14 DAY TRIAL // The PC game market isn't doing so great these days, largely because publishers are a bit more hesitant in bringing their games onto the PC, citing the fact that the piracy phenomenon is so big. They also claim that the profit won't be as big as launching a game on a console in today's market.
Although some analysts say that the PC market will be going downhill, researchers and various PC hardware manufacturers tend to disagree. We have recently seen some very interesting reports, which showed that game sales through online content distribution services, like Steam, have seen a big increase, and that they would further rise, as the holiday season approaches.
Now, AMD senior vice president, Rick Bergman, comes to talk about the PC game market, as his company produces not only the microprocessors needed for PCs to work, but also graphic cards, as it bought ATI some time ago. He says that the market is very healthy, and that online games, like MMORPGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) like World of Warcraft will keep it that way. According to him, the big number of consoles sold can only bring a smile to his face, as his company provides the graphics hardware for both the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii.
"There is a very compelling story on why PC gaming is so healthy now. When you consider shipments of high-end gaming rigs and strong sales of online games such as World of Warcraft, you can see how strong it is. Sales at the high end continue to astound me. The gaming platforms tend to be the first place where games appear, but we are in about 80 percent of the gaming consoles sold, since we’re in the Microsoft and Nintendo consoles."
It definitely sounds like AMD is fine either way, because it's a veritable win-win situation. Although consoles tend to be the most attractive platforms for game publishers and developers these days, the PC market is still one of the biggest out there, and the industry should take that into account.