I joke with the above Yahtzee image, really I do. I’ve grown to love console gaming, especially on handhelds, over the last decade. It’s just that I grew up a PC gamer, and I’m overjoyed to say that PC gaming just had the best E3 in years. In fact, if we must go on about who won or didn’t win E3, I’m going to go out on a limb and say it wasn’t a particular company or press conference. It was PC gaming.
I know this seems odd for people who are immersed fully in the consoleverse. After all, the games that everybody is making a big deal about are mostly found on console, and there’s still a pervasive belief in console-land that PC gaming is a niche activity that just doesn’t compare to consoles in terms of popularity. Here’s the thing, though. The PC gaming world has slowly but surely been surging into something massive over the past eight years or so. Occasional obnoxious elitists aside, we’ve just been doing it fairly quietly – probably because we’ve been too busy working on our gigantic backlogs born out of the great sales on Steam, GoG, Green Man Gaming, Humble Bundle, etc. Still, companies have really been noticing this PC gaming renaissance lately, and that notice came out in the open at E3 2015.
Let’s just take a look at my article from last week about console exclusivity. Both Microsoft and Sony have a nice small library of console exclusives, but notice the parentheses? Many of those console exclusives will also be released on PC. I expected that from Microsoft exclusives, because MS is trying to tie the PC ecosystem into the Xbox ecosystem with Windows 10, but even several PlayStation exclusives are coming to PC as well. The architecture of the two lead new-gen consoles makes porting far easier than it used to be, and companies have realized that the PC market can mean big money if they play their cards right. This is especially obvious when you look at multi-platform releases. On my list, only Kingdom Hearts 3 won’t be appearing on PC as well as PS4 and Xbox One.
Now add to that the many, varied PC exclusives that you can find these days. We’ve got everything from hard-core space sims and MOBAs to Japanese dating games and weird experimental indie stuff. The crowdfunding revolution has largely revolved around PCs, because it’s easier and cheaper to publish on an open platform. This year’s inaugural PC Gaming Show at E3 barely scratched the surface of the amazing breadth and depth of today’s PC gaming scene, but it did give some hints about why PC gaming is a quiet force to be reckoned with.
Delightfully hosted by e-sports commentator Sean “Day9” Plott, the PC Gaming Show was a laid-back affair full of interviews with developers and general love for the PC platform. It had a very different energy from the slick affairs presented in the console conferences, and yes, it dragged a bit, but I think the general feeling of the thing was on the right track. There weren’t a ton of “PC elitist” moments (aside from AMD’s CEO holding a graphic card aloft like she was auditioning for The Lion King ), just a bunch of developers sharing their passion and love for the game platform. Even Microsoft’s Phil Spencer took off his pitchman mask a bit, leaned back on the couch, and talked like a real person for a change.
That’s why PC gaming won E3 this year, and why a lot of people didn’t notice. We don’t make a ton of noise (except for squeals of glee at the start of a really great sale), but we’re everywhere, we love being PC gamers, and game companies have noticed. PC gaming has some big players like Microsoft and Valve, but in the end, nobody “owns” it. Add to that a gigantic playerbase that is willing to buy games even months or years after they release, and we’re seeing more and more developers and publishers deciding that they just can’t do without a PC version of their games. PC gaming is the leader of the digital content revolution, the leader of the crowdfunding movement, and it’s even coming to your TV set as a bunch of console-style PC boxes are poised to hit the market soon. E3 2015 showed that PC gaming isn’t niche anymore. In fact, it’s probably been the “next big thing” for a few years now… it’s just that it took console-centric E3 a while to actually notice.