Have many times have you seen a new AAA title get released, you immediately get excited, and once you read more about its upcoming launch, you find out that it will only be available for gaming consoles such as PlayStation and Xbox with there’s no official release date for PCs?
I’ve seen that enough times, and I started wondering why this is happening, in a world where PCs are still some of the most-used devices. Are gaming consoles have so much more gamers? I went on a lonely digital journey to find out.
The technical differences between gaming consoles and PCs
Let’s start with the most basic part of the story: When you start designing and building a game, you’ll have to start from either gaming consoles or PCs. This is because although the two devices are basically doing the same thing, playing games, they do have lots of differences when it comes to the technical side.
Consoles have fixed hardware configurations, making it easier for developers to optimize games for a specific setup. Developing for PC, on the other hand, involves accommodating a wide range of hardware, from budget builds to high-end rigs. This requires additional time and resources.
Overall, choosing one way to begin with makes it a whole lot easier and more convenient, especially for companies with smaller teams.
Then you have all the basic configuration issues. For example, console games are designed with controllers and TV screens in mind, whereas PC versions often need adjustments for keyboard/mouse input, customizable settings, and different resolutions. It’s like Android and iOS, where iOS only runs and has fully been optimized for Apple devices, whereas Android has to be able to run in a huge range of different models, screens, and hardware.
If you do create a game for, let’s say, gaming consoles, you can then port your game from the console to the PC, but that process involves significant rework. The game engine may need adjustments to handle different graphics APIs (e.g., DirectX, Vulkan) and additional hardware configurations, while the PC platform’s variability means that developers need extensive testing to ensure stability across diverse setups. This adds to the timeline.
The Staggered Release Strategy and the Piracy concerns
Some marketers strongly believe that the so-called “Staggered Release Strategy” is the perfect way for game developers/companies to boost significantly their initial sales. Basically, by choosing a single platform to release your game allows you to focus on the marketing efforts and generate hype.
A “staggered release” can also help build even more overcrowding in the market for the game when it launches on another platform later, which is basically free marketing made by the community of gamers. It kinda reminds me of that saying, “One step at a time”, which I find great advice.
But let’s get into the bigger picture for a second: When a game launches for PCs, what is the main and biggest issue that most game developers are facing? Piracy. Historically speaking, there’s a huge list of websites that provide pirated and cracked games completely for free, and some may even compress them even better than the company that made the game.
Although some may think that most games nowadays need to connect to a dedicated server in order to connect you online, which makes piracy useless for online multiplayer, players can still enjoy the whole campaign, often with many side quests and bonus missions – which essentially, is a big problem.
On the other hand, console games are harder to pirate due to hardware and software restrictions. Releasing on consoles first allows developers to capture maximum revenue before a potential PC release, which is more susceptible to piracy.
Sony’s and Microsoft’s exclusive rights
If there’s any competition in the gaming – and mostly in the console – world, the biggest two countries fighting each other would be Sony and Microsoft. As most people already know, Sony is the manufacturer of the PlayStation gaming consoles, while Microsoft is behind the Xbox gaming consoles.
We aren’t going to talk about the PC gaming world, where Windows is still the leader – although other alternatives such as gaming on Linux have also seen a big increase over the years.
Both Sony and Microsoft often pay developers or even own the studios outright to create exclusive content for their platforms. For example, The Last of Us franchise is developed by Naughty Dog, a studio owned by Sony, so releasing the game on PlayStation first is a no-brainer business model.
It’s all about maximizing the hardware sales, exclusive games incentivize players to buy specific consoles. By delaying the PC release, console makers ensure more gamers are drawn to their ecosystem.
Apart from gamers, this business model also hit us, bloggers and vloggers, who we have to increase our budget and get not one, but two gaming consoles in order to be the first to play the newest AAA releases. There are people who may even own both gaming consoles and a gaming PC also, but that’s not the case for most people anyone.
When a game gets built or a release date, you should always look at the company that developed it and their release history. If they always release their titles for gaming consoles, you should expect the same for their upcoming releases too.
Many new and upcoming games are expected to be released for gaming consoles first and later for PCs, including Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6).
Do you expect a specific game to get released for PCs that’s already available for gaming consoles, are you already enjoying them through your PlayStation or Xbox? Let me know in the comments down below.
