pc-games posts

The week between Christmas and New Year's is typically one where most game publishers and developers take some, if not all, of the days off. Things are no different this year and, barring some surprise, we don't expect any commercial PC games, either in retail stores or via download, to be released this coming week.

However there will still be a number of features and interviews throughout the week here at Big Download, including the rest of our multi-part look ahead to our most anticipated PC games of 2011. Things should get back on track news wise the following week as the Consumer Electronic Expo is held in Las Vegas.

Revenues for PC game purchases in the US are still a significant portion of the total US game market. According to a new study released today from Newzoo, 16 percent of all game-based revenues went to PC games (about $4.15 million) compared to 60 percent from consoles (the study didn't break down specific console revenues). MMO games were seen as a separate category from PC games (even though the vast majority are based on the PC platform) and account for another 8 percent of total revenues or $2.12 million.

The US actually lags in terms of revenue percentages from PC games compared to other countries. According to the report, France has 19 percent of their game revenue go to PC games while the UK had 20 percent. Germany is still a huge PC game market; a whopping 36 percent of its game revenues go to the PC platform. The full report is based on a survey of over 13,000 people aged eight and up.

Thanks to the time in between Christmas and New Year's there are no current PC games that are scheduled to ship to stores or be released via download this week. We might see a downloadable expansion for Dragon Age: Origins come out (it was supposed to be released sometime during the holiday season) but that's looking unlikely.

If any games are released this week we will let you know about it during the week. Otherwise don't expect any new games to be shipped to stores until the first full week of 2010 when Larian Studios' Divinity 2 heads to stores in the US.

The world economy is still a mess, even though there are signs that the current situation is improving. However, it appears that game publishers are making fewer deals with developers than the normal and as a result we could see a shortage of games in the next couple of years on the market.

Gamesindustry.biz reports they have talked to a number of developers (unnamed of course) who have told them that publishers are making fewer deals in order to concentrate on their proven core game franchises. As a result, developers fear there will be a smaller amount of games released in 2010 and 2011. One developer that went on the record was Australian based Tantalus. It's CEO Tom Crago is quoted as saying they hope publishers have a solid 2009 holiday sales season, saying "We hope their outlook is rosier, particularly into 2010 and 2011, and that the volume of titles that are being commissioned increases."

According to data extracted from numerous reports, DFC Intelligence forecasts an estimated $57 billion dollar revenue for the games industry in 2009.

"Consumer spending on software is at record levels and the game business seems to actually benefit from a recession because games are a relatively cheap form of home entertainment," said DFC analyst David Cole.

Cole goes on to state that the reports summarize sales predictions for each platform, and that the Nintendo Wii "does not appear to be a fad and it has the chance to be one of the best selling systems of all-time." Software sales for Sony's PlayStation 3 are estimated to match those of the Wii by 2012, and the Xbox 360 "remains a leading player in some of the top markets, most notably the U.S. and U.K."

Not surprisingly, the PC was the top gaming platform in 2007, with $7 billion in sales not including retail. "Total PC game revenue is expected to reach $19 billion by 2013," according to the DFC.

There's an interesting article over at Venture Beat about this week's Games For Windows press event in San Francisco (look for our own articles on the event later today and Monday). The article claims that E3 2008, the big annual media event for games, will be mostly a console games show when it begins in mid-July. The article claims that there is "very little room for PC games" at this year's event.

So what is the evidence that the article gives for that assumption? Well it claims that Microsoft won't mention PC games much during its E3 events and that PC processor maker Intel won't be there at the show in any capacity. The Games for Windows press event this week showed eight live PC games, but two of them had previously been released and another game just used a demo that's freely available to download. That left a whopping five games at this press event which Kevin Unangst, senior global director of Windows gaming at Microsoft, said was designed specifically to not let the PC game industry be overshadowed by the supposedly console game heavy E3.

Well with all due respect to Mr. Unangst, he doesn't seem to know what PC-only games and what PC related products will be shown at E3 this July. While it's true that console games will get a lot of attention that doesn't mean PC games won't have a lot to look forward to at the show as well.