Why do mainstream titles primarly focus on consoles?

I may not have a killer rig, but it should do a decent job in most games:

CPU: I5-4690K

GPU: r9 270X OC

RAM: 16 GB

After this premise, I'd like to rant a bit about quite a few ports released on Pc. Let's take Batman: Arkham Knight for example:

my question is why would Rocksteady rely on some external developer to do the porting, which resulted in a horrible job and so much complaint and funds request across the Pc gaming community? Didn't they just shoot themselves in the foot that way?

I think in the end it did them more harm than good, I'd rather devs not release a game on Pc at all than carelessly porting their product with the risk of backlash.

The other question is why Pc gaming apparently being the biggest gaming platform and having a major year-to-year growth is still somewhat an after-thought?

I know that it's hard to optimize a game on Pc due to the enormous amount of different configs and I know we have a great Pc gaming community ready to fix issues that devs themselves can't or don't want to, but at this point I have to ask myself why I'm investing money on Pc gaming at all if I'm randomly treated as a third-class citizen?

They say "you get what you pay for", well my GPU alone back when I bought it cost more than a console and I don't think I'm getting what I pay for. And it kinda irks me, especially when you see the same X game on console actually providing a better overall experience.

Because consoles are gaming machines,

Let's be realistic, most people aren't going to bother to build their own gaming rig as much as they don't build their own smartphone lol.

Try to be in those devs' shoes and what would you do in their place? Consoles are marketed and showcased everywhere as gaming platforms. People see them and buy a console, or multipl ones. All they have to do is hook up the console on TV, sit back with your joypad and start the game.

Sure, games and accessories are more expensive on console than on Pc, but it's just fair, cause those companies are not there for charity.

Consoles gaming is for everbody, Pc gaming is not. So it's just fair that developers focus on consoles first.

I'm tired of hearing people state otherwise. That's the truth and you just have to deal with it.

I'm not criticizing console gaming at all, but you make it sound like Pc gaming should be indeed an after-thought. Then why do Nvidia and AMD produce gfx cards for? Just for the heck of it?

Probably because people that play on consoles actually buy games instead of pirating them.

Because they produce those and because someone will buy them. That's got nothing to do with whether a dev should or should not focus or "care" about Pc gaming. We're talking business here, mainstream games require quite a technologcial and financial effort and that effort needs to be capitalized. So, for you to demand that devs should focus on also polishing their games on Pc just means that you're not thinking outside of the box.

Follow the money.

Must be because this type of games performs better financially on consoles, it's hard to imagine any other explanation imo. Then ofc you can ask why that is, which I don't really know. Can speculate it has to do with install base with powerful enough hardware, less piracy, more sold DLC etc. I wonder if developers are thinking long term though. Wouldn't be much better to promote PC so they can sell directly to consumers without a middle man?

If this Denuvo is as good as it seems, we may see such a push going forward?

This dude said console gaming is for everybody lol

It's less work and less cost to developo games for consoles because they are fixed hardware and console gamers buy the lions share of games.

Piracy is also less rife on consoles Because you have to Modify the hardware to run Pirate games.

Piracy has been there since forever and not just on Pc. Consoles have been affected, too, and not necessarily does it require modifying the hardware.

People who pirate the games are most likely not going to buy games anyway, so that cannot be the reason at all.

If Pc gaming only had a few configs, you'd see more and better optimized games on the Pc platform.

you can't play pirated games on the Xbox without removing resistors and JTAG modifications.

'If Pc gaming only had a few configs, you'd see more and better optimized games on the Pc platform.'

hopefully API's like mantle and DX12 will go someway to alleviating this issue

About your first point: These games ARE developed for PC. It's just not the platform developers seem to prioritize. So I don't really see how the amount of work argument is valid as the work is being done regardless.

PC=/=Dev kits

Could you please explain a bit more, because I don't get your point? Assassin's Creed, Arkham, GTA etc they are all fully developed for PC. All the work of a PC release has been done. It's just not the prioritized platform.

Amount of work making a PC version for a game prioritizing consoles = Amount of work making a PC version for a game prioritizing PC

It's just easier to develop for set hardware consoles now that they are x86 platforms as well, then just slap half ass pc version out of the door in worst cases. PC market is growing all the time and no piracy is not killing it(or has one of the denuvo games suddenly sold a lot? no). Sure the competition is tougher on PC when the sheer number of games available is massive compared to consoles. Most of the AAA games are selling more and more on PC so it would be quite stupid for the devs to not take care of their PC versions properly, just look at WB and how their next game is going to sell on pc..

