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PC gaming not dead, says Maxis

Eddie Makuch
By Eddie Makuch, News Editor

EA Maxis lead producer says recent success of Diablo III launch and the Sims series indicate that PC sector is healthy.

The PC gaming space is alive and well, EA Maxis lead producer Kip Katsarelis told GamesIndustry International in a new interview.

PC gaming is doing just fine, unlike this city, Katsarelis says.

PC gaming is doing just fine, unlike this city, Katsarelis says.

"We're still seeing the PC market is not dead; it's very much alive," Katsarelis said.

Katsarelis claimed that Activision Blizzard's strong launch of Diablo III in May and the continued prosperity of the Sims franchise are examples of the vitality of the PC gaming crowd.

"So there's a market there, we've got an audience there that wants games on that platform, and we are still a PC house and will continue to be so," he said.

EA Maxis is currently at work on 2013's city-building game SimCity, the newest entry in the long-running series. The game is being built on EA's new Glassbox game engine, which allows the studio to introduce curved roads to the franchise, among other features. The game will also be fully 3D, a first for the series.

For more on SimCity, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

Eddie Makuch
By Eddie Makuch, News Editor

Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.

497 comments
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beblob
beblob

in my opinion pc gaming will always have a market for sequals to games that were huge like the diablo series, any of the sims games, counter strike, warcraft but it stops there. since the release of x-box and playstation 2 consoles are dominating the way in which people game. have of the games that were never thought of being anywhere but the pc eg. battlefield series. There will always be the old time gamers including myself (even though i have many consoles) but with each year and moving generation consoles will thrive further. (guess thats why bill gates created x-box in the first place, maybe he knew. who really knows.)

SKaREO
SKaREO

PC gaming died just after 1999. There hasn't been a single game that can beat Counter-Strike in the world yet. It's been 13 years of absolute garbage casual games. There's little to no challenge in our games anymore. Seems like all those Pokemon scrubs whiny little b!tches they are, complain until they get EZ mode in all their games. It's a damn shame. All these amateur developers fresh out of community college trying to make money instead of pushing the upper limits of creativity and logic. Who cares about a quality product anymore? Only the old school gamers are the ones who give a sh!t what happens to this industry. The world is just fucking depressing, the longer you have to live in it.

 

faizan_faizan
faizan_faizan

 @SKaREO Far Cry, Half life 2, Crysis there are so many great classics that helped PC Gaming, And believe me, Whenever the consoles are near to be replace by the newer ones, PC always conquers, Lets just wait and see what 2013 has to offer ;)

mohamedmounem
mohamedmounem

i really see that consoles will be dead ... everybody had a laptop in his house or maybe two but not everyone had a console = pc games lives 4ever coz pc always in develop and console stick in that same hardware for 6 or 7 years and thats a long time in PC language 

Carlos_D_F
Carlos_D_F

PC gaming not dead. Quick, kill it! Kill it with DRM!

SoloMayor
SoloMayor

Big game companies want PC gaming to die, so they could control the market with consoles. They are the one actively killing PC game demand forcing single titles to always-on multi. Meanwhile PC gamers just game on new game devs just dev on while overpaid middle-age suits talk cr4p amongst themselves.

ObiWan86
ObiWan86

If they didn't create crappy sequels like CoD, it wouldn't be dead.

brouwerder
brouwerder

rofl @ companies and induviduals with there opinions..

ask asus/Intel/Amd  if pc gaming is dead

not fucking maxis lol

scroft16
scroft16 like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

pc gaming will never be dead. some games need the pc like rts's and simulation games,  i just got a new pc for future games like rome 2 and coh 2. so pc gaming is lookin great to me

Gankstar_VX84
Gankstar_VX84 like.author.displayName 1 Like

PC gaming has been dead since the launch of Crysis 1. that game sold more PCs then even BF3 primarily due to the fact that noone was gonna do all that again, just to fuss about over drivers and incompatibility issues and building and all the other missionary tasks that comes from owning a PC. However Diablo 3's success is mostly down to very aggressive DRM, and I say it should be even more aggressive in the future, so us PC gamers actually get some decent games. apart from D3 there hasn't been a single pc exsclusive game since Crysis 1, where the engine was actually built for modern age PC tech, sure u got stalker, amnesia etc but they ain't exactly pushing the boundries. if devs will make money from pc gaming they need aggressive drm, or kiss decent exsclusives good bye.

