Will PC be the lead platform for many games this generation?

"Ubisoft Reflections rounded off day two of last week's Develop conference with an intriguing talk, tantalisingly entitled "Tips and Tricks for Porting to Next-Gen". For Digital Foundry, it was a must-see presentation primarily because the vast majority - and perhaps even all - of the multi-platform games we'll be playing on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 by the end of the year have been derived from PC code, necessitating some level of porting across to the new hardware.

It's an intriguing state of affairs, especially if you're a PC gamer with a reasonably powerful computer. Once upon a time your hardware was a porting target, sometimes with only minimal effort put into the conversion. Now, PC is lead platform."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-how-the-crew-was-ported-to-playstation-4

It seems that so far next gen game development is using the PC as lead platform and porting down to consoles. With the PS4 and XB1 now having essentially PC architecture, both in terms of the x86 ISA and the standard PC parts that are being used, it seems entirely plausible that this will be an effective approach for developers going forward.

Yes.

Yes.

AMD655

I hope so.  Hopefully both Sony and MS natively support their controllers on PC systems too, but then at that point you'd be getting frighteningly close to blurring product differentiation.

you'll probably see more of it, which isn't a bad thing.

Yes, I certainly hope so.

The only exception will be games exclusive to either the PS4 or the xbone. Everything else will be PC as main target, then optimize (use lower quality assets/fine tune level of detail/fine tune lighting/fine tune level design,e tc, etc) for the consoles.

This should remain true at least until next gen consoles rack up enough of an install base (2 to 3 years) at which point some devs will switch it up and target consoles. I think it'll be a minority though, since regardless of install bases, targeting PC and then optimizing for consoles just makes good sense all around.

Would I like that? Yeah. PC gamers mainly go for the specs which lead platform work would mostly deliver while console gamers will still get a high quality but distantly second version that's still comparable due to beefed up specs this generation.Blabadon

the last gen consoles had beefed up specs, this time is normal.

• January 2004 - 22 months before xbox release there wasn't a GPU setup that could even come close to the xbox performance.
• November 2005 - xbox released. (still thee is no pc gpu can beat the xbox gpu)

• January 2012 - released a single GPU (HD7970GHz) that performs 2 times better than ps4 GPU.
• November 2013 - ps4 released. (22 months late and half the performance).

Every game.

Funny how the TC did not post these lines:

E3 2013 starkly demonstrated that the availability of final production console hardware for developers is exceptionally limited, with many games destined for console hardware running on "target" PC systems. It makes sense that PC takes centre-stage during the development effort, simply because games take upwards of two years to develop and actual console hardware wasn't available until very recently.

I hope so, then everyone would get the best game possible and we all win, well everyone but sheep win, because like we all know sheep don't have games.

Funny how the TC did not post these lines:

E3 2013 starkly demonstrated that the availability of final production console hardware for developers is exceptionally limited, with many games destined for console hardware running on "target" PC systems. It makes sense that PC takes centre-stage during the development effort, simply because games take upwards of two years to develop and actual console hardware wasn't available until very recently.

call_of_duty_10

Yes, a PC specc'd to the hardware of the consoles is harder to find, as they are custom APU's, makes sense.

For multiplats? yep.

It makes the most sense to work on that and scale everything from it

I hope so.  Hopefully both Sony and MS natively support their controllers on PC systems too, but then at that point you'd be getting frighteningly close to blurring product differentiation.

Basinboy

[QUOTE="Basinboy"]

I hope so.  Hopefully both Sony and MS natively support their controllers on PC systems too, but then at that point you'd be getting frighteningly close to blurring product differentiation.

clyde46

PCSX2 with DS4, BLISS

I hope so we should see much better ports next gen.

[QUOTE="Basinboy"]

I hope so.  Hopefully both Sony and MS natively support their controllers on PC systems too, but then at that point you'd be getting frighteningly close to blurring product differentiation.

clyde46

It's only natural. PS4/X1 are using x86 so yes it's going to be the lead platform. Consolites should be happy about this, it means that their ports won't be shoddy, and PC gamers will be getting the best that they can reasonably do.tagyhag

Technically, shouldn't they be listed as x64 for posterity reasons? I'm sure consolites would rather their systems be known as 64-bit rather than 32-bit.

