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Why aren't there more AAA PC exclusives?

Why aren't there more AAA PC exclusives?

  • lack of first party games from companies like Valve or Epic

    Votes: 38 19.3%
  • consoles are more popular

    Votes: 74 37.6%
  • not enough people on PC with powerful enough hardware

    Votes: 52 26.4%
  • other (comment below)

    Votes: 33 16.8%

  • Total voters
    197

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
I personally LOVE PC gaming for the sheer number of experiences and games it has, all the mods, how fun building and customizing your PC is (as well as the fun of seeing other people's pcs) and the more tight knit social aspect of it. If you want the most out of pc gaming you need to interact with the community. Plus, all the indie exclusives and fangames that I've found and loved on PC are great too.

But with that being said... why arent there more AAA PC exclusives? Usually with Xbox it's easy to find out, bad studio management prevents them from getting games out on time. With PC however it isn't exactly a cut and dry answer like Xbox because there is no true 'first party' for PC. It's an open platform. Valve doesn't count, epic doesn't count, MS even with all their Xbox porting efforts don't count, it's open.

Now, for people who know me around this board this thread sounds very hypocritical considering my anti exclusive stance. But PC exclusivity and Console exclusivity is very different. Console exclusives happen because of moneyhatting or the company simply just owning the studio- it's got nothing to do with hardware a lot of the time. Whenever PC gets an exclusive, it's usually because it's a sort of gaming experience that can't happen on Consoles. Gmod isn't console friendly because modding makes up a major portion of why people play the game. World of Warcraft and League of Legends aren't on console because their gameplay relies too much on an input method consoles most of the time do not have, that being mouse and keyboard. This is also the reason why a lot of tycoons, RTS games, and MMORPGs aren't on console. Crysis was temporarily a PC exclusive because of very, VERY obvious reasons. Even then, when it released on console they had to scale back the graphics A LOT. They had to scale back on some of the features the PC version had. Even then for later entries they had to dumb down gameplay as to make it more console friendly.

This difference between console & PC exclusivity is exactly why I want more PC exclusives. It's the one platform where your game vision can be best realize thanks to having access to all console features as well as the extra stuff a PC has. Games like DOOM, Quake, Unreal tournament, elder scrolls, Half Life, Duke nukem, fallout etc couldn't happen or wouldn't be as revolutionary if they didn't have access to the state of the art tech available on PC. I feel like the stagnation that's been happening in the game industry for the past decade and a half is purely because where developers once developed for PC first and scaled back accordingly for console, its the reverse today and because of that, we don't have as much innovation today.

It's also why I don't just get a Playstation, besides the fact I don't think many of their games are worth the massive 500 dollar purchase I don't want console exclusives, I want AAA PC exclusives that completely reinvent gaming like how Doom or Half Life did. You can't have that when you're restricted to developing for a console. As much goodwill as Valve does have, I still want them to make more games, specifically VR stuff. Or at the very least, contract third party publishers like Rockstar or ubisoft to make steam exclusive AAA PC games designed for PC first. That would be nice.

TL:DR PC has state of the art tech not available on console, so a game made exclusively to benefit from that state of the art tech could break new ground
 

T4keD0wN

Member
Would you rather have 300 million potential buyers or 5 million? There are very few high end systems because high end systems cost more than low end ones. Console makers fund AAA exclusives them in order to attract you to their consoles store/marketplace through which they intend to sell you various software/mtx. Nvidia, AMD, Intel, Asus, Msi, Gigabyte etc dont care because they make money by selling their hardware, they dont run a big storefront which takes 30% cut of all sales. Epic does exclusives for this very reason. Valve has no need to do this in order to attract users, although HL Alyx mainly exists to sell index. You might get your wish as more and more publishers create their own launchers although they would be dumb to limit their customer base.
 
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Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
I'm not expert on this but I think because PC are open system, usually Sony, Nintendo or Microsoft fund their own exclusive while PC being open is less likely get their own exclusive AAA.
 

Hohenheim

Member
It feels quite the same now as it's always been for me. The superior versions of most games is the PC version (if played on high end hardware).
I remember playing Doom, Duke Nukem and other classics at my friends awesome computer in the 90s. then getting those games on console was always a let down. (Half Life 2 is another example of this. And Doom 3.)

Is it not usually the same now? Playing something like Divinity Original Sin on PC and console, and the difference in quality is massive. And Cyberpunk is probably the best modern example.
But yeah, it would be cool to get a game that really took full advantage of high end PC power and felt really "next gen" in ways that the current consoles can't.
But making that game would probably cost a silly amount of money, which would be hard to get back, as most folks don't have high end rigs with a rtx 3090, i9 12900k etc.
 
