EA CEO: PC Gaming Has Been Growing for Years

[MrKLM]

Who says PC gaming is dieing off? EA doesn't think so, in fact they think PC Gaming has been growing for years! Gamedaily has a new article with what EA's CEO has to say on PC gaming. Check it out:

During the Q&A session with analysts and investors on EA's earnings conference call, Chief Executive John Riccitiello pointed out that the PC games industry is actually doing just fine when you look at the total picture rather than isolating "soft" retail sales.

"I certainly recognize that the box side of PC is soft. It's been soft for some time. Frankly, if it were not for The Sims and World of Warcraft PC box sales, it'd be a pretty dismal sector," he acknowledged.

Thankfully for the PC market, retail is just one very small slice of the complete picture. "I would point, out, however, that one of the fastest growing parts of this industry is the subscription and micro-transaction [business] and casual games, much of which is centered on the PC," Riccitiello continued. "So one of the things we try to look at at EA is the total business... and we're seeing a growth business there. In fact, it's been growing for several years. It's just been categorized wrongly by simply looking at the box side of the equation."

Read the article at Gamedaily here.

[ExitChicago]

Re: EA CEO: PC Gaming Has Been Growing for Years

I think that eventually you grow out of console gaming and move to PC or stay with both. I play PC games because you can get better graphics IMO, and great games spawn great Mods. e.g. POE, Forgotten Hope, etc. Plus the online gaming experience is better with PC, again IMO..

[imported_Nefarious]

Re: EA CEO: PC Gaming Has Been Growing for Years

Well thats good know, and with past experiences, I have no reason to believe that EA would ever lie.

...excuse my sarcasm and cynicism, but I must question how much weight such comments have. The head of 2nd largest video game publisher is obviously talking to investors. And I find it a bit ironic that as the console exclusive (currently) GTA IV releases its record 1-week and 1-day profits from the PS3 and the Xbox 360, Riccitiello is discussing how much growth the PC gaming industry has had.

[CptainCrunch]

Re: EA CEO: PC Gaming Has Been Growing for Years

Talk to stifle fears.

If its growing, why are so many publishers stopping titles and declaring piracy the problem? Like EAs Madden Football for instance.

I'm sure it was low because the response to the game for PC is low for Madden, but you still have all those others that have mentioned something the last month or so about it.

Not to mention the increase port from console to PC.

Dont get me wrong, PC gaming isnt going to die because its still a very lucritive market, but it is going to have its ups and downs, just like any other industry.

I agree with Exit to an extent. One of the attractive things about a console is you buy it and its ready to go. For the most part there are no upgrades, drivers, bugs, and system crashes. When you buy a console, you know you have everything you need and ever will to play a game for it.

Yes, even consoles have crashes and problems, but you get the idea for the people that are not PC savy or dont want to mess with the fuss. I enjoy working with my PC, but I do put a lot of work into it to keep it in top form.

Crunch

[Dairuka]

Re: EA CEO: PC Gaming Has Been Growing for Years

Talk to stifle fears.

If its growing, why are so many publishers stopping titles and declaring piracy the problem? Like EAs Madden Football for instance.

I'm sure it was low because the response to the game for PC is low for Madden, but you still have all those others that have mentioned something the last month or so about it.

Not to mention the increase port from console to PC.

Dont get me wrong, PC gaming isnt going to die because its still a very lucritive market, but it is going to have its ups and downs, just like any other industry.

I agree with Exit to an extent. One of the attractive things about a console is you buy it and its ready to go. For the most part there are no upgrades, drivers, bugs, and system crashes. When you buy a console, you know you have everything you need and ever will to play a game for it.

Yes, even consoles have crashes and problems, but you get the idea for the people that are not PC savy or dont want to mess with the fuss. I enjoy working with my PC, but I do put a lot of work into it to keep it in top form.

Crunch

http://www.totalgamingnetwork.com/main/blog.php?b=22

PC gaming with the exception of the MMORPG craze - is still primarily a niche market.

The beauty of a niche market is that it can not die so long as there are still people interested in the niche.

Mainstream markets have a habit of crumbling under the weight of their own distribution methods. Remember Beta before VCR? How about sega? Sega learned the hard way that it's difficult keeping an industry profitable when you sell your consoles at a $100 to $200 loss, for a $10 profit off of a game license, or $20 profit for a first-party published game sale.

[=98=]

Re: EA CEO: PC Gaming Has Been Growing for Years

I don't like the way they say "micro-transactions are the future". Maybe they will lock me out of the T-90 in Battlefield 3 until i pay the £5 to have it in the game :|:

[CptainCrunch]

Re: EA CEO: PC Gaming Has Been Growing for Years

http://www.totalgamingnetwork.com/main/blog.php?b=22

PC gaming with the exception of the MMORPG craze - is still primarily a niche market.

The beauty of a niche market is that it can not die so long as there are still people interested in the niche.

Mainstream markets have a habit of crumbling under the weight of their own distribution methods. Remember Beta before VCR? How about sega? Sega learned the hard way that it's difficult keeping an industry profitable when you sell your consoles at a $100 to $200 loss, for a $10 profit off of a game license, or $20 profit for a first-party published game sale.

I agree with that, as well as your article. I am a very picky gamer. If a company doesnt release a demo, I dont get the game. I do think piracy is a big problem, its affecting hardware manufacturers as well, but it is being used as an easy way to drop a series.

There HAS to be a way by now to protect the contents of a CD while not shaking down the buyer for keys and credentials all the time.

Anyway, my thoughts keep straying. Good article.

Crunch

[=98=]

Re: EA CEO: PC Gaming Has Been Growing for Years

There HAS to be a way by now to protect the contents of a CD while not shaking down the buyer for keys and credentials all the time.

And that is where SecuROM enters our conversation. It is relatively hard to crack hence the small piracy levels on Trackmania United. It is very hard to pirate that game and requires a lot of work to get it working.

But, then, people complain about the side effects of SecuROM. They write threads on forums, which then other people, completely unaffected pick up and simply make it seem like a big problem for people. I've never had an issue with SecuROM at any point, and i don't think a lot of people do.

So, it's either protect and get whined at, or don't protect and be whined at when you ditch a game because the level and quality of profit from a PC game doesn't justify the time and cost put into it.

I believe the future of secure gaming is an online verification system like many multiplayer games have at the minute. But, try convincing someone to go with that when they buy a single player game like Half Life or Crysis, they won't.

And, thus, we arrive back at step 1.

[Dairuka]

Re: EA CEO: PC Gaming Has Been Growing for Years

An online verification system is perfectly feasible if it has an Off-line mode like Steam.

I've bought many single player games from Steam thus-far. I haven't had any problems playing them when my internet is down - which is what I like, because I need single player games to keep me busy while my internet is down.

[=98=]

Re: EA CEO: PC Gaming Has Been Growing for Years

When the Internet is down, i go mad. I walk around in circles.

"cannot compute....."

[Shoxie]

Re: EA CEO: PC Gaming Has Been Growing for Years

yeah all of my singleplayer games I keep for when the net crashes here/