I know x86 can also be 64-bit, but most of the time, it's referred to as 32-bit.

[QUOTE="clyde46"][QUOTE="Basinboy"]

I hope so.  Hopefully both Sony and MS natively support their controllers on PC systems too, but then at that point you'd be getting frighteningly close to blurring product differentiation.

metal_zombie

Whatever console has the biggest install base will likely end up being the lead platform for most AAA multiplats down the line.

Funny how the TC did not post these lines:

E3 2013 starkly demonstrated that the availability of final production console hardware for developers is exceptionally limited, with many games destined for console hardware running on "target" PC systems. It makes sense that PC takes centre-stage during the development effort, simply because games take upwards of two years to develop and actual console hardware wasn't available until very recently.

call_of_duty_10

I also didn't post the rest of the article. What's your point? We all know that dev kits were not working with final hardware; it's that way every generation before launch.

That's why I posed it as a question and used terms such as "so far". Still, we've never seen a new console generation where basically all the multiplatform games are being developed on the PC (with a PC release in mind) and ported down to consoles. We've also never seen a generation where consoles had x86 architecture and used fairly standard PC parts. When you take all these things into consideration it makes sense that leading on PC and porting down to consoles will only become more common.

[QUOTE="Basinboy"]

I hope so.  Hopefully both Sony and MS natively support their controllers on PC systems too, but then at that point you'd be getting frighteningly close to blurring product differentiation.

clyde46

Was this confirmed? I remember hearing something about it, but it's a vague memory and I'm not sure.

That's the only natural way for developers I guess.

And I'm especially thrilled about those games for which developer confirms they were developed on PC, but in the end they don't even appear on PC (I'm looking at you Kojima, you trolling bastard).

Whatever console has the biggest install base will likely end up being the lead platform for most AAA multiplats down the line.

whiskeystrike

The fact the PC gaming user base doesn't reset to '0' each generation means that the PC will have the far larger user base and it will take the consoles a long time to equal it. 

There are so many reasons it makes sense to lead on the PC.

[QUOTE="call_of_duty_10"]

Funny how the TC did not post these lines:

E3 2013 starkly demonstrated that the availability of final production console hardware for developers is exceptionally limited, with many games destined for console hardware running on "target" PC systems. It makes sense that PC takes centre-stage during the development effort, simply because games take upwards of two years to develop and actual console hardware wasn't available until very recently.

kalipekona

I also didn't post the rest of the article. What's your point? We all know that dev kits were not working with final hardware; it's that way every generation before launch.

That's why I posed it as a question and used terms such as "so far". Still, we've never seen a new console generation where basically all the multiplatform games are being developed on the PC (with a PC release in mind) and ported down to consoles. We've also never seen a generation where consoles had x86 architecture and used fairly standard PC parts. When you take all these things into consideration it makes sense that leading on PC and porting down to consoles will only become more common.

 

[QUOTE="Blabadon"]Would I like that? Yeah. PC gamers mainly go for the specs which lead platform work would mostly deliver while console gamers will still get a high quality but distantly second version that's still comparable due to beefed up specs this generation.MK-Professor

the last gen consoles had beefed up specs, this time is normal.

• January 2004 - 22 months before xbox release there wasn't a GPU setup that could even come close to the xbox performance.
• November 2005 - xbox released. (still thee is no pc gpu can beat the xbox gpu)

• January 2012 - released a single GPU (HD7970GHz) that performs 2 times better than ps4 GPU.
• November 2013 - ps4 released. (22 months late and half the performance).

[QUOTE="kalipekona"]

[QUOTE="call_of_duty_10"]

Funny how the TC did not post these lines:

E3 2013 starkly demonstrated that the availability of final production console hardware for developers is exceptionally limited, with many games destined for console hardware running on "target" PC systems. It makes sense that PC takes centre-stage during the development effort, simply because games take upwards of two years to develop and actual console hardware wasn't available until very recently.

call_of_duty_10

I also didn't post the rest of the article. What's your point? We all know that dev kits were not working with final hardware; it's that way every generation before launch.

