For those that don’t already know, Michael Pachter is a digital media and electronics analyst at Wedbush Securities, and the Head of Research for the Private Shares Group (a division of Wedbush). He’s well-educated, too, with an MBA and two law degrees. Pachter also has quite the reputation for making wildly controversial statements, especially concerning video games and their sales. For example, he once commented that Japanese game developers had an inability to break through in the West, saying that though they are supremely talented, they aren’t raised in Western culture, they don’t think like Westerners, so we aren’t seeing the same type of games produced by them. This statement ignores a plethora of naunces that are key in a given game’s development, yet people still listen to this guy when he hits the headlines again and again.
Most recently, his wild opinions were turned from Japanese developers to PC gamers. Pachter was interviewed by the Daily Star, which wanted to ask after his opinion on the PS4 Pro versus PC competition. According to him, PC gamers wouldn’t be inclined to buy a PS4 Pro at all. While that might be true in some cases, his reasoning is more than a little off. Pachter thinks that “PC gamers are like racists; they only like their own kind and they have no interest in venturing out and mixing with other races.” This gets even better when Pachter decides to expand on that: “PC gamers are arrogant twits who are convinced what they do is better than what anybody else can possibly do”. He goes on to recommend the PS4 Pro to anyone that doesn’t already have a PS4.
Alright, let’s unpack Pachter’s statements first. He seems to be under the impression that PC gamers are bunch of elitists who sneer at the very concept of a gaming console. Again, this may be true for some, but definitely not all. Honestly, all the PC gamers I’ve met in my life own almost every other console out there – even if they don’t use them very often. Heck, they’re one of the best sources for the game-borrowing network because they own at least ten games per console. Nonetheless, PC gamers have given me the impression they’re pretty open to consoles for the games and convenience.
That said, it is also important to note why the Daily Star interviewed him in the first place, and why this glorified marketing analyst keeps getting headlines. Pachter happens to be an authority on marketing because of his apparent education, especially having worked for an investment company (Wedbush Securites). He should know fairly well how to predict the sales and which demographic to appeal to. Yet, he’s obviously a fish in the water that doesn’t know how to swim, so why do people keep asking his opinion? Much like Fox News, he confirms the stereotypical opinions of those outside of a given demographic. For example, the stereotype that PC gamers are arrogant elitists stems from the perspective of someone who has barely brushed the PC gaming world. Especially with all the technical lingo PC gamers use to communicate anything from reccomendations to game quality, it can be easy for someone unknowledgable to get confused and frustrated. That frustration at not knowing something can lead to all sorts of hateful and misinformed stereotypes.
In this case, it’s an untrue stereotype about PC gamers. This is extremely detrimental to the video game industry because stereotypes are the perfect blanket terms investors can use to define a demographic. If investors were to listen to Pachter’s opinion on PC gamers, they might decide not to bother investing in the PS4 Pro. Sony has stated that the PS4 Pro is aimed at PC gamers who prefer high-fidelity graphics, and if Pachter says their horse is too high to ever buy a console, than investors might expect the PS4 Pro to flop, hurting its chances before it’s even come out.
This is why many of Pachter’s opinions should be treated as the grossly false rants that they are. When he makes controversial statements like these, he confirms the stereotypes that people outside of the game industry adhere to. In turn, these people can alter the industry through their investments – which results in awful consequences. What can we do about this? I want to say “go forth and educate”, but honestly, the best we can do is just exist. PC gamers are the most wide and diverse group in the gaming industry, it’s impossible for people like Pachter to brush us aside so flippantly for long.