Why is PC gaming outpacing consoles? “PC players have a bit more choice,” analyst says
By (Image credit: Valve)
It’s never been simpler to advocate for PC gaming, so it’s unfortunate that it’s seldom been tougher to construct a gaming PC. With consoles faltering and their market having matured long ago, PC gaming accounts for a significant portion of the annual expansion in the industry. It frequently presents a considerably more varied selection of top games, and more developers (particularly in Asia) are dedicating additional resources to the platform. But what gives PC gaming its advantage?
I conversed with Emmanuel Rosier, Newzoo’s director of market analytics, regarding the expansion of PC gaming. Some advantages are evident. For instance, PC gamers benefit from Steam, a central marketplace with robust features; they enjoy a wider range of input methods between M&K and controller compatibility; there’s superior modding support; graphics capabilities have a higher ceiling; and a PC serves purposes beyond just gaming and streaming. Yet, numerous other factors contribute to this success.
“I examined that, as it’s quite intriguing when you analyze the business frameworks,” Rosier mentions about PC and console disparities. “When you assess the business model on PC, a significant portion of revenue stems from microtransactions because many PC games are free-to-play. Numerous PC games offer ongoing live services, while on console, premium titles still hold the largest share, being the primary business model.”
Even on consoles, however, the largest premium games are often iterative sports franchises or similar giants such as Call of Duty, making them still comparable to live services as “more of a continuation” of an experience. “You can think of it as recurring income generated from within the same franchise,” Rosier explains.
This is less evident on PC. Sports titles are significantly smaller on the PC, for one, but it also “probably relates to the audience in some way,” Rosier adds. When examining reports like Newzoo’s and looking at the most lucrative or most played games monthly, PC consistently reveals more new entries and indie games, even though the top 10 remains populated by heavyweights like Minecraft, Fortnite, and Roblox.
Big Walk serves as a noteworthy example: it gained more user traction on PS5 due to its inclusion in PlayStation Plus,