That's why I posed it as a question and used terms such as "so far". Still, we've never seen a new console generation where basically all the multiplatform games are being developed on the PC (with a PC release in mind) and ported down to consoles. We've also never seen a generation where consoles had x86 architecture and used fairly standard PC parts. When you take all these things into consideration it makes sense that leading on PC and porting down to consoles will only become more common.

that's basically every thread in SW

[QUOTE="MK-Professor"]

 

[QUOTE="Blabadon"]Would I like that? Yeah. PC gamers mainly go for the specs which lead platform work would mostly deliver while console gamers will still get a high quality but distantly second version that's still comparable due to beefed up specs this generation.DJ_Headshot

the last gen consoles had beefed up specs, this time is normal.

• January 2004 - 22 months before xbox release there wasn't a GPU setup that could even come close to the xbox performance.
• November 2005 - xbox released. (still thee is no pc gpu can beat the xbox gpu)

• January 2012 - released a single GPU (HD7970GHz) that performs 2 times better than ps4 GPU.
• November 2013 - ps4 released. (22 months late and half the performance).

I'll be surprised if it wasn't.O_o

[QUOTE="Basinboy"]

I hope so.  Hopefully both Sony and MS natively support their controllers on PC systems too, but then at that point you'd be getting frighteningly close to blurring product differentiation.

clyde46

I wonder how many devs will actually support it, cuz when it comes to PC and controllers devs can be pretty lazy about it, Xbox controller is supported very well on PC because it's apart of DirectX, but even then devs can be pretty lazy about it.

Ironic how I see all the PC games making there way to the PS4 the devs are praising them and seem to getting the most out of the controller but they're still too lazy to put in any kind of proper controller support for PC.

[QUOTE="kalipekona"]

[QUOTE="call_of_duty_10"]

Funny how the TC did not post these lines:

E3 2013 starkly demonstrated that the availability of final production console hardware for developers is exceptionally limited, with many games destined for console hardware running on "target" PC systems. It makes sense that PC takes centre-stage during the development effort, simply because games take upwards of two years to develop and actual console hardware wasn't available until very recently.

call_of_duty_10

I also didn't post the rest of the article. What's your point? We all know that dev kits were not working with final hardware; it's that way every generation before launch.

That's why I posed it as a question and used terms such as "so far". Still, we've never seen a new console generation where basically all the multiplatform games are being developed on the PC (with a PC release in mind) and ported down to consoles. We've also never seen a generation where consoles had x86 architecture and used fairly standard PC parts. When you take all these things into consideration it makes sense that leading on PC and porting down to consoles will only become more common.

Of course you would.

Nevertheless, the quoted text does lend context to the question I posed in the title and evidence to the ideas I expressed in the post itself. The sentences that followed in the linked article in no way countered these ideas.

Unfinished dev kits or not, the  fact that the vast majority of next generation multiplatform games are being developed on and for the PC and then being ported down to consoles lends a significant amount of weight to the idea that this state of affairs may be more common this generation. As I said before, games have always been developed on dev kits that don't represent final console hardware, but we have never seen so many games actually lead on the PC and be ported to consoles.

 

[QUOTE="Blabadon"]Would I like that? Yeah. PC gamers mainly go for the specs which lead platform work would mostly deliver while console gamers will still get a high quality but distantly second version that's still comparable due to beefed up specs this generation.MK-Professor

the last gen consoles had beefed up specs, this time is normal.

• January 2004 - 22 months before xbox release there wasn't a GPU setup that could even come close to the xbox performance.
• November 2005 - xbox released. (still thee is no pc gpu can beat the xbox gpu)

• January 2012 - released a single GPU (HD7970GHz) that performs 2 times better than ps4 GPU.
• November 2013 - ps4 released. (22 months late and half the performance).

I don't know about lead platform, but I'm sure games will scale better across PC hardware since they'll be using similar hardware.

I'm sure there will still be plenty of devs who build their games around consoles first with their limitations in mind.

I don't know about lead platform, but I'm sure games will scale better across PC hardware since they'll be using similar hardware.

 

I'm sure there will still be plenty of devs who build their games around consoles first with their limitations in mind.

Ly_the_Fairy

Yeah, I think this is a reasonable expectation. I do think it's possible, however, that more games will lead on the PC this generation.

Yes.

AMD655

Early in the gen this will likely be the case as new consoles tend to get lazy ports due to a low install base. But in the long run it will always be more cost effective to develop primarily on a console, as consoles require optimization for specific hardware and by developing on a console you can kill 2 birds with one stone. If you make the PC your lead platform, you still have to optimize each console port individually, however by making a console the lead platform you can virtually eliminate the cost of optimizing for that specific console version.

