Recent trends show that game developers are choosing consoles over computers, but could that be a good thing for PC gamers?
According to Markus "Notch" Persson, creator of PC indie sensation Minecraft, big-name publishers are almost exclusively focusing on consoles for graphically intensive titles, only turning to the personal computer for ports. Publishers no longer see the PC as a lucrative option, mostly because of graphics cards – customers don't have to pay to upgrade consoles' graphical capabilities on a yearly basis.
Look at Call of Duty: Black Ops. While the Activision-published title sold extraordinarily well, the PC version was lambasted for its shoddy multiplayer and dismissed by some critics as an inferior port.
This makes indie games look better by comparison, says Persson.
"The indie market really could blossom because people started realizing that we’re actually doing interesting ideas in the indie games," said the Minecraft maker to Rock Paper Shotgun. "Something like in the early 90's, games that were made by id Software or Epic –- small developer teams who actually took chances because they didn’t have huge projects."
It's an interesting thought – as big companies continue to abandon the computer gaming scene, independent developers could step in to fill the gaps. We've already seen it with recent indie PC hits like Minecraft and Audiosurf, games that can be enjoyed no matter how antique your computer might be.
Of course, it's hard to see companies like Blizzard giving up on the PC anytime soon. But maybe we're seeing a new trend in the way that developers approach computer gaming – a trend that might be very good for our wallets.
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