14 DAY TRIAL // The PC gaming market has been following a slow downward trend these past years, partly because of the high rate of piracy and because the consoles have gained a massive amount of popularity. More and more developers and publishers choose either to bring their games onto the PC at a later time than on the consoles or, worse, not to port them for the PC at all.
Such an approach has deprived a lot of PC gamers from big titles like Gears of War 2, Resistance or Fable II. But, luckily for the players who choose their PC to fulfill their gaming needs, there still are developers who believe that the market has potential.
One of these developers is BioShock creator Ken Levine, who recently talked with Forbes about the PC gaming market and how his game helped correct that downward trend. He went on to say that, although there were challenges with making a game for the PC, there was nothing more satisfying for him than to sit with a mouse and a keyboard and play a game.
"I'm a real believer in industrial Darwinism. It's hard for an industry to make a mistake because the market tends to be self-correcting...but I wish the industry could find a way to make PC gaming more broadly successful. There are so many challenges for PC gaming—the complications from systems specifications to the drivers—most people look at PC games and say, "What are you talking about?" It's a shame because as a gamer, I am never more comfortable than I am sitting with a mouse and keyboard two inches away from my monitor."
A very interesting statement made by Levine, which just goes to prove that there are still developers who see the PC as a worthwhile gaming platform. For those of you who don't know, BioShock was one of last year's most successful games, having been launched for the PC and Xbox 360. It has had good sales in the past few months since it was launched for the PlayStation 3, and it already has a sequel, entitled Sea of Dreams, in the making.