Game Rants 09.06.06: The Death of PC Gaming Part III
Posted by Will Scott on 09.06.2006
Are MMOs killing the PC gaming market?
Well...here we are again. Not breaking up the series this time, because...well...it's time for it to end. Let's recap, shall we?
In the past two parts of this column, we've had a discussed how the necessity of upgrading a PC, the
lack of exclusivity of PC games, and the continuing encroachment on traditional PC territory of console games
is causing harm to the status of the PC gaming in general. However, these factors have existed in the PC
market for nearly as long as there's been competition between the PC and the consoles. While particularly
harmful, these aren't the sort of things that can actually kill off the development of new PC games, just slow
them down. The final part of this article actually focuses on something that's making a good chunk of change
for PC game makers at the moment, but could be particularly harmful in the long run...the MMO.
Now, I'll be the first to admit - I love MMOs. I started off with Star Wars Galaxies, moved on to City of
Heroes, and still currently play World of WarCraft. The constant updating of the content, the social aspect,
and the sheer addictive qualities of these games guarantee a good time for a lot of us, right? And it's no
secret that these are money makers - World of WarCraft (currently the most popular) has millions of
subscribers, and pulls in a solid fifteen dollars a month from its US customers. Let's not even factor in
expansion packs that retail for more...we can very much assume that these games pull in a good chunk of
change.
That, in a way, might be the biggest harm. Those games that work (and not all of them do - there's a
graveyard of failed MMOs hanging about) do tend to have a loyal paying audience, willing to shell out not only
the cash for the game itself, but will continue to make payments. This would be all well and good, if it was
used to develop new PC games, but a good deal of this cost goes towards server maintenance and paying the
necessary support staff for the games. And what profit that goes in to these games tends to go in to
companies that, to be honest, are primarily MMO makers.
Sony Online Entertainment, it of EverQuest and Star Wars Galaxies fame, manages a host of other
MMOs including The Matrix Online. The company behind City of Heroes is the same behind Guild Wars and
Auto Assault. And so on and so forth...these companies are investing in the same genre over and over again,
pulling development dollars away from other game types. And then there's Blizzard - World of WarCraft's
success has all but killed other projects like Ghost, and a company known for Real Time Strategy and
Action-Adventure games inches closer to focusing solely on a single genre.
Of course, the MMO'ss worst effect on the PC gaming community is the monthly fee. By pulling out $15
a month, these games discourage gamers with a limited budget from buying other games. If you're like me,
that $15 is a good bit of disposable budget...and shelling out another $50 is a bit much. And when games
don't invest in new games, the companies creating them have a bit less leeway in doing things that are truely
creative, instead focusing on creating "safe" games that are sure to generate a profit.
Like MMOs.
This isn't to say the concept is bad (I buy in to it, obviously), but coupled with the other faults of PC
gaming, the MMO could (in the future) be a major part of the deathblow. It's not as if the PC will ever truely die
as a platform for gaming - as the machine becomes ever more present in homes, it's a given that games will
continue to be developed. What might die are the truely creative games, the games that take a little bit of risk
to deliver a quality experience. And to be honest, that quiet death of creativity seems worse than losing the
entire platform.
And that's it for the Death of PC Gaming. If you liked it, hated it, or have something to add, e-mail me at thepariaheffect@yahoo.com. Next week, there'll be an all new topic and hopefully an all new name.
Once again, if you can think of a better name for this column...e-mail it to me.
