Nvidia: Console Software Sales Flat, PC on the Rise

I'm not quite sure how it happened, but PC gaming seems to have gotten a bad rap over the last several years. It isn't from journalists like me, and it's certainly not coming from sites like Tom's Hardware; but at some point "they" decided that the PC should play second fiddle to the Xbox and PlayStation, instead of the other way around...or at the very least, seeing every player in the gaming space as equal.

Nvidia certainly has something to say about that, and the company's response isn't a sleek new near-$3,000 gaming laptop, nor is it some hot new PC title...despite Battlefield 3, Skyrim and Rage being right around the corner. Instead, Big Green is bringing cold, hard facts to the table. In short, it's all about the almighty dollar and how that cash is wielded by you, John Q. Consumer. I met with Nvidia recently to talk about gaming in general, as well as look at some exciting new hardware coming out in the near future. The latter is hush-hush until next month, but when it comes to the state of PC gaming, it's open season.

While Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo continue to sell consoles, game software sales for their respective platforms are stagnant, and Nvidia's research says that trend won't be changing anytime soon. Despite a 41 percent buffer in 2008, console software revenue will be eclipsed by PC games revenue in 2014. Console software revenue is flat, floating between roughly $21 and $24 billion, yearly, while revenue generated by the PC gaming market balloons from $13 billion in 2008 to a projected $23-ish billion in 2015. Nvidia breaks it down even further, showing that the bulk of PC games revenue is coming from digital downloads (Steam, Direct2Drive, etc.), meaning we're all spending less and less money on PC games when we go to Best Buy or GameStop. And rightfully so, since the latter's "PC Games Section" is one wire shelf amidst a sea of console paraphernalia and preorder-crazed salespersons.

Latest Videos FromTom's Hardware

Watch full video here:

Nvidia doesn't break down its data according to genre or service, but much of this newly-discovered cash is coming from the social gaming crowd, as well as from new business models. There's no denying that Facebook games like The Sims Social and micro-transactions in more "hardcore" titles like World of Tanks and League of Legends are pushing revenue streams and profit margins up for many developers and publishers. If that means publishers are either going to pump more money into PC games development, or come back to the platform that they've abandoned (Epic Games, anyone?), then I'm all for it.

Of course, the PC crowd should take these figures with a grain of salt since this information is coming from a company that eats, sleeps and breathes PC gaming hardware. That said, there's only so much you can do with numbers to make a given side look good, and these figures are painting a pretty picture for the PC gaming sector. If a mouse and keyboard are your weapons of choice (and I've been wielding mine since the days of Space Quest III and Catacomb 3-D), then believe me when I say PC gaming isn't dead. In fact, it's very much alive.

In other Nvidia news, the graphics hardware maker is tickled pink about the impending release of Battlefield 3, as it should be. The game is going into beta early next week (and by beta, EA really means "demo"), and quite frankly...the game looks incredible. Nvidia is throwing a huge LAN party next month to commemorate the launch of this latest BF title (rest assured, Tom's will be in attendance), and it should be one for the ages, especially since it's being held on a decommissioned aircraft carrier.

TOPICS

78 Comments Comment from the forums

aftcomet

I hope they don't consider Farmville a game.

This isn't likely unless good PC prices come down as the casual market doesn't build their own PCs.
Reply
reggieray

Haven't bought a PS3 game in long time but have several I plan on for my gaming rig, especially on 11.11.11

Reply
burnley14

This doesn't surprise me as mainstream graphics are becoming more capable these days. Once an integrated GPU can play most titles on decent settings, I imagine that console gaming will take a really hard hit. If you can buy a mainstream laptop for everyday use and it also serves to play the latest games, why spend the ~$300 on a console as well?

Since this hasn't been the case yet, and only higher-end machines that cost substantially more than a console have played games well (and often require upgrades to keep up with graphics progress), the tides will be changing very soon. Consoles have been successful for their convenience of playing everything well, without worries of compatibility or unplayable framerates. Once mainstream PC's can do the same, consoles will largely disappear. Just my two cents . . .
Reply
mobrocket

what is considered a "pc game" cus i think they are considering everything that isnt nintendo, msft, or sony...
Reply
rjq

Games availability is also a key factor besides computer prices going down by the years.
Reply
snwkill

Yea this data doesn't suprise me... New shiny console comes out, pc sales slump as the console hardware becomes dated, people want to go back to the PC. I do believe things like direct to drive and steam have given the PC an edge, as people can impulse buy a lot easier at their desk than they can getting in the car and driving to the store...

I would be VERY suprised if the next gen consoles don't try to do this themselves, if I were Microsoft I would install a 500GB+ harddrive standard and either make a deal with steam or come up with my own internet store.
Reply
house70

Poetic justice would be to have Gruener write this article....
Reply
beardguy

In Asian countries PC gaming is much more popular than console gaming. For every Karaoke bar, there's a PC lounge for gaming.

PC's aren't going anywhere, even if in the US it seems like they may be dying.

As consoles become more like computers, there may not be much difference between the two anyway. Perhaps all that "console" will mean in the future, is a standard set of hardware tucked inside a nice little case.
Reply
leandrodafontoura

This speculation is ridiculous. The chart shows that console beats PC in sales, has been for the last 3 years and may continue to go on that way. Nvidia cant predict a result 4 years from now, specially when there will be a console refresh in 2 years.

Not saying PC gaming is dead, not saying we need a console refresh either
Reply
delbrugge

who cares who is winning. there are so many factors playing into both the console and pc world that neither is better. all i know is that building a gaming pc compared to buying a console is cheaper and all my friends are on xbox. that's all that matters to me.
Reply

Show more comments