Since PCs dont require hardware specific optimization, it doesnt seem cost effective to make it the lead platform.

[QUOTE="kalipekona"]

[QUOTE="call_of_duty_10"]

Funny how the TC did not post these lines:

E3 2013 starkly demonstrated that the availability of final production console hardware for developers is exceptionally limited, with many games destined for console hardware running on "target" PC systems. It makes sense that PC takes centre-stage during the development effort, simply because games take upwards of two years to develop and actual console hardware wasn't available until very recently.

call_of_duty_10

I also didn't post the rest of the article. What's your point? We all know that dev kits were not working with final hardware; it's that way every generation before launch.

That's why I posed it as a question and used terms such as "so far". Still, we've never seen a new console generation where basically all the multiplatform games are being developed on the PC (with a PC release in mind) and ported down to consoles. We've also never seen a generation where consoles had x86 architecture and used fairly standard PC parts. When you take all these things into consideration it makes sense that leading on PC and porting down to consoles will only become more common.

I guess you missed the end of the article that points out that this generation is different than past generations in terms of lead platforms and porting.

"The standard porting process at the beginning of the Xbox 360/PS3 era seemed to be a case of targeting a lead platform and then removing features for subsequent ports, or alternatively taking a hit to performance. While multi-platform next-gen titles see the consoles take on target rather than lead platform status, there's clearly the realisation that the new machines are capable of more, and that much is to be gained by exploring platform-specific features."

In any case, it sounds like everyone stands to benefit from the next gen console architecture and the new approach to multiplat development.

I guess you missed the end of the article that points out that this generation is different than past generations in terms of lead platforms and porting.

"The standard porting process at the beginning of the Xbox 360/PS3 era seemed to be a case of targeting a lead platform and then removing features for subsequent ports, or alternatively taking a hit to performance. While multi-platform next-gen titles see the consoles take on target rather than lead platform status, there's clearly the realisation that the new machines are capable of more, and that much is to be gained by exploring platform-specific features."

In any case, it sounds like everyone stands to benefit from the next gen console architecture and the new approach to multiplat development.

kalipekona

[QUOTE="kalipekona"]I guess you missed the end of the article that points out that this generation is different than past generations in terms of lead platforms and porting.

"The standard porting process at the beginning of the Xbox 360/PS3 era seemed to be a case of targeting a lead platform and then removing features for subsequent ports, or alternatively taking a hit to performance. While multi-platform next-gen titles see the consoles take on target rather than lead platform status, there's clearly the realisation that the new machines are capable of more, and that much is to be gained by exploring platform-specific features."

In any case, it sounds like everyone stands to benefit from the next gen console architecture and the new approach to multiplat development.

metal_zombie

:cool: if that happens early no reason for me to get one

off course the pc will be the leading system when it comes to game, the xbox one and ps4 are weak , pc nowadays already kick their butts.

crysis is from 2007, if you max it out (and i mean edit the settings to get it higher than very high) then you need a 7870 to max it out on 720p

And you get this

:cool: if that happens early no reason for me to get oneTheFadeForever

 

[QUOTE="Blabadon"]Would I like that? Yeah. PC gamers mainly go for the specs which lead platform work would mostly deliver while console gamers will still get a high quality but distantly second version that's still comparable due to beefed up specs this generation.MK-Professor

the last gen consoles had beefed up specs, this time is normal.

• January 2004 - 22 months before xbox release there wasn't a GPU setup that could even come close to the xbox performance.
• November 2005 - xbox released. (still thee is no pc gpu can beat the xbox gpu)

• January 2012 - released a single GPU (HD7970GHz) that performs 2 times better than ps4 GPU.
• November 2013 - ps4 released. (22 months late and half the performance).

That's a good point. It's a great representation of just how much things have changed. No longer do consoles have an advantage over pc at the beginning of each gen. 

Cavemen says yes. Common sense and reality says never.

Cavemen says yes. Common sense and reality says never.

Mr_BillGates

you lack common sense, troll

Sadly if it's a first person shooter it will be designed with the xbox360 control in mind, making the game itself not very good.

That and Ubisoft.