Video gaming growth not about to stop, except for US PC market, says report

[B3D News]

The Hollywood Reporter published an article on future video gaming industry growth based on data collected in the annual Global Entertainment and Media Outlook from the market advisory company PricewaterhouseCoopers. At first sight, as the press release shows, everything is looking fine on the video gaming side of things, publishers and manufacturers can lay their doubts about industry's overall growth to rest.


Read the full news item

 

[Skrying]

Interesting, wasn't there a recent report that said PC gaming had experienced a 42% (or somewhere around there) growth? The PC market right is about extreme's it seems, generally far lower sells but arguably the most popular game in a good while (WoW) is PC only.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

um. WoW released late 2004.

Console games outselling wow 2004-2007:
Grand Turismo 4
GTA:SA
NFS: Underground
NFS: Underground 2
Madden NFL2005

 

[Skrying]

um. WoW released late 2004.

Console games outselling wow 2004-2007:
Grand Turismo 4
GTA:SA
NFS: Underground
NFS: Underground 2
Madden NFL2005

Your point? WoW is still bring in new sales all the time, and plus its taking in a monthly fee on its players. Plus it has new expansion pack(s) that also sell extremely good. If you look at it by profit WoW destroys all of those probably by a massive amount. Also look at pop culture impact, besides possible GTA:SA, and I would challenge that, there is nothing on that list even close to pop culture impact. WoW goes far beyond the game itself.

 

[_phil_]

( factual: ) Neither MS nor Sony want WOW on their consoles.Because people wouldn't buy anyother game.

 

[AlNom]

( factual: ) Neither MS nor Sony want WOW on their consoles.Because people wouldn't buy anyother game.

WoW players != all gamers

 

[Arun]

What is this conversation about anyway? I don't think you can deny that WoW is the most lucrative videogame of all times. I wouldn't be surprised if its *net* profit was above the billion mark by now... Gross profit certainly would be, at least.

 

[Skrying]

What is this conversation about anyway? I don't think you can deny that WoW is the most lucrative videogame of all times. I wouldn't be surprised if its *net* profit was above the billion mark by now... Gross profit certainly would be, at least.

Mainly that I disagree with the prediction that the PC market (in the US) will not grow as well. I predict steadly growth actually and I think there are a number of various type of games that show that PC games can indeed be very profitable. The PC market represents the best bang for your buck per game. Many games have tons of mods that are free and extend the lifetime of a game way beyond its own limited content, you simply will never get that in the current console market. Its the main reason I most likely will not be a console gamer (and the fact that online play for consoles is pathetic, Live is "neat" not good in the least however).

 

[zed]

oddly that report saiz the US is currently the smallest region of the three for videogame revenue, asia is where the big bucks are

 

[Cheezdoodles]

Your point? WoW is still bring in new sales all the time, and plus its taking in a monthly fee on its players. Plus it has new expansion pack(s) that also sell extremely good. If you look at it by profit WoW destroys all of those probably by a massive amount..

What the hell ???

You said:

generally far lower sells but arguably the most popular game in a good while (WoW) is PC only.

And WoW is not the most popular game, it has sold what? 6-8 million? And i just showed games that has sold more. I didn't run around talking about profits, i just commented on your statement which related directly to sales. I'm perfectly aware that WoW is a money making machine.

 

[Arun]

And WoW is not the most popular game, it has sold what? 6-8 million?

It certainly isn't the most popular game ever in terms of game sales (correct me if I'm wrong, but for the PC, isn't that The Sims? Or is there something that beats that if you don't consider the whole series?), but it probably *is* the most popular game ever in terms of hours spent.

On that subject... http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cach...ailytech.com/&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&client=opera

 

[ninzel]

You guys are still talking about WOW? You can't build an entire platform or industry on one game.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

( factual: ) Neither MS nor Sony want WOW on their consoles.Because people wouldn't buy anyother game.

I doubt that.

If MS or Sony would get a small percentage of the monthly fees it would make up for it. Untapped market for consoles more or less.

 

[Skrying]

What the hell ???

You said:



And WoW is not the most popular game, it has sold what? 6-8 million? And i just showed games that has sold more. I didn't run around talking about profits, i just commented on your statement which related directly to sales. I'm perfectly aware that WoW is a money making machine.

Popularity is not limited to sales alone, you are the one who made the limitation. Culture impact, consistent player base, etc. WoW has around 9 million player, grows constantly (unlike the other games, WoW's player base continues), and its first expansion sold 3.5 million copies in the first month. Very few other games have had the presence of WoW, its own South Park episode, a lot of media coverage of addicted players, a movie deal in the works with a supposed budget of near $100 million. NONE of the games in recent history have caused that. Its funny, if you go into the console forum you hear a lot about a "system seller" game... WoW is a great example of such.

The popularity of MMOs on PCs can not be denied, in nearly all the PC market. The new Lord of the Rings online MMO is set to become the second most popular game behind WoW and is growing the market and not stealing from it. Also, believe it or not the PC is getting tons of console ports these days. Many games are finding their way to PC because there is a (I believe) growing market of dedicated gamers. When the vast majority of your budget is in the art assets it just makes since to spread out onto as much platforms as possible. I think the PC is benefiting from 1.) Console game developing hitting extreme highs. 2.) Explosion in markets that show PC gamers are willing to pay. 3.) Extremely aggressive pricing for computer equipment.