AuronAXE
AuronAXE like.author.displayName 1 Like

PC gaming is nowhere near dead, everybodies just busy playing a crapload of games while console gamers are the ones you see in public...living. Thanks to Steam and huge advancements in gaming PC technology, well, I'm off to play something too. Crysis or Metro 2033, or maybe some The Witcher 2? Whatever it is, PC gaming rules.

Japanese_Jade
Japanese_Jade like.author.displayName 1 Like

I just got into PC gaming because of Steam sales and such. I feel like I should've been into this YEARS ago. D:

dkdk999
dkdk999

I was under the impression pc gaming is more popular than ever. It's more popular than consoles at my school.

Renato1984
Renato1984 like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 4 Like

EA is forging excuses to implement that always-online policy in Sim City using Diablo 3's shoulders.

 

So there it is, for the millionth time: EA trailing behind Activision's Machiavellian business achievements (Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Diablo 3), one more time.

Solamon
Solamon like.author.displayName 1 Like

Are we really still having this discussion. PC gaming is doing better now than it has ever before. The PC market is simply different than other more traditional game markets so it's hard for people to understand what's happening over here. PC gaming no longer thrives simply on the sales of AAA games. Instead, much of it is driven by indie gaming, free-to-play titles that thrive on micro-transactions, and digital distribution. All of which are market segments that are REALLY HARD to quantify. Heck, EA just announced that it made more money on the PC last year than the PS3. What does that tell you?

madgame23
madgame23

The issue most people have with PC gaming is that PC systems are expensive. Do it yourself systems can be relatively cheap, but to have a system made is very expensive, plus you could get a dud made and have to go through crappy customer service to fix/replace it. I find PC games are good for FPS and click based games like strategy and RPG's. I play consoles mostly for third person games.

Kunasha
Kunasha

 @madgame23 I'm going to use Danish prices here as that's where I like... The PS3 when it was new cost 4500DKK. An equivalently powerful PC at the time would set you back around 7000DKK. On the surface - cheaper.

However, on closer inspection you quickly realize that PS3 games cost on average 550DKK and PC games 350DKK. This means that after buying 13 games, the PC was cheaper, and it's only going to get cheaper from there.

And then we haven't even begun on the added value in terms of software for work or school, the improved controls, the better monitor support, the emulators, the freedom... my goodness, we haven't even started.

Is it possible to buy a dud? Sure. The PC market is a bit of a jungle, but you're almost certain to have a friend who knows what he's doing.

tgwolf
tgwolf

DUH! PC gaming is definitive.

Giratina98
Giratina98

I haven't played a computer game in years :(

tgwolf
tgwolf

 @Giratina98 If you are saying you have played consoles, well then neither have I, by and large, though I join friends for co op pretty often. Of course my reasons are most likely not yours, other than the 'Giratina' reference in your name indicating you also play Pokemon...

Gravity_Slave
Gravity_Slave

PC gaming is like disco...sure its not truly dead...there are small handfuls of people that actually listen to it...like weddings and um themed costume parties...

 

(lol who are we kidding, PC gaming is a dying platform. The hardware overhead and lifespan alone makes it impractical. Gotta love the PC Purists)

jimrhurst
jimrhurst like.author.displayName 1 Like

 @Gravity_Slave *ahem*  http://kotaku.com/5674097/the-many-many-deaths-of-pc-gaming

 

So keep trying.  I've been hearing about the death of PC gaming since 1999, thank you very much, and yet here we are, making record revenue for gaming companies on PC in 2011.  I have a gaming rig PC, a PS3, an XBOX 360, and a Wii.  I bought more games in the last 12-18 months for PC than the total I own _combined_ across all three console platforms.  And yet I paid less money for all those PC games than I did for the console games collection.

billlabowski
billlabowski like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

 @Gravity_Slave You're a moron. PC gaming is and always will be ahead of your console curve. I can see why you're upset though. I wouldn't want to be gaming with a tiny controller in my hand on less than HD quality from a console built by the lowest bidder. So I understand your angst towards us. We have more, yes, our hardware CAN be expensive, but we get all that money back by the cheap games we get on Steam. So, kid, go enjoy sub-hd CoD...