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Guilty_AI

Member
Theres just no reason for the exclusivity. Especially with how similar consoles are to PCs nowadays, so even with better hardware options and special controls there isn't much reason to keep a game exclusive to PC.

In fact, the games you mentioned, Doom or Half Life, as well as many other "PC defining" games like Deus Ex, Crysis and Quake all went on to get console ports.

We still do get big AAA quality PC centric games however, like Baldurs Gate 3, Half Life Alyx and FS2020. Its just thats very unlikely for them to remain exclusive,
 
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Theres just no reason for the exclusivity. Especially with how similar consoles are to PCs nowadays, so even with better hardware options and special controls there isn't much reason to keep a game exclusive to PC.

In fact, the games you mentioned, Doom or Half Life, as well as many other "PC defining" games like Deus Ex, Crysis and Quake all went on to get console ports.

PC in the 90s - 2000s got way more AAA exclusive games than today, and in most cases the console versions were entirely different games than the PC versions (literally different games).

The current state of PC AAA exclusives is the worst it's ever been.

PC gamers buy 3080s/3090s to play console ports, in today's gaming landscape.

LOL
 
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adamosmaki

Member
why arent there more on consoles? MS basically releases everything on PC and Sony will most likely follow suit .
Reason is AAA games are expensive and MS and now Sony realized might as well sell a few more million copies on PC .
That leaves only Nintendo that are to stubborn to realize that
 
PC has lost its identity , it has turned into a console

I remember building PC's to play PC games with dedicated servers, mod support, and the latest cutting edge graphics that were lightyears ahead of consoles.

After PS360 released (after Crysis in 2007), the whole idea of PC AAA exclusive no longer exists.

PC gamers buy 3080/3090s to play console games, LOL.
 
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And majority of them went on to get console ports anyway.


Dunno, i'm pretty excited for this one.



What a ridiculous statement.

Thanks for telling me never you PC gamed back in the golden days.

Btw, Baulder's Gate 3 was another typical release on PC in the 90s - 2000s. Those kind of games were dime a dozen, post PS360 era they are more of a rarity and standout more as a result.

I bet once Baulder's Gate 3 is out of early access from PC gamers beta testing it, the game will release on consoles. Similarly to Divinity Original Sin (same developer).

LOL
 
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agreed , PC games that were light years ahead of consoles back in the day are no more.

Arguably consoles lead visual progress now with games like God of War, TLOU 2, and so on.

Sony has the money to throw to its games to support its platform, whereas PC is open and no 3rd party dev wants to risk a big budget PC exclusive anymore (costs are crazy high nowadays).

What's the result? Homogenized games meant to appeal to all platforms.

Who suffers?

PC gamers

Such a sad state of affairs.
 
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sendit

Member

throw up team america GIF


Yeah, no thanks. Preferred realtime with pause combat the original has.
 

Zathalus

Member
And majority of them went on to get console ports anyway.


Dunno, i'm pretty excited for this one.



Might even be the first day 1 game for me in a long long time.

Pretty sure Baldurs Gate 3 will get a console release within a year it comes out of early access.
 

Wildebeest

Member
With games like Counter-Strike and WoW it turned out that "PC gamers" are happy to commit themselves playing the same game for 20+ years.
 

Skifi28

Member
Other than the odd strategy game or MMO, I see little reason to make a game PC exclusive and lose out on a huge market.
 

Guilty_AI

Member
What a ridiculous statement.

Thanks for telling me never you PC gamed back in the golden days.

btw, Baulder's Gate 3 was another typical release on PC in the 90s - 2000s. Those kind of games were dime a dozen, post PS360 era they are more of a rarity and standout more as a result.
I mean, if your standard for "AAA quality" on that time was stuff like Quarantine, Messiah or some extremely janky and obscure CRPG you could find, sure. From my perspective they ain't too different from the dozens of AAs and indies coming out these days.


Another one i'm looking forward to, although probably still ways off, and no idea if it meets your weird standards for AAA.

 
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Bigfroth

Member
Robot Reaction GIF by GEICO
Them there Puters are complucated and Human intellujace globally is on a downwood trend.
 
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NT80

Member
PC in the 90s - 2000s got way more AAA exclusive games than today, and in most cases the console versions were entirely different games than the PC versions (literally different games).

The current state of PC AAA exclusives is the worst it's ever been.

PC gamers buy 3080s/3090s to play console ports, in today's gaming landscape.

