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[CyberPanda]

Take-Two CEO, Strauss Zelnick, shared some interesting thoughts about the potential PC sales of the company’s games. According to Zelnick, the world has changes and the PC format can now account for 40% or 50% of a multi-platform game’s revenue.

As Zelnick told GamesIndustry:

“The world has changed. When we consider a console release, the PC format can be 40% or 50% now of that revenue. Ten years ago, that number was 1% or 2%. Clearly, the world is changing. A previously closed system is indeed turning into an open system. That means hardware is going to look more like hardware and less like hardware taxing software, which is great news for us.”

This basically explains why Red Dead Redemption 2 is coming to the PC, and why all future Take-Two will find their way on our platform. Speaking of RDR2, Rockstar and Take-Two claimed that a PC version was in the plans from the get-go. Yeap, despite not announcing the PC version at first, the companies had already plans to release it on the PC.

To be honest, this does not surprise us at all. After all, it’s the exact same thing Rockstar and Take-Two did with Grand Theft Auto 5. And you can bet your asses that they will – most likely – do the same thing with Grand Theft Auto 6.

Take-Two CEO: "When we consider a console release, the PC format can be 40% or 50% now of that revenue."

Take-Two CEO, Strauss Zelnick, shared some interesting thoughts about the potential PC sales of the company's games.

www.dsogaming.com

 

[AtlAntA]

The staggered release is to attract the double dippers. I doubt console sales would be as high as they are if their games would release on the same day for all platforms.

 

[Gamezone]

Why was PC "dead" many years ago, but now almost 50% of the revenue? What happened?

 

[Barakov]

Huh. I'm buying BL3 when it's on sale for $7.87. FUCK YOU you orange piece of shit.

 

[Scopa]

So how about a day and date console/PC release for your GTA and Red Dead games, then?

 

[The_Mike]

Why was PC "dead" many years ago, but now almost 50% of the revenue? What happened?

PC gaming has been dying since the nineties, yet here we still are.

 

[RiccochetJ]

Why was PC "dead" many years ago, but now almost 50% of the revenue? What happened?

It became much easier to build a high end PC with the proliferation of Youtube channels dedicated to helping you build your own?

 

[rofif]

The staggered release is to attract the double dippers. I doubt console sales would be as high as they are if their games would release on the same day for all platforms.

True. And yet they always lie and then ban people who stream the release day early...

 

[reconminicon]

Can be. It also can be 5%. I'd say this is a non story.

 

[rofif]

It became much easier to build a high end PC with the proliferation of Youtube channels dedicated to helping you build your own?

Idk... Pc gaming imo is more expensive and more enthusiast than ever. New zen2 builds are not that easy to do. Lots of compatibility errors.
User must know a lot of stuff. Only buying gpu is easy. My new zen2 build required a lot research and money. I feel twice the price and much more knowledge on each component than it would be needed years ago. I am a pcgamer forever... I am 30 now and it really feels like expensive enthusiast hellscape now... Yet I still spend 2k usd on 3700x 2070 build

 

[Mistershine.]

Why was PC "dead" many years ago, but now almost 50% of the revenue? What happened?

It's 50% of the console revenue, so about 30% of the total revenue.

 

[Hudo]

Great. Now how about actually releasing PC games in tandem with their console versions then? It's not like Rockstar's RAGE engine is incapable of running on PC and Rockstar Games aren't a small indie outfit that only can focus on one platform.

 

[Kenpachii]

Why was PC "dead" many years ago, but now almost 50% of the revenue? What happened?

It never was dead. its exploding in populairity even more with content creation, making money out of it through twitch that a lot of people get into PC gaming and China entering the market.

Single player games took a backseat the moment multiplayer games got pushed forwards.

With Consoles having more barriers then ever, it makes more and more sense to get a PC.

 

[The ninja farmer]

Think he might mean the days before downloading games (legally through stores and launchers) was the norm. Now they have almost total control through the connected world

more like the days of the total being made up of almost all physical releases

would be curious of console game sales and how they have been and if it was noticeable when pc publishers revenue went up

 

[The ninja farmer]

And of course when asia stopped being 100% pirate games

 

[ZywyPL]

I doubt console sales would be as high as they are if their games would release on the same day for all platforms.

Of course not, people would pirate the shit out of it, the publishers learnt their lesson long time ago and delay PC releases as much as possible for that sole reason.

 

[ethomaz]

Why was PC "dead" many years ago, but now almost 50% of the revenue? What happened?

PC was never dead do begin with... it was meme nareative.
PC gaming industry did grow year after year.

PS. In early 2000s the move to digital masked some grow so people try to use some retail NPD data to say it was dying when in fact it was moving to 100% digital.

 

[diffusionx]

Anyone who wants to can go look at publisher financial reports and get at least a rough idea on how much the PC market makes for them. For example, Ubi makes more money on PC than Xbox. This whole PC is dead, PC is too complicated, everyone is a pirate, most people play on toasters, etc. thing is just narrative and total nonsense. The PC gaming market is enormous, accommodating for everyone from PCMR dorks to hardcore sim fans to CSGO players on toasters to everyone else and is only growing.

 

[Portugeezer]

Am I reading correct, it's not 50% of total revenue but 50% compared to that of console revenue? It would help to have hard figures besides vague percentages of what it "can" be.

Strange as they never brought the original RDR to PC. I know it had some development problems, but it would have been worth it financially, surely.

 

[iconmaster]

It's 50% of the console revenue, so about 30% of the total revenue.

Am I reading correct, it's not 50% of total revenue but 50% compared to that of console revenue?

Yeah, it's not 40-50% of the total game's revenue.

The PC take is still significantly less than console revenue, but it's large enough to justify doing a good job with the port.