To be honest I don't care what a "report" says. I think PC gaming will continue to expand in a large number of markets and areas, including the US. The only issues I seen hurting it are the lack of value that consoles gamers are experienced to heading to PC (this is why Live for PC won't work, it costs money for WORSE service then we get already) and piracy, but if your game is good it has shown that people will buy it.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Its funny, if you go into the console forum you hear a lot about a "system seller" game... WoW is a great example of such.

Not sure how that's justified. Do people buy a PC to play WoW? Dunno. And would they buy a console to play WoW? If one of the companies landed WoW2 as an exclusive, could they count on some 9 million new owners? I'm sure these MMO people would love targetted MMOs that look fantastic, rather than rather simple looking MMO's that try to cater for older hardware.

 

[Skrying]

Not sure how that's justified. Do people buy a PC to play WoW? Dunno. And would they buy a console to play WoW? If one of the companies landed WoW2 as an exclusive, could they count on some 9 million new owners? I'm sure these MMO people would love targetted MMOs that look fantastic, rather than rather simple looking MMO's that try to cater for older hardware.

First, WoW is far from simple. It might not have the check box features, but it looks far better than many of these "omgz its teh features" games out there. Just another fine example of art > "features". You also have to realize that there are a few MMOs that already look better (well, more than a few). The new LOTR and Vanguard looks generally better in a sense (again, artwork is not even close)... MMO is hardly a market of gamers effected by looks however.

Also, where did I say it would be a 1:1 move? Certainly not, but a number of new customers probably would pick up a console in order to play it. It would be a huge mark up for the company, certainly, like any other major franchise generally is. I'd say that a number of people have upgraded their computers to play WoW. Major cities and large raids are very taxing even on relatively high end computers (like my own). People want a smooth experience and lag isn't the greatest excuse when you wiped a 25-man raid for the fourth time.

 

[zed]

odd? One country compared to two regions, with one of the regions having some 2billion people. Also, I thought the report said largest E&M market, but the slowest growth rate..

odd as in i always thought US was the largest videogame market in terms of sales.
yes it does say in that report for Entertainment and Media the US is the largest market but looking only at the videogames sector its the smallest, publishers will take note
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=14430

 

[Johnny Awesome]

The popularity of MMOs on PCs can not be denied, in nearly all the PC market. The new Lord of the Rings online MMO is set to become the second most popular game behind WoW and is growing the market and not stealing from it. Also, believe it or not the PC is getting tons of console ports these days. Many games are finding their way to PC because there is a (I believe) growing market of dedicated gamers. When the vast majority of your budget is in the art assets it just makes since to spread out onto as much platforms as possible. I think the PC is benefiting from 1.) Console game developing hitting extreme highs. 2.) Explosion in markets that show PC gamers are willing to pay. 3.) Extremely aggressive pricing for computer equipment.

To be honest I don't care what a "report" says. I think PC gaming will continue to expand in a large number of markets and areas, including the US. The only issues I seen hurting it are the lack of value that consoles gamers are experienced to heading to PC (this is why Live for PC won't work, it costs money for WORSE service then we get already) and piracy, but if your game is good it has shown that people will buy it.

Do you have any reliable sales/userbase info for Lord of the Rings Online? I've recently become involved in playing it quite a bit and was wondering how it was doing. I still like WoW, but took a hiatus to play something new for awhile.

 

[dobwal]

Its pretty obvious to see why some are predicting a decline in the PC Market.

No matter how well WOW is doing it can't prop up the PC market by itself and consoles are currently eating up genres once dominated by the PC market.

We have a FPS titles like Crysis on horizon, but it wasn't that long ago that FarCry hit the market and excitement was at an all time high for Doom and Half Life 2 with Stalker looking like a serious competitor. Now we have titles that years ago wouldn't have seen daylight on a console or were so technically gimped that they were seen as just console fodder, slated for consoles that visually rival their PC counterparts. I wonder if the leaps in PC visual quality that we seen in the past will be possible in the future now that console ports are becoming a major influence on devs and pubs.

While consoles haven't had much success in gaining a real foothold in the MMORPG market, the current MMORPG situation pales to not so distance past when Everquest was the MMORPG of the day and MMORPGs like WOW, Star Wars Galaxies, EQII, City of Heroes, Matrix Online, Sims Online and Guild Wars were on the horizon. WOW, City of Heroes and Guild Wars have done relatively well but currently I doubt there exist a bevy of PC MMORPGs that elicit as much exitement as those previously mentioned titles.

While newly released Supreme Commander and news of a new StarCraft puts PC RTSes back on the map, a well made and critically acclaimed Halo Wars would garner the type of sales that would influence the RTS landscape the way that Halo influenced the FPS landscape.

 

[Skrying]

Do you have any reliable sales/userbase info for Lord of the Rings Online? I've recently become involved in playing it quite a bit and was wondering how it was doing. I still like WoW, but took a hiatus to play something new for awhile.

No, just a assumption based on the fact that its been really well recieved, had a solid launch, and a great existing IP. Hell, I was tempted to switch from WoW to LOTRO. BTW, just for clarification I don't consider Second Life a MMORPG in the same sense as WoW, LOTRO, EQ2, EQ, etc, etc.