We have discussed whether PC gaming is dead or dieing ad nauseum. It seems to me recently developers seem to be doing everything they can to kill PC gaming. Now I'm not trying to say it's a conspiracy or anything but lately it seems some of the major developers have missed the mark on what PC gamers want by a mile.
I've been thinking about this for a few weeks and was ready to praise Infinity Ward for being one of the premier companies that cater to the needs and wants of PC gamers. The only issue I had with Infinity Ward was when I first heard they were going to charge 60.00 dollars instead of the more normal 50.00 dollars. But after some thought about the extra work they put into the PC version I decided that the extra cost is justified. All this is now out the window with the latest revelation that Infinity Ward has
dropped dedicated server support in Modern Warfare 2.
I have been noticing this trend for quite a while. Another example is
Battlefield 1943 the July release seemed great for me to play on the PC. Even though I wasn't expecting this to be the greatest game ever It's release was planned for a time when I was really itching for something new to play. I suspect many other PC gamers were in the same boat and would have grabbed this title for 15.00 to have something new and fun to play while waiting for the AAA titles to be released in Q4 2009 and Q1 2010. If this does get released in Q1 2010 right on top of Battlefield Bad Company 2 I really can't see many PC Gamers buying this, Instead I think they will purchase
Battlefield Bad Company 2 With he poor sales of 1943 giving the illusion that PC Gamers aren't buying games.
This brings us to the recently released
Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising I had high hopes for this title. Codemasters has done a lot of things right with this game, But unfortunately crippled it by dropping dedicated server support. I say dropped since the box clearly states "Dedicated host server recommended" So sometime in-between creating the box art and release day server support was dropped. Even though the 40.00 price tag was welcome but I would have gladly paid 60.00 dollars for a complete game.
Then there is Crysis, The executives at Crytek claimed that they did not sell the amount of games they predicted because of piracy. This I believe is a total bull crap excuse to save face and their jobs. The fact of the matter is that very few people I know played Crysis period.
So it would seem many of the big developers are doing everything wrong when it comes to PC Gaming. There is however some light at the end of the tunnel Dice's KM Troedsson tweeted
Quote:
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"Dedicated servers FTW. What ever secures a better online experience is a given for us."
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implying that future Battlefield games will still have dedicated server support.
I've spent some time looking at and talking to some of the smaller studios lately. You cant help but be amazed at what these people are doing with the resources they have available. I wouldn't be at all surprised if sometime in the future one of these studios cranked the successor to Battlefield or Counter Strike Source.
In conclusion I feel the studios that care to understand the PC market can still do quite well since PC gamers are hungry for products that cater to their needs.
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