Rippletonz
Rippletonz

Nobody said PC gaming was dead.  He's appealing to the straw man.  More proof that the dude has NO clue what he's talking about: he used Diablo III as a barometer.  Sure, sales numbers may have been high (they basically gave it to wow players for free), but the launch of D3 was anything but smooth.  Frankly it has been the most blundered launch of any AAA title I can remember.  Who knows, maybe the guy was trying to say "Look, even a terribly broken game like Diablo III can rake it in!  The industry must be booming!" 

 

Personally I enjoy all platforms a lot, for different reasons.  I have an XBOX 360, a PS3, and a PC.  My PC is kinda my favorite though because I bought it and built it piece by piece so I have more of a connection with it.  And obviously it performs at a level that my X360 and PS3 can't achieve. 

tgwolf
tgwolf

 @Rippletonz Well, actually, the games you cited are the key, so quite right.

shawn7324
shawn7324 like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 5 Like

Yeah the whole idea of PC Gaming being dead was always just a console fanboy myth.

Gravity_Slave
Gravity_Slave

 @shawn7324

 

lol how is it a fanboy myth? Take a look around you. Remember when game shops used to have wall to wall PC titles?  No more.  If you're lucky, you can go to gamestop and find that little bin in the back with the PC titles. And all that garbage about PC games being cheaper than consoles is BS...look at how much you're paying in hardware upgrades to keep up with the tech, just to play the next new game. 

 

Fact is, PC gaming started to die once consoles went online and began to recieve their own game patches and DLC.  And no, more and more ppl are NOT choosing PC gaming over Consoles. You couldn't be more wrong if you tried. Its PC elitism pure and simple.  Fact not Myth

 

Rippletonz
Rippletonz like.author.displayName 1 Like

@Gravity_Slave@shawn7324 You don't see them in stores because they're being sold in massive numbers online.  Just download a digital copy and you own it forever, no disc to scratch or lose.  Fairly often Steam will even sell an entire library with like 50 games in it for 50 bucks.  And not games like minesweeper or bejeweled.  Like an entire Bethesda library with Brink, RAGE, all of Fallout 3/Vegas and expansions, all of Oblivion/Skyrim and expansions.  Don't like Bethesda?  I guarantee Steam has sold your favorite studio's entire library for $50 or $75.  Too bad you're missing out. o_O

 

Meanwhile, XBOX live is charging 20 dollars for shitty 5 hour expansion packs.  If anybody's killing themselves, consoles are doing it here.  Sick of that particular swindle, I'm voting with my dollar on this one.

 

The only point I'm making is that PC gaming is NOWHERE NEAR dead, even if you personally have tunnel vision and don't see PC boxes in Gamestop.  For one thing, PC gaming has a much larger and more dedicated professional gaming community.  They pioneered professional gaming with games like Counter-Strike and Starcraft (if you've ever heard of those).  Oh yeah and the phenomenon that has been World of Warcraft.  Which is still what, 10 million people strong? 

 

PC hardware is actually no more expensive than consoles if you factor in the screen.  A decent 23" or so 1080p capable pc monitor is about $200 (and you can use it as a TV - works great!).  Most people want to play consoles on a screen about 42-60".  And those screens can cost around $2,000, which is more than my entire gaming PC.  My current setup (building them is another fun hobby) is about $1300 in parts, including input/display periphs, and it is capable of some beautiful things.  My TV could totally match it in a much bigger package, if the consoles were up to it.  

 

I'm no "PC Elitist,"  I have a 360 and a PS3 too.  I'm not claiming that PC gaming is inherently superior, I think all platforms have their strengths and weaknesses.  I also think it's a matter of opinion, so trying to establish a "best" is a waste of time.

