Is PC Gaming Dying?

Mo’ Money, Less Problem

It’s all about money, obviously – the grease that slicks the wheels of all industries and drives man to do evil, unjust things. Money.

From a financial perspective it isn’t like Kevin Costner said – it’s not “if you build it, they will come”, it’s the other way around. If we buy it, they will build it…and build it and build it and build it. From the point of view of many publishers, therein lies the problem – on the PC people just aren’t buying like they are on consoles.

This is where the arguments start of course, with publishers claiming that the problem is piracy on the PC and hardcore gamers claiming that it’s not the extent of piracy but the lack of quality that kills PC sales. It’s like a nuclear stalemate.

“We aren’t making PC games because you just pirate them,” say the publishers.
“If you made them more than just console ports, or took out your DRM, then we wouldn’t pirate them,” say hardcore gamers.

Of course, in reality both parties are missing several points. From a publishing point of view it’s clear that not every pirated copy is equal to one lost customer and just because you close down a big torrent site doesn’t automatically turn on another few thousand sales – the world just doesn’t work like that. You might get a few extra sales, but if my experience is any to go by then those sales will probably go to the second-hand market or come when your game is at the end of it’s shelf life and heavily discounted. If you can’t get it free then you’ll wait and get it cheap - though most likely you’ll just not buy it at all.


On the gamers' side though, there’s the moral and legal problem – just because something isn’t perfect doesn’t entitle you to steal it and protesting DRM by pirating is like cutting off your nose to spite your face. I don’t get on well with everyone I meet, but that doesn’t mean I can kidnap them and ‘try them out’ for a bit to make sure – and yes, that metaphor is slightly wonky on inspection but if we mire ourselves in pedantry then we’ll never get anywhere. There are people who use pirated games as demos, but they’re likely such a minority it’s hardly worth considering.

In this context it’s obviously flawed to present gamers and pirates as a single audience too, because the groups are made up of wildly different individuals and while the bit-tech forums may be filled with readers who bemoan both piracy and DRM, that audience is not the true face of the internet.

There are plenty of nice people who pledge support to clever indie developers who don’t use DRM and use piracy as a form of protest against giants like Ubisoft, EA and Activision – but they’re whispers in a storm. It just so happens that this storm is a silent one though, so while those pleasant few are doing at least something close to right, most people don’t care about the Little Guys any more than they care about the Big Man. They’ll pirate World of Goo just as readily as Call of Duty – and if it doesn’t have DRM then they won’t recognise the trust for what it is, or care. They’ll just exploit it without ever saying boo. It’s important to bear in mind that nearly everyone on the internet assumes they have anonymity and will therefore behave as if they have it.


It’s around here that the good news starts though – because it does seem like there’s a solution on the horizon, fresh with morning dew and a nice rebuke to the idea of piracy. Online authentication and digital distribution – taking the compatible elements of MMOs and using them to prevent piracy.

As WoW is the answer to the question of the relevancy of PC games in the eyes of some, Steam is the oft-given answer to the issue of piracy. Valve has shown that with the right approach and ethic it’s possible to largely (but not completely) thwart piracy on the PC and make gamers love it in the process.

As before though, it isn’t just as simple as persuading all the major developers and publishers to get on Steam and out of stores. For one, publishers would rather make their own Steam-alike platform (fragmenting and weakening the market), while developers would rather self-publish digitally to reap a larger profit (but can’t without ignoring retail and the valuable casual market completely). The games industry is doubtlessly going to move more towards a digital model, as proved by the rising success of XBLA, PSN, Steam and the like, but it isn’t as simple as flicking a switch.

That’s pretty good news when you think about it – that if the remedy for PC gaming is simply to go digital then it’s a path we’re already on. If no remedy is needed then we’re due for a resurgence.