According to some analysis by the Jon Peddie Research management and consulting firm, more and more PC gamers will become console gamers within the next two years. Now, before you grab your pitchforks, ready to rabