Will we see an age of PC exclusives again?

[Gimpymoo]

A time when games are geared for PC first to take advantage of the platform as a whole.

I look back at the late 80's, 90's and early 2000's and think how wonderful it all was. Creativity and originality were rife, the envelope was being well and truly pushed. Am I right or are my goggles rose tinted?

Simply for financial reasons alone, I can understand why developers need to get a console release, the exposure alone is something which cannot be turned down and even if a game is tripe, I imagine can still turn a few quid.

Am I waxing lyrical over an era which was what it was but can never be repeated? The cat is now out of the bag so to speak.

Sure, for many a year I would take a sideways glance at the consoles and think "Would be nice to have that game on the PC" but very rarely at that time would you see crossovers. PC had its games and consoles had theirs but the PC had some amazing standalone titles (Homeworld, Battlefield 2, Half Life.. I am looking at you), Where are those games now?

Eventually, we got the cross platform releases and to be honest, it just seemed to suck all the creativity out of everything. Sure, you get the odd rough diamond every now and then but on the whole, not as often.

Is the concept of anything being "Platform Exclusive" an outdated concept in this day and age? I would agree to some degree, but when one platform can offer soo much more over another, why not develop to it's strengths?

Despite what many journalists and peasants have said over the years, PC gaming is not dead, CliffyB, eat my nut, BUT, will the PC have a renaissance in the upcoming years and if so, what will be the catalyst?

 

[Smokey Deza]

Nope.

 

[Usher]

It would be nice indeed, PC gaming is way more expensive of course if we must have the latest kit but console gaming is a total no for me. Nearly every website showing gameplay trailers will be on a console & I can tell in two seconds because of the lack of fluid movement because they are using a jerky gamepad.

 

[heartburnron]

Whilst there may not be a lot of AAA PC exclusive games, there are still quite a few PC exclusives that come out each year. The problem is there are literally 1000's of new game released on Steam each year that they get swallowed up.

Here are some that were released this year: https://www.mweb.co.za/games/view/tabid/4210/Article/27883/All-the-PC-exclusives-for-2017.aspx

And some in the pipeline for this year: https://pc-gaming.co.za/2018/01/17/pc-exclusive-games-confirmed-for-2018/

Personally really looking forward to Agony.

 

[neoboy]

Doubt we'll be getting any full blown AAA exclusives, simply too much money to be made across different platforms. Budget are just getting bigger and bigger so can't afford to miss out.

That's of course not to say we still don't and won't get good exclusive games on the platform.

 

[MissChief]

Once upon a time consoles were strange beasts with unique and complicated CPU and GPU designs and strange operating systems which meant dedicated teams that could only really work on individual consoles as, simply, moving from Xbox 360 to PS3 was a vastly different environment. Often to the extent that many developers even created cross console releases in different studios, sometimes even in different countries with a lot of collaboration in art design, voice acting etc. This was, as you've said, they hey day of PC exclusives as, for many smaller studios, they just didn't have the finances to do console releases.

Then Consoles started to become a lot more like PC's internally and then actually doing multi-platform releases was feasible for many studios, even smaller ones unaffiliated with the larger publishing houses. It's a no-brainer for a studio to do a console version these days as, although the licensing cost to Sony/MS is high, the game price is also high and you get a lot of tools designed to make development for PS and XB easier direct from the manufacturer. You could easily sell 2-3x more console copies than PC copies, simply because you're designing to a common system rather than thousands of variations.

The only AAA console exclusives these days are games developed by studios owned or with a very close relationship to the console manufacturer itself.

 

[Grafter67]

I agree with MissChief except I'd say more like 10x console sales compared to PC. Unless the console makers give free access to independent developers, PC's are dead. Anyone who can remember the 80's in UK will remember the brief time BBC sinclair and commodore were killing USA and Japan.

 

[martin363]

Once upon a time consoles were strange beasts with unique and complicated CPU and GPU designs and strange operating systems which meant dedicated teams that could only really work on individual consoles as, simply, moving from Xbox 360 to PS3 was a vastly different environment. Often to the extent that many developers even created cross console releases in different studios, sometimes even in different countries with a lot of collaboration in art design, voice acting etc. This was, as you've said, they hey day of PC exclusives as, for many smaller studios, they just didn't have the finances to do console releases.

Then Consoles started to become a lot more like PC's internally and then actually doing multi-platform releases was feasible for many studios, even smaller ones unaffiliated with the larger publishing houses. It's a no-brainer for a studio to do a console version these days as, although the licensing cost to Sony/MS is high, the game price is also high and you get a lot of tools designed to make development for PS and XB easier direct from the manufacturer. You could easily sell 2-3x more console copies than PC copies, simply because you're designing to a common system rather than thousands of variations.

The only AAA console exclusives these days are games developed by studios owned or with a very close relationship to the console manufacturer itself.

This. The Xbox is basically a PC and commercially you want games on all 3 platforms, PC, Xbox and PS4. Console exclusives are often subsidized by Sony, MS etc.

 

[~Dockie]

And some in the pipeline for this year: https://pc-gaming.co.za/2018/01/17/pc-exclusive-games-confirmed-for-2018/

Personally really looking forward to Agony.

Not sure why Agony made the list, it isn't a PC exclusive.