LOL
Imagine how it's going to be further down the line especially if this console generation gets drawn out much longer than previous ones due to covid and other issues. There'll be 4080/90, 5080/90, 6080/90 and who knows what else. What would be the point of those ultra high end parts in the future? The bang for buck is going to be miniscule.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Same reasons there aren't more AAA console exclusives. It's dumb to limit to a single platform, unless you're owned by and/or make a lucrative deal with a first party that makes up for the lack of other platform revenue, yet there's no PC first party as that's the whole point.

Of course even first parties nowadays release their games on PC too, at least most of them, so yeah, even that possibility isn't reason enough to ditch other sources of revenue for a big (or any) budget production any more anyway. Why do you care about PC only over this?

Indeed, like most sucessful PC games from back then.
Most successful PC games didn't get ported "back then". Even just citing your one IP example, it took two decades for the previous games in the series to get on consoles. And when they did get ported they were butchered more often than not, vs multiplatform games' 1:1.
 
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Imagine how it's going to be further down the line especially if this console generation gets drawn out much longer than previous ones due to covid and other issues. There'll be 4080/90, 5080/90, 6080/90 and who knows what else. What would be the point of those ultra high end parts in the future? The bang for buck is going to be miniscule.

Nvidia/Intel/AMD might be in trouble.

PC hardware used to be phased out pretty quick because the latest upcoming game would push the hardware.

Heck, I used to upgrade my PC all the time just to keep up with the latest games, my current rig has lasted years and runs 99% of games out right now fine.

Nothing on the horizon looks like it will need any of this hardware, a 3080 could possibly last this entire gen.

They are making hardware for games that don't exist, as consoles dictate progress now.
 
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RoboFu

One of the green rats
There really is no market for them. or I should say any reason to put forth such budgets just for PC. Just like you will not anything 3rd parties make a AAA console exclusive unless there is some form behind the scenes deal. Someone has to profit in someway from it.

If a thirdparty publisher is going to put a huge budget into a game then they want it on as many platforms as possible. They want apresence so big that they can be able to make licensing deals to sell notebooks, clothes, mnt. Dew and all that... On PC there is just no incentive there.
 

Crayon

Member
You called $500 for a whole system a massive purchase but want games that require a quite beefy pc to outstrip those graphics in a way that would be so drastic as to make the console version impossible.

Crysis was a long time ago and things were different. Most developers can't get the most out of a ps5 due to lack of the huge resources needed to do so. AAA budgets and develpment times are outrageous. We are going to need a breakthrough in game development to shake it. Probabaly through ai making all the assets an more. (barf)

Edit: o sry 64bitmodels, I meant to quote someone above and now it looks like I'm answering you.
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
I think it’s due to PC gamer tastes being so spread out and they are the most patient gamers out there. While most console games sell great in month 1-2 and then nosedive into the dirt, it seems games on PC sell less at launch but have a smoother trajectory of sales and user base.

AAA games are required to have major marketing and hype to drive sales. And console gamer eat it up with shitloads of preorders.

A PC gamer is more likely to say who gives a shit and they’ll wait for a deal on Steam or GOG.
 
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DonkeyPunchJr

World’s Biggest Weeb
Consoles are nowadays just budget gaming PCs in a box.

Games are built on cross-platform game engines that scale all the way from smartphones to consoles to high-end PCs.

If you’re going to build a AAA game for PC, why wouldn’t you also bring it to consoles? You’ve already done most of the work. Might as well.
 
Not worth it financially. If you made a game with bleeding edge AAA production values targeting top-of-the-line PC hardware it wouldn't move enough units to offset the development cost. Games have gotten too expensive to make. There isn't going to be another Crysis.
 

Utherellus

Member
1. Dev funding

2. Who's gonna make them? And for what grand scheme(like selling hardware)?

3. Won't sell much copies.


As a PC gamer I loved PC exclusives which pushed the boundaries. Innovated things that were adopted by consoles later. It was fun.

But now I look at it and see that there's no point anymore. You can run Star Citizen on new consoles. You can adapt Flight Sim on Xbox. You can play TBS games with gamepad.

I mean, I even kinda consider that AAA PC titles are handled by XGS now. Hardware boundaries are blurrier than ever.


FB-IMG-1480437637895.jpg


There was a time when this picture was right. But devs said "wait a minute" and huge amount of these games found their ways to consoles.

I still do respect Valve for Alyx tho. That's exactly what PC exclusive should be about.
 

Sentenza

Member
There are unique and excellent games only for PC (or primarily for PC and only a lot later on consoles) released constantly.
The brain rot that is the "AAA" label is doing some serious damage to your sense of perception.

Wrath of the Righteous, Baldur's Gate 3, Songs of Conquest, Total War, Crusader King, M&B Bannerlord... these are just the first examples that come to my mind of games that I bought, loved, spent countless hours on and aren't (or have yet to come) on consoles.
 
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