EPTCapitalism is inherently democratic, but it differs from (or is identical to, depending upon your level of cynicism) our definition of democracy in one key way: the rich get more votes than the poor. To put it more accurately, people who spend more money get more of a say in what products and services are offered up for public consumption. Restaurants are going to cater to their actual customers rather than the thrifty family that eats out twice yearly. They're going to serve food that these frequent customers will buy, lest they take their dollars elsewhere. Menu items that aren't selling will be replaced with items that will sell, and sales figures for particular menu items are obviously going to tilt in favor of those who dine out frequently. That's common sense. Should the thrifty family expect the same level of service as more frequent customers? Absolutely. But they don't have the right to order items not on the menu or make unreasonable demands of their server just because the event of dining out is so much more special to them. And that, I would argue, is exactly what PC gamers are doing. They're not content with the offerings of the market. Rather than acting like normal, reasonable human beings, though, they're shouting at the top of their lungs about how their favorite restaurant no longer offers the meatloaf sandwich. A normal person would just order something else.
I remember when Crystal Pepsi was released. Drinking it was incredibly cool for a few weeks, at least where I was from. Of course, we all know what happened: sales slowed, and Pepsi discontinued the product. I'm sure there were a good number of people who really liked Crystal Pepsi. Maybe some people still look nostalgically back on that lone year of production as the good ol' days. I had a few friends, I remember, who were a little miffed that Crystal Pepsi was no longer available, but rather than writing angry letters to Pepsi, signing petitions, or taking their cause to the streets, they did the rational thing: they drank something else. They moved their dollars into another product. Quietly and without any melodramatic antics, they shifted their support elsewhere. This sort of conduct isn't defeatism. It's realism. These customers understood that they were the minority. They also understood that their choice of soft drink was not life or death. They understood that Pepsi did not owe them anything. Most importantly, they understood that they had a choice. The only voice they needed to raise was the voice their money gave them, a silent vote that would be analyzed in terms of sales figures. Maybe they would never get their dream product, but that was fine; there were numerous options to quench their thirst.
Of course, I doubt the people who liked Crystal Pepsi went through this exact thought process; they didn't have to. It made sense to them without any need for introspection, because they were reasonable human beings. The reason I've spelled it out in such detail is that, apparently, it doesn't make sense to PC gamers.
The following is my open letter to people who still call themselves PC gamers.
Dear Oblivious,
Infinity Ward, Valve, and Blizzard, among the many other developers, are companies that create games in order to pay the salaries of their employees. The do not owe you anything. They will release a product, and you will either buy it or you won't. It's really that simple. If you are truly outraged over Infinity Ward not offering dedicated servers on the PC, you are welcome to take your money elsewhere, just as normal human beings do. If you really think that Left 4 Dead 2 should have been offered up as downloadable content for the original Left 4 Dead, you're free to not buy that, too. If you're fuming over Starcraft 2 being sold as a trilogy of full-priced games -- you guessed it -- do not indulge Blizzard. You have a vote. It's called your wallet. Buy other games -- or don't. Games are just a leisure activity, after all. If they're no longer fun for you, maybe it's time for a new hobby. I hear that the Kindle has made reading cool again.
Of course, some of you are going to take a different path. You'll just steal electronic copies of the games "on principle" rather than pay those dirty, money-grubbing developers an unconscionable $50 each for their years of labor. I'm not going to call you thieves; if you were never going to buy the game in the first place, you're not depriving anyone of what they're owed. Instead, I'm going to say something that should concern you quite a bit more: you're not customers. You don't get a vote in how products are developed, because you're not spending any money. From the eyes of a company producing a product, you might as well not exist. OK, so you get to enjoy the fruits of their labors for free. But it's not the game you wanted, and every day, games are going to continue to move farther and farther from your definition of what they should be. If that's not evident from the "consolification" of today's games, I don't know what to say.
The fact is -- and maybe it's a sad fact, but it's a fact -- that PC gamers are a minority now. Video game sales were an $11.7 billion industry in 2008. PC game sales accounted for $701 million of that, about 6%. Even if we adjust that figure to compensate for digital sales from services like Steam and Direct2Drive -- services which do not release sales figures -- I don't think any reasonable person would conclude that PC game sales represent more than 15% of the market. The real number is probably closer to 10%. [EDITED due to some valid concerns in the thread: MMO subscriptions are a substantial amount, probably another $3 billion before factoring in all the CS, maintenance, and operating costs, but this incredible potential for profit is actually a detriment to non-MMO titles on the PC, in that it shifts developer focus, as I allude to below.] I hate to break the news to you in such blunt fashion, but from your conduct this holiday season, I didn't see any other way to make sure you understand. To extend my restaurant analogy from above, you don't get to dictate what goes on the menu. It's time to accept that, to start acting like reasonable human beings and less like subway vagrants. $701 million, adjusted to $1.2 billion to be generous, is nothing to sneeze at. You still have some market clout. But it's time to start proving it. If you want the PC to survive as a "hardcore" gaming platform, you have to start rewarding the few developers who still produce content that interests you, even if its not your personal definition of perfect. It's time to settle for "good enough." If you want Modern Warfare 4 (it's too late for 3) and Left 4 Dead 3 to be anything more than console ports, or if you want Starcraft 3 to come out this millennium, it is time to start showing companies that there is profit involved. This is no time to stand by your misguided principles. This is the time to start showing developers that you are willing to spend money on products that cater to you. If you don't, and you're still hoping to game on your PC ten years from now... well, I hope you enjoy The Sims, World of Warcraft, and Farmville, because that's the direction the market is headed. Otherwise, you might as well start saving your money for that Xbox 720.
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Recommended reading, especially the viewer comments:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_industry#Overview
http://news.bigdownload.com/2009/01/16/npd-records-14-percent-drop-in-2008-pc-game-us-retail-sales/
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/18/modern-warfare-2-pc-wont-support-dedicated-servers/
http://www.penny-arcade.com/2009/10/26/
http://kotaku.com/5396523/modern-warfare-2-breaks-pre order-records
http://www.develop-online.net/news/32117/Valve-fans-rebel-against-Left-4-Dead-sequel
http://kotaku.com/5397149/modern-warfare-2-pc-multiplayer-capped-at-9v9
http://kotaku.com/5385941/modern-warfare-2-pcs-iwnet-an-improvement-over-dedicated-servers-says-iw
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/10/starcraft-2-to-be-released-as-a-trilogy/
Just for fun, type "starcraft 2 trilogy" into Google and see what the search engine provides as a final, suggested word.
And one last quote: "I work at Gamestop myself, with the three different SKU's we have on MW2 it's probably around 2.1:1 from 360 to ps3 (we have about 253 reservers) and I think of those 253, four are for PC. Complain all you want about dedicated servers, not like you were gonna buy the game anyway"
THOUGHTS? I couldn't cover everything, and there are obviously counter-arguments to the points I made. I am very interested to see what a group of "hardcore" PC gamers has to say about this.