 

[Vern1961]

I would love if we could go back to the days of the old military flight sims (Microprose and EA/Janes) which were complex and designed purely for the PC along with a 300 page manual that provided excellent reading in bed or on the loo! However we have to accept it isn't going to happen - after recently getting into Elite Dangerous I was quite surprised to discover it's also on the consoles.

 

[x-st]

Given that PC gaming is getting more expensive due to mining, and potentially causing a reduction in the PC gamer demographic, I'd have thought that most big publishers would consider how long this is likely to persist. If mining continues to push out people who just want to game, and reduces the number of new GPU's going to the regular consumer, I can't see that they'd view the PC as a market worth making exclusive games for, and stick to the less price volatile console market. Of course there will always be exclusive indie games with lower demands but they're probably unlikely to be a draw for the masses.

 

[rs155]

The console are pc's now, If you make the game for one of the platform's you are making it for them all (pc,ps4,xbox).

I do miss the days of old when a pc game was really different than a console version of the same game. old skool medal of honour comes to mind.

 

[Zethor]

I look back at the late 80's, 90's and early 2000's and think how wonderful it all was. Creativity and originality were rife, the envelope was being well and truly pushed. Am I right or are my goggles rose tinted?

Definitely a case of rose tinted goggles. There are more great games being developed and released on PC than ever before, indies are doing very well and some of them are breaking sales records.

PC had its games and consoles had theirs but the PC had some amazing standalone titles (Homeworld, Battlefield 2, Half Life.. I am looking at you), Where are those games now?

Since 2016 we have had:

Overwatch, Titafall 2, BF1, PUBG - each of those are better MP games than both Half Life and BF 2.
Prey and possibly Evil Within 2 match the Half Life SP experience.
Homeworld's strategy quality gameplay is matched/surpassed by Xcom 2 or Total War Warhammer.

There's so much more out there and it's so varied and amazing: Inside, Stardew Valley, Rimworld, Dark Souls 3, Endless Space, MODS like Brutal Doom or Endreal. All of it in 2 years. We're in a new golden age of gaming so maybe you just have other interests nowadays?

 

[MikeTheNative]

Definitely a case of rose tinted goggles. There are more great games being developed and released on PC than ever before, indies are doing very well and some of them are breaking sales records.

Nostalgia is a very powerful thing especially if you played the game as a child or teenager. There is nothing wrong with having nostalgia for older games but at least call it how it is. Not the 'all new games are crap and not how they used to be' attitude. Quite often you go back to these classics and they don't hold up after these years, and I mean gameplay not graphics.

 

[TallPaul1878]

Never again. Games will always be designed for consoles first as they are the biggest sellers.

By ignoring the consoles a developer is deliberately doing themselves out of massive profits.

The only games that will be designed specifically for PC are games that just cannot work on a console. Think big MMOs and RTS type games or dedicated flight or racing simulator games.

Your common garden big budget action adventure games will always be designed for the console crowd.

 

[IronWarrior]

It would be nice indeed, PC gaming is way more expensive of course .

No it's not.

 

[~>Dg<~]

makes no business sense to do so. so no.

 

[DELETED_195422]

Not AAA exclusives. Most of which are debauched, cookie cutter nonsense created for wee Joe with the ****head haircut.

Outside AAA, there is more exclusives titles on the PC, it has more new IP than i can keep up with, plus it has a whole strategy genre that would be impossible on consoles.

Look at Divinity: Original Sin 2, arguably the best RPG of 2017, but it was mostly ignored by the gaming media because it wasn't on consoles. Pathetic.

Also, those three VR games Valve are currently creating should be interesting and could change VR to a must have, rather than a maybe product.

Given that PC gaming is getting more expensive due to mining, and potentially causing a reduction in the PC gamer demographic

Mining won't have much of an effect, if any, on the PC market in the long term. PC gaming is booming and just gets bigger every year. While the console market will decline.

For example, there are 3 apprentices that work with me aged 18-19, they all game on PC and their iPads, not one of them own a console, nor have the desire to buy them either. All their mates are on these platforms too. It's a completely different generation from the one i (and most others on here) came from.

Those thinking of leaving PC gaming (you see them on here sometimes) will just be replaced by those 18+ year olds i was referring to above.

 

[HazardO]

There's no way a AAA game publisher would invest in developing a game and ignore the console market. TBH we're lucky these days to even get PC exclusive options like >60 frame rates, non standard resolutions, and support of KB + mouse. In many games the console versions combined will outstrip PC sale many times over. In bf1 for instance there are currently 3x as many console players as PC players.

For casual indie developers, you're unlikely to see any of them ignore the phone/tablet market, so I wouldn't expect many exclusives there either.

Maybe a flight simulator developer would do PC only.

 

[Mark A]

Any game that starts off as an exclusive to PC always ends up going to console when Microsoft or Sony offer up a pile of cash for it. Like Pubg for example.

So the people saying games are always designed for consoles first are wrong as there are quite a few games on console that started off as PC early access games.

No it's not.

Crypto currency is really messing with GPU prices and only looks to get worse. This seems like it could really hurt PC gaming down the line. I have been waiting to replace my 970 for years, but the prices of the 1070 never seem to drop.