myself included. However not everybody is gonna be happy with everything, so you just have to roll with the punches.

TerrorRizzing

Changing in very different ways, but I agree. PC has taken a step-back from huge blockbuster releases, and in turn a much bigger indie scene has grown (due to access to outlets such as Steam for their products). Not everyone is gonna like the end product, that's obvious.

I also never said PC gaming is dying, so I don't understand the relevance of your last question. Neither source of gaming is dying, but they are definately changing.

I want them to release ONE game for the PC now. Only for the PC. See what happens. 70% pirated. Yes, it is dying.

If pc gaming is not dying then how come there's been a huge drought of on flowing exclusives? Give me a break. Consoles are the death of pc gaming just like how consoles were the death of arcades.IAMSERIAL

For exclusives this year:

The PC has had 11 AE-AAAE.

The consoles have had 18 AE-AAAAE.

All in all, the difference between 1 and 3 systems is definately not that huge.

On top of that, a lot of PC games will never be reviewed. For an idea of how many, look at this list. Not all released this year, naturally, but just look at how many would not have been reviewed.

Pc gaming is not dying but it taking over by casuals.alexside1

PC has been a haven for casual gamers for many years. The thing is, the PC seems to hold both the "hardcore" and "casual" gamers easily and caters to both exceptionally well.

I would love to have a gaming rig, but paying for a processor or a graphics card when I could just buy a console with the same amount of money is not what I really want.

Hatiko

50 USD for a cpu is not much.

And around 90 USD for a video card 3-4 times more powerful than a console is not much either.

I want them to release ONE game for the PC now. Only for the PC. See what happens. 70% pirated. Yes, it is dying.

jman1553

Stalker.. 4 million in sales, and basically provided so much money GSC was able to go multiplatform.

just funny, no matter how many people come out and say it, piracy seems to be the worst problem facing the PC.. well that and sales numbers.. MW2 has gone on to sell over 20,000,000++ copies, how many of those are PC sales? less that 200,000. I guess that shows the Devs somethings.. either they have to charge $600 per game to make the same amount or just make console versions.. I really do find it funny however, the amount of people that claim piracy isn't an issue.. Look at the numbers... the only PC games that sells insanely are made by ONE SINGLE COMPANY. using the "PC has WOW, so its hard to say its dead".. more like BLIZZARD HAS WOW, hard to say its dead". blizzard is one of the only companies keeping PC sales high. I have no hate for PC, it's where i began gaming/and still am, but this Hate consoles and PCers have for each other is PATHETIC...dRuGGeRnaUt

Do some reasearch MW2 has sold much more than 200,000 copies on the PC.

I bet you will just post a link that uses only retail copies instead of the digital distribution which is booming.

Piracy is also on consoles and is fairly rampant on the xbox 360.

Putting that aside you cannot count piracy numbers into profit losses.

You do not know if those who pirate have purchased the game or not.

Some people pirate a game to remove the need to use a cd or do away with annoying drm.

Also you do not know how many more people would purchase the actual game if they did not pirate.

And you have no clue into how many people might download something twice.

If pc gaming is not dying then how come there's been a huge drought of on flowing exclusives? Give me a break. Consoles are the death of pc gaming just like how consoles were the death of arcades.IAMSERIAL

What are you talking about?

The biggest exclusives for consoles are funded/published by Sony and MS because no third party can create a high-quality exclusive and not go bankrupt on the deal.

On the PC you see hundred million dollar exclusives like Starcraft 2 from Blizzard, and the upcoming SW:TOR from Bioware. You also see other high quality exclusives like the Total War series, the upcoming Civilization V, the Dawn of War series, STALKER, The Witcher, etc.

The third party support the PC gets dwarfs the support the consoles get.

So a company who hasnt developed a game in years besides quake live and Rage (which is also coming to consoles...)is saying PC gaming isnt dying....hmmm...

With the constant pirating it has put a big dent into pc gaming, i'm not saying pc gaming is all doom and gloom, hell i've already put 80 hours into SC2, pc gaming is pretty much in the middle.

So a company who hasnt developed a game in years besides quake live and Rage (which is also coming to consoles...)is saying PC gaming isnt dying....hmmm...

With the constant pirating it has put a big dent into pc gaming, i'm not saying pc gaming is all doom and gloom, hell i've already put 80 hours into SC2, pc gaming is pretty much in the middle.

Ballroompirate

Piracy has been around since the 1980s and suddenly it is a huge dent in gaming?

Steam says otherwise.

If pc gaming is not dying then how come there's been a huge drought of on flowing exclusives? Give me a break. Consoles are the death of pc gaming just like how consoles were the death of arcades.IAMSERIAL

Money. It makes more commercial sense to release a game on 3 systems with a possible buying audience of 100 million+ than one system with 30-40 (bar the aforementioned 1st party subsidised releases).

That PCs aren't getting exclusives doesn't mean it's dying, it just means Games Publishers are making the necessary decisions to get a profit on increasingly expensive (i.e. tens of millions needed) development of computer games.

I think people need to read this.

http://software.intel.com/en-us/blogs/2010/04/19/hear-that-knocking-sound-its-pc-gaming/

"Today, PC gaming generates 43% of the total gaming revenue. The next closest platform is the Wii, which generated 24% of the total gaming revenue in 2009. And the PC share is growing – by 2013, the forecast is that PC gaming will represent 56% of the total pie."

Always been a heavy PC gamer. Have had people saying it's "dying" since the early 90's. Still, it's kicking and selling millions of copies of games. It's not going anywhere...ever. Not to mention the fact that all these games are still made on a PC. Hence, PC's will always have these superb games coming out.

[QUOTE="IAMSERIAL"]If pc gaming is not dying then how come there's been a huge drought of on flowing exclusives? Give me a break. Consoles are the death of pc gaming just like how consoles were the death of arcades.LordRork

Money. It makes more commercial sense to release a game on 3 systems with a possible buying audience of 100 million+ than one system with 30-40 (bar the aforementioned 1st party subsidised releases).

That PCs aren't getting exclusives doesn't mean it's dying, it just means Games Publishers are making the necessary decisions to get a profit on increasingly expensive (i.e. tens of millions needed) development of computer games.

[QUOTE="Ballroompirate"]

So a company who hasnt developed a game in years besides quake live and Rage (which is also coming to consoles...)is saying PC gaming isnt dying....hmmm...

With the constant pirating it has put a big dent into pc gaming, i'm not saying pc gaming is all doom and gloom, hell i've already put 80 hours into SC2, pc gaming is pretty much in the middle.

RyviusRan

Piracy has been around since the 1980s and suddenly it is a huge dent in gaming?

Steam says otherwise.

Piracy has been around since like 1500

I think people need to read this.

http://software.intel.com/en-us/blogs/2010/04/19/hear-that-knocking-sound-its-pc-gaming/

"Today, PC gaming generates 43% of the total gaming revenue. The next closest platform is the Wii, which generated 24% of the total gaming revenue in 2009. And the PC share is growing – by 2013, the forecast is that PC gaming will represent 56% of the total pie."

RyviusRan