As stated for years and years, this industry pushes it's creative ambitions as far as the consoles will allow. Being a pc gamer has its perks without question, but at the end of the day, designers are making games for the center of the pack, as they've always done.

As some people have mentioned lately the PC has more competition and higher standards. So that would be good arguments to avoid a PC release. But there is the most money to be made, the lowest marketing costs and highest ratio of digital to physical sales. A fantastic developer would absolutely prioritize the PC version and bank on it. I don't think that most publishers have the faith they need in their developers to prioritize the PC version.

Lowest common denominator.

You use Batman Arkham as an example, odd that. Why not use the other 98% of games which run better on PC than they do on consoles? Is it because it torpedoes your "argument"?

Why not use bethesda's games or the witchers which ran like dog poo at launch and still are no where close to PC, as far as I'm aware Skyrim still has issues on the PS3?

No denying that in principle all games run better on PC. But it seems like developers/producers like R*, Ubisoft, WB, EA etc are not really pushing the PC version, nor markting it strongly. On the contrary they seem to focus on consoles, for example by releasing first, using console logos in the marketing and so on (the latter I suppose has to do with Sony/MS paying for it).

Since for example EA and Ubisoft can sell directly to consumers on PC it's a bit strange they are not trying harder to promote that version.

Simple answer to a simple question:

Yeah it's nice to have a beastly rig, but also consider that creating a game for the PC is harder due to the different specs of each and every PC where as a console is one set of spec and the only thing that changes is the hard drive space.

Gaming console serves just about one purpose and one purpose only. To play games and to entertain.

Meanwhile in the PC world the PC is used for all of the following: Gaming, work, multimedia development, internet surfing, and other various activities.

@Sushiglutton: EA actually does push the pc version even one of their developer wrote a blog straight out saying the pc version was the better choice. Ubisoft seem to have putting more work on ac on pc this is noted from the noticeable difference between the pc and console version visual. I know you seen the comparison thread. Sony and MS have marketing deals with publisher your not going see them market the pc version.

As the fellow above correctly mentioned, the console userbase buy games.

PC is like a tick stealing blood, a parasite.

A lot of troll responses in this thread. The only real reason why a lot of multiplats are targeted for Consoles primarily is because it makes it easier to port games on PC.

Making a highest end game for the PC and then porting it on Consoles require recoding of entire game because Consoles are not as powerful as PCs. Then there is UI. PC games like ArmA 3 are challenge to port on Consoles because UI and gameplay is built to take full advantage of Keyboard Mouse, so instead devs make a streamlined game for Controllers that can easily work on Keyboard Mouse as well.

So, devs are forced to make 2 separate versions of the game (one for PC and one for Consoles) when they target PC first (which costs more money and development time). That is the only reason why it happens. However, PC gets more high profile exclusives per year, than all platforms get high profile multiplats per year.

So at the end of the day, Computer gaming is completely different beast than Console gaming. PC games play different than Console games (Total War vs Uncharted). As any random old PC gamer about his favorit games of all time, and most of them will name games like System Shock, Half Life, Thief and other PC Exclusives or timed PC Exclusives and next to no one will mention Console centric multiplats like MGS, Megaman or other games. So PC gaming is about PC games and multiplats make it even better.

In many countries (esp Southeast Asia) overseas, shops that specialize in modifying consoles are very common and out in the open. It's like walking into a Jiffy Lube or Midas except they dealt with bootleg stuff. For the locals, it's perfectly normal.

My wife's from the Philippines. She have cousins who worked in the Middle East. Every time they came home, they'd bring along boxes of bootleg 360 games. I'm not even sure how they got through airport customs.

Anyone pretending it has to do with anything other than money is on drugs, or delusion, or an idiot, or all of the above.