You're still their side piece, PC master race

 

[Gp1]

Considering that you have 2 consoles, ps4 outsold xbox, so MAYBE PC generate revenue closer to xbox level?

 

[Caffeine]

depends on if your game sucks or not.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

The staggered release is to attract the double dippers. I doubt console sales would be as high as they are if their games would release on the same day for all platforms.

Yup.

And sometimes publishers release the PC version later in hopes piracy is stunted, as a game might just get the console version. Then, if they get a pirated game on PC later, it's not a big deal since they already made money on the console game.

T2 has historically been a PC centric game company too, so the shift to consoles over the past decade shows two things:

- Console gaming sells more despite more PC gamers out there
- They probably realized some of their hit games naturally sell more on console anyway, so focus on it

This has been going on since the 360/PS3 era, where all these once PC centric kinds of games and franchises go to consoles, sell a shit ton, then suddenly future games have a console focus first, then a PC port as an afterthought.

 

[MiyazakiHatesKojima]

 

[FMXVII]

Huh. I'm buying BL3 when it's on sale for $7.87. FUCK YOU you orange piece of shit.

It won't be worth it.

They ready ruined it with nerfs to both items and characters.

And they still haven't fixed a single bug.

It is a buggy mess, wherein no fun now resides.

You saved yourself $60~$100 worth of frustration and regret, waiting for Steam.

 

[dirthead]

Why was PC "dead" many years ago, but now almost 50% of the revenue? What happened?

I'll tell you what happened. When Microsoft launched the first Xbox, they made a concerted effort to fuck PC gaming to make their system seem more attractive. They bought or paid off developers en masse to design Xbox first then PC second. Developers followed the money and it reached its height of crapulence in the 360 era where people basically stopped making real PC games. It's been dialed back a bit since then, but Microsoft was so arrogant with their monopoly that they thought they could cannibalize one business to prop up another with no repercussions.

 

[Kenpachii]

Why was PC "dead" many years ago, but now almost 50% of the revenue? What happened?

Multiplayer gaming happened.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Why was PC "dead" many years ago, but now almost 50% of the revenue? What happened?

Because years back, piracy was uncontrolled with a million sites to download cracked PC games.

But since then, Steam and other sites have organized, can include DRM, and with cheap digital deals, some gamers find it worth it just paying up than looking for a WAREZZZZ torrent, which might not even work especially if you want to do MP.

Console hacking and piracy has always been harder to do, and for some reason even when it's easy (such as PS1 copies), there's still endless millions of copies sold, which means the average console gamer just doesn't want to go through the hassle.

There was also that weird zone of the early to mid 2000s where most electronic stores seemed to weed out PC game boxes for more and more console gear, so that's when Steam got up and running and it went from there. PC gamers seemed to always be there, but stores ditched them, so it made it look like PC gaming dropped 90%, but the PC gaming community was there waiting...... and they went digital since boxed copies disappeared.

 

[MeatSafeMurderer]

It's 50% of the console revenue, so about 30% of the total revenue.

Over the lifespan of the game (and beyond) it can be much, much, much more. Because there's no expiry date and these games continue to work on the hardware of the future if they're successful they eventually end up out selling the console versions. Last year The Witcher 3 sold something like 2x as many copies on PC as on both of the consoles combined. If it continues at that pace it'll soon overtake in total sales.

 

[Kenpachii]

I'll tell you what happened. When Microsoft launched the first Xbox, they made a concerted effort to fuck PC gaming to make their system seem more attractive. They bought or paid off developers en masse to design Xbox first then PC second. Developers followed the money and it reached its height of crapulence in the 360 era where people basically stopped making real PC games. It's been dialed back a bit since then, but Microsoft was so arrogant with their monopoly that they thought they could cannibalize one business to prop up another with no repercussions.

This is nonsense. U can pirate games far more easier now and far more simpler then ever before. Online games are also completely piratable as people just run private servers with loads of people in it.

Single players got killed off on PC the moment online gaming pushed itself forwards. People didn't play skyrim because they where playing world of warcraft.

People where not playing uncharted or tomb raider, because they where playing counterstrike or any online shooter which consoles where terrible at.

With the PS4 they started to move more into online segment but still all the juggernauts on steam are multiplayer online games and even the games that are the biggest juggernauts are all multiplayer games.

If what you say is true, single player games would be far more played on steam then it is now. Yet steams entirely list of top played games are multiplayer games.

The demograph that was interesting in single player games moved towards xbox and ps3 that hyperfocused on those experiences. while PC moved completely away from it.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

I've heard similar things from him before.. and we still don't have pc release the same day as consoles...

 

[sid2vicious]

Why was PC "dead" many years ago, but now almost 50% of the revenue? What happened?

Steam and Japanese games happened. If Epic, Origin, Uplay, Battle.net, Rockstar or Microsoft were the only launchers, I don't think people would convert from consoles to PC. Steam initiated the conversation with games like Dark Souls, Final Fantasy and Dragon Ball and many other Japanese games that followed suit, opening up the market in Asia, and converting a lot of console only users to PC. As the distinguished line between the two platforms continues to diminish, more and more people are willing to change sides. As a result you're seeing higher numbers that it's ever been (and those numbers will continue to grow).

 

[kraspkibble]

fuck Take-Two and fuck Rockstar.

they just want to force/tempt people (pc owners) into buying the console version then about a year later say "Hey...we're finally releasing the game on your prefered platform...wanna buy it again? look at the pretty graphics and amazing performance!!"

it's shady bullshit and unfortunately it's working out for them! look at GTA V which is the 3rd best selling game of all time. it's like pissing in the wind trying to explain this shit to people.