Gaming has seen its stock grow in the last decade and a half. Advancements in the performance of consoles as well as the rise of its marketability as a pop-culture cornerstone and as a profession have led the hobby and industry to a new tier. PC gaming is understood to be the pinnacle. It’s also the potentially most expensive way to do it. Despite this, and despite the plethora of options on the market which enable gamers to access video games at various price points, PC gaming sales went up 13% in the last year.
The Perks of PC Gaming
As mentioned, PC gaming is widely touted as the best way to play major and indie titles. The performance capabilities far exceed that of console or mobile gaming. Not only that, but they can be upgraded.
As technology develops games demand more and more of what’s running them such as memory, storage space, graphics capability and zero latency. Of course, there’ll be games which don’t have high spec requirements – either those smaller indie titles which are downloaded on console and PC or browser games for mobile like those at (for example) slotsia.com/uk/mobile-casinos/no-deposit and their PC equivalents – and there’ll be those which ask the world of it. Cyberpunk 2077 is an example of the latter, which, upon its release, was essentially unplayable on the PS4 and Xbox One – what were then the leading consoles.
Whereas console and mobile players have to wait for totally new products and upgrades to be released so that certain games run at a high quality, PC gamers can transform their rig with a single component, making them go from unviable to viable. Admittedly, these single pieces can cost as much as consoles, but if this one thing still creates a disparity between what the PC can do and the console can do, then the investment, if it’s possible, is potentially worth it.
Not only this, but, at their core, obviously, they are computers. These powerful machines can also accommodate other functions beyond gaming: working, video editing, cryptocurrency mining. So investment in them can cover multiple needs should gamers need them for employment purposes.
The State of the Market
In the last ten years, PC gaming’s sales have been steady, consistent. This is the first year where it’s seen major growth. This came during a year when the much discussed next-generation consoles from Sony and Microsoft were announced to be hitting the shelves. The PlayStation 5 and the Xbox X/S Series were tipped to close the performance gap between console and PC. Upon their releases, reviews and customers were backing this up: never before had consoles felt like a reasonable alternative to the PC gaming experience.
Mobile gaming, while immensely popular, and offering some similarities, in terms of game styles – like battle royales thanks to the PUBG mobile versions, for instance, and other simulation-strategy games – doesn’t quite exist in the same decision space as console vs. PC, so it’s impact on PC – in its current iteration – is minor.
Why are gaming PCs receiving such high interest? One reason may be the rise of streamers and influences. Most of them play on PCs and their fans may be swayed with their preferences and expertise – as well as their giveaways and discount codes. This is the exposure normalise PCs, overriding the assumption and narrative that they are niche and expensive.
The Future
PC gaming will face some technological advancements which could affect its growth – namely cloud gaming. While Google Stadia looks like it’s on a bit of a wobble at the moment, a medium which basically alleviates the need for top of the range hardware to process and run games, could see the necessity for premium rigs reduce. Mobiles could move to the forefront.
Also, as mentioned, another year of hype and another year of purchasable stock for next generation consoles could see them become more attractive to PC gamers should they wish to keep gaming slightly simpler.
Gaming PC’s sales figures are a reaction to certain contemporary trends. It makes sense that they’re doing well. As it’s not a surprise, then, is the assumption that it’ll be a sustainable growth – that what is happening may not entirely bottom-out and plummet?