 

PC Gaming isn't going anywhere for a LONG time, no matter how wishfully you think it. 

Solamon
Solamon like.author.displayName 1 Like

 @Gravity_Slave  @shawn7324  Game stores no longer carry PC titles because PC titles are now almost entirely sold by digital distributor like Steam. Very few PC gamers want to go through the hassle that physical media represents.

 

As for hardware updates, I haven't updated my gaming hardware in about 2 1/2 years and I still can run every game at 1080p with max settings (minus full anti-aliasing which is hard even on bleeding edge tech). And this is on a Radeon 5870, which is two generations behind now.

 

PC gaming isn't the same thing as traditional console gaming and people who keep using that framework to try and interpret the PC market are doomed to misunderstand it. PC gaming right now is where console gaming will be in a couple more years.

derikkeeney
derikkeeney like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

 @Gravity_Slave  @shawn7324

 pc gamers dont need to go to the store theres steam and MANY other ways to get it before launch date, just better to download it and have it ready for launch then have to go out and get it at 12am like all the console fanboys

shawn7324
shawn7324

I've seen more & more people lately choosing PC gaming over consoles.

rarson
rarson

I think the PC is starting to become the high-end console. Hardware is so affordable now that it's tough for consoles to compete on price. Steam has ushered in convenience that even consoles are struggling to compete with, and Windows 8 just might be somewhat living room-friendly. I'd be shocked if the PC doesn't start stealing a little ground from the consoles.

Danituga
Danituga

Of course pc gaming is not dead, the only problem is that when a new game gets realeased and you want it badly you have to upgrade you pc and spend a fortune on it, if you have the money that will pay off if not you have your console and you don't have to upgrade it no more... That is the only problem of the pc...

derikkeeney
derikkeeney

 @Danituga

 may be true,but 5 year old hardware still looks ten times better then what the console can do, and its really not that much anyways, u need to know what your pc needs, u dont just throw video cards at the pc everytime a game comes out.

TroubledCookie
TroubledCookie

 @derikkeeney  @Danituga My Q6600 rig (OC'd to 3.2 GHz) circa 2007 is still going strong, all I had to upgrade was the graphics card from an 8800GTX to a 460GTX (EVGA has awesome support, old card died, free new card!).  I can still run most games playable on high (No AA, but FXAA works well).

 

I did spend a chunk of change in the beginning so I see your point.  PC gaming has also been held back this generation, so I think that's actually helped the longevity of my rig.

rarson
rarson

 @Danituga 

 

That's so completely untrue. A $100 graphics card will handle everything you throw at it.

fursecu
fursecu

 @rarson  @Danituga what the heck is with this conception that a decent computer costs a fortune?>??

Eruu
Eruu

 @fursecu Not a fortune but in the long run it doesn't come cheap.How many times did you upgrade your computer since 2006?

jtthegame316
jtthegame316

I would not mind pc gaming if it did not invovle so much fafing about.

Spacemancer
Spacemancer

This just in: Cheese tastes like cheese.

starduke
starduke

PC is alive and well, and was never in danger of being dead. I guess he didn't get the memo.

iluvOP
iluvOP like.author.displayName 1 Like

Funny since Diablo 3 sold well while being an incredible dissapointment to most gamers. Game that is built around the auction house. Everyone that I know was dissapointed or outright hates the game. If the next Diablo title is developed by bliz, I doubt I'll be ever getting it. Even D3 was bought to me by a friend with the money that was made in the AH.

theKSMM
theKSMM

After all the money I spent upgrading my system, PC gaming better not die...ever!  >:-/

iluvOP
iluvOP

 @theKSMM It will never die. Gaming in general will never die and everyone with a working brain knows that. I guess maxis lead was just trying to sound smart.

never-named
never-named

Errm...Steam? I mean they're a competitor of sorts but that shouldn't stop EA from acknowledging Valve's current dominance in the PC digital distribution space...

Dedakiss
Dedakiss like.author.displayName 1 Like

I wish they could mix this with some sort of RTS game to making Great city battles.  They almost never do it right in most games.

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