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id “No Longer Makes Decisions Around PC”
Credited with titles like Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake, id Software’s John Carmack is synonymous with best-of-breed PC gaming.
But these days, he says, the burgeoning console market is id’s focus.
“…The ground truth is just that the sales numbers on the PC are not what they used to be and are not what they are on the consoles,” the programmer told Tom’s Hardware.
“We still think the PC is a market worth supporting, but we’re not making decision around the PC. It’s probably more of the junior partner in the cross-platform strategy, although obviously, our day-to-day development is predominately on the PC.”
As a developer that is primarily focused on packaged product, id may have reason be wary of the PC market. Many triple-A first-person shooters have found substantially bigger audiences on consoles than PCs in recent years.
But id is venturing beyond packaged products with Quake Live, a free web client version of Quake III Arena.
In spite of the business reasons that have driven id towards consoles, Carmack still has an affinity for the PC, and still expects the biggest id titles to make it to the platform.
“We certainly expect Rage and the Doom project on the PC,” he said. “We’re contractually obligated to have Rage on the PC, and I would be stunned if we did not do Doom 4 for the PC. It would just be wrong. Even if it was a marginal business case, we would still do it because it’s the right thing to do.”
This was basically what Carmack said months ago at GDC during the demo of the RAGE and the Id built IdTech5 engine, which was made to program easily on all platforms at the same time. I think viewing everything available to get a game on is the feeling for all third party, on console as well, not just PC.
As a gamer of all, I will always buy Id Games on PC, regardless, and last I saw there is still a pretty massive FPS fanbase on PC, they just don't buy software like 360 owners do, in some cases. Orange Box for instance apparently sold better on PC then it did on 360 and PS3 combined. So, I still think there's a pretty good market for PC franchises. On PC, I still play older titles on a consistent basis like CS, DoD, CoD1, UT2004, along with new FPS's like CoD4,and STALKER (both selling millions of copies each). Despite success with certain titles, it makes complete sense to develop for console as well. It basically guarantee's these development costs are covered and then some.
"…The ground truth is just that the sales numbers on the PC are not what they used to be and are not what they are on the consoles,"
I agree with Carmack's statement but I'm harsher. The PC platform reminds me a zombie. It's dead but it still moves about mindlessly.
For every game that sells well on it , I can give you 4 or 5 that sold even more on the console. Not only that, , where is the innovation besides graphics? Where are the LittleBigPlanet's and Metal Gear Solid 4's? I still haven't found a PC game better than Ico and Shadow of the Colossus in sheer solid and unique gameplay. For PC it's just a another pretty shooter, MMO, strategy game or castrated console port. Now don't get me wrong, I grew up playing Wolfenstien, Commander Keen, and Wing Commander so I like the platform. But I do realize that until they can do something besides making the graphics better, it will continue to be a loser. More SPORE type games and maybe that will change.
I see it the opposite. You just need to look harder. There is a huge indie scene with great games out there, they just don't have their own soft drink at every convenient store. Audiosuft? Darwinia? Defcon? Peggle? and a tons of others. These are amazing little indie games that give the PC part of it's personality. If FPS, RTS, RGP, MMO, SIM, isn't your thing, then obviously the platform is going to look dull to you. If Action, Fighting, Sports, and thumbstick aiming isn't your thing, console gaming in genreal isn't going to appeal to everyone. Consoles have their AAA titles, but LittleBigPlanet is the exception to the rule, not to mention, those guys started out on PC mind you, not console. Sony spent the money to keep these guys developing on the PS3, and it's the only reasons it's PS3 only. Developers have been coming from the PC space for quite sometime, the best in my opinion, to also make console games that are considered some of greatest. Forget about Gears of War if it wasn't for Epic's start and growth and fanbase (which they've now mostly turned on) on the PC. Bungie? Mac developer in the midst of making a starcraft clone, Halo, MS buys them out and there ya go. MGS? Well, that's the difference between a console gamer and PC Gamer, while I have all gaming machines, MGS4 was fun, it's not in my top ten list of games this year, and personally I would much rather see a HL3 EP3 from Valve, but to each their own. I didn't find anything special with MGS beyond some gorgeous cutsenses, well done, but rather dull and lacking gameplay and convoluted story(as usual).
Consoles are like Hollywood and the PC is like the Indie Scene, more money in one, and some crossover with the players, but both being important. Without Sins, Warhammer, Will Wright, Valve, Id Software, Blizzard...etc..etc.. the gaming landscape would look pretty dreary. On 360, there is Too Human coming up, and if it doesn't turn out the way most would like it, you're waiting until Gears 2 comes along as the next game to have. On PC? There's a multitude of AAA experiences coming out, moreso than any one console alone. Spore, Warhammer, Stalker CS, Space Siege, on to multiplats like Fallout 3 and Farcry 2 , I would much rather have a decent rig than a PS3 or a 360. Now, if you want to lump on consoles into one category and compare it to one platform, the PC, well that just doesn't make much sense, but then I could see where people are making off comment points.
Seriously, get acquainted with PC gaming, innovation isn't limited to certain platforms. Without any platform companies on the PC imposing their will on all publishers there is even a lot more room for new concepts and honest competition, and no, that innovation (MGS4? Seriously? ;) ) isn't only happening on the technical (graphical) front but also in terms of atmosphere and game design. I'd love to see something special like Stalker on consoles but that didn't happen. Same goes for Crysis' sandbox feeling, Eve Online's player driven experience, all those recent fresh strategy experiences like CoH, SupCom, WiC and SoaSE, the actual meaningful Western RPG titles like The Witcher or Mask of the Betrayer and all those indie titles. They were all unique for their respective genre (mix) and got the most out of the PC. You can say the PC has been lacking more than a few neat titles in the first half of this year (it's been a real void) but you can't disregard last year or the upcoming games because of that.
The sales aren't even that bad when you start making complete (NPD only covers the US) comparisons for seperate platforms instead of the overly used "PC vs all consoles together" numbers. Going multiplatform, especially for the no-nonsense shooters id is making, makes sense from a business point of view, as long as developers also tailor every version for each platform's unique strengths.