@aia89: becuase pc will never be mainly for gaming. your little cousins will always ask to a write essay on your pc. You can freakin develop movies on pc. Ppl want a enclosed well set , multi million feature free , Game centric machine. A console will always be the more of a chilled decision to a mass amount of consumers. Pc is a mansion. Consoles are the regular big house that alot of people rather

Funny because a TV will never mainly be used for gaming, my PS4 is mainly used for netflix and both the XB1 and PS4 heavily push apps. Dear god look at the XB1 kinect launch, they barely talked about games. Need a pizza? USE YOUR XBOX lol

My desktop, however, is primarily used for gaming away from the hustle and bustle of family and noise, a true gaming dedicated platform, while my laptop is a mix of both work, mulitasking and gaming.

its the other way around. making a console game and upgrading it to take advantage of a high end PC is harder than making a high end PC gaming and getting it to run on a console. its easier to turn off, tweak a feature that it is to add a feature to an already finished game built for a lower target. we have seen multiple examples where games that were designed for a console are problematic. the latest being the PC port of symphonia...the 30FPS lock. there is probably boat loads of code that assumes that the game will only ever hit 30FPS and if it goes faster the games logic breaks down. fine for consoles of course...not a runner on the PC though.

making a wii game look like an excellent 360 game is much much harder than making a 360 game look like a good wii game. the latter requires a boat load of tweaking and reducing existing asset resolution and so on. the former requires that all assets be rebuilt from scratch (they would have been designed for the wii in the first place) and the underlying tech has to go in for a complete rewrite.

not that achieving either is easy mind.

with the tools available today the best approach to development for multiplat titles is to make a master copy (usually the PC version) then tweak it as necessary to get it running on other devices. the key is to know, roughly, what kind of hardware will be used (the consoles are usually the target) and, of course, your budget. developers that take this approach tend to release great looking games on all platforms.

arkham knight is a mystery and we may never know what happened with that one. the PS4 was clearly the lead platform and everything in the game seems to have been targeted towards that hardware only (with some concessions for the X1). even rocksteady couldnt fix it after 6 months of patching. but its the failure that proves the rule: target high and cut..not low and build.

which brings me more to the topic: do they really these days? back in the earlier days of last gen sure. but, with some exceptions like arkham knight (WTF?) and symphonia (somewhat understandable as its a port of a port of a port that was designed to only ever run at 30FPS. the source code is probably just the equivelent of duct tape and blue tack holding it all together :P), developers are using the PC as the main development platform, with an eye on what consoles can do. of course they dont target dual socket I7/ 128GB of ram and 6X titan Xs in SLI type PCs (unless its star citizen :P).

capcoms MT framework is designed on PCs for multiplat development...their internal target hardware is a PC. EA have taken the approach of aim high and cut for years and have one of the best set of tools of any publisher (say what you want about the quality of the games, but they do look stunning). its actually companies that target consoles only (bethesda for example) that are struggeling the most this gen and sonys first party are also having serious trouble getting product out (all that PS3 experience...not too useful now).

its just mostly the promotion side of thing where the consoles come front and center and thats just business. MS want to associate certain games with xbox, sony with PS and so on.

Why do mainstream titles primarly focus on consoles?

Because they sell well and generate income, lots of it.

Advertisement. Advertising is the lifeblood of business.

Money.

Casual population is staggering , if i was a dev i'd definitely release my game on all platforms , why? MONEY !

Put yourself in the devs and publishers shoes. Take PS4 as an i.e. it has a massive install base and people who bought it every single last one of them bought it to play games, anything else is a bonus. If you develop for PS4 with such a wide audience and it doesn't sell you can pat yourself on the back for making a shit game.

PC: even more massive install base but wild variation of technical capability so you don't know who can or can't play your game so you have no idea what your target audience is unless you release some shitty indie game with graphics from 1980 then everyone can play it. Then you have the piracy problem that apparently does not exist. The hundreds of thousands of PC gamers downloading any game they can get their hands on for free actually aren't a thing, that's some kind of weird alternate reality.

Then you have the PC gamers who buy games and spend a lot of money on their PC's. This is where the money is you might think. Well actually no, because there just isn't enough of them, the vast majority of PC gamers are not playing games on high end PC's. Look at how well games sell on PC when they do NOT have particularly demanding specs.

There are too many variables. In an ideal world the big AAA titles (let's use Witcher 3 as an example) would be developed on PC so you would get this amazing version if you spend the money on really good PC components and then they sort of of tart it DOWN for consoles but like CDPR have said numerous times after the outrage when the game did not match their original trailer video they can not afford to make two completely different versions of their game and that's what it would take.

Big publishers can afford to do that but wouldn't dream of it because it wouldn't see a huge increase in sales on PC they would just have a showcase version of their game which isn't the kind of thing that impresses shareholders.

Like other people have said, the answer to your question is 'because.... money'.

Because consoles is where the money is at.

Consoles have gotten the coveted 10/10 exclusive score and the exclusive GOTY award as per GS. PC just cant seem to do it.

@Heil68: what does that have to do with the topic