Over the years, PC gaming has faced a turbulent road, going from one of the most popular forms of gaming of all time in the 80’s, to taking a plummeting hit by the mid 80’s as new gaming consoles hit the market. While PC gaming has come in and out of popularity, today it’s very much at a stable place where consumers are just as happy to play games on a PC as they are a portable device. In fact, most consumers today are likely to have both. Thanks to evolving technologies, consumers are now able to play a huge variety of games on PC, from action games to casino games like online blackjack.
According to statistics, it was predicted that back in 2020 the PC gaming market would reach a total value of $36.9 billion by the end of 2021, rising by $3.6 billion. However, not only did the PC gaming market reach this target, it went well above it, reaching a total of $35.6 billion. This was an impressive increase considering some of the challenges the market faced, including a hardware shortage.
Yet, with all the different types of consoles that are available today, allowing consumers to game remotely, how are PC games still so popular? Below, we’ll take a look and find out.
The popularity of mobile gaming
In today’s busy world, many consumers are opting to play games on a portable device like a mobile or tablet. The convenience of being able to play a game at any time and in any place that has wifi has been one of the main selling points for modern day consumers.
What’s more, mobile games have come a long way since the days of playing Snake on a Nokia phone. Today’s mobile games are in full colour with high graphic quality, are highly responsive, connected to the internet for live scoreboards and challenges, and often even come with an integrated app for an even better user experience.
According to statistics, the number of mobile gamers in 2021 was 2.6 billion. This figure is expected to rocket over the next few years as the technology market in the likes of the Middle East, Africs, Asia Pacific and Latin America become more advanced.
So, why are PC games so popular?
In today’s world, many consumers have the luxury of using both consoles or mobiles for gaming, as well as using a PC. When it comes to gaming on the go, there’s no denying that portable consoles like the NIntendo Switch or the Gameboy, which has surprisingly come back into demand as retro games are on the rise again, are taking the lead.
However, when it comes to serious gaming, many professional gamers like Markiplier, Dream and Ninja have made PC gaming cool again. While console games certainly give PC gaming a run for its money, there are a few factors that make PC gaming a popular option for gaming at home.
Let’s take a further look at these factors below:
Easier upgrade paths
One of the issues with console gaming is that if you want to own the latest console eveytime a new version is released, you have to buy a brand new one, and typically this happens every 3-4 years. Given the average console can cost upwards of $600, it can be an expensive hobby to keep in which owning the latest gaming console is now becoming a similar trend to that of owning the latest smartphone.
However, with PC gaming, it’s much easier to upgrade the hardware you already have, rather than having to completely replace it. PC owners can simply swap the GPU for the latest version and it’s good to go.
PC exclusive titles
There are some games that are exclusive to PC that you simply can’t play on another device. While this can also be said for certain console games, consumers must way up which games suit them better and make the decision from there.
PC games cost less
Often, PC games are much cheaper than their console counterparts as these games are less in demand. Given that PC gaming has also been around for a long time, there are often more options for buying PC games too when compared to games for the latest consoles on the market.
Better visuals
A console game is often as good as the hardware allows it to be. However, with PC gaming, players are in control of just how high quality graphics they want by choosing the level of graphics chip that they use.
Whether you’re starting out on a budget and get a more economic graphics chip to start with, or whether you splurge on the very best available, the fact is that PC gamers are in control of just how advanced they want their gaming experience to be.
Overall, while there’s no denying that there’s an impressive choice of gaming consoles on the market today, PC gaming doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. With the opportunity to customise the hardware to suit a gamers need and budget, it’s clear that when it comes to flexibility and gaming options, PC gaming is still very much on the cards. Top of the most popular games for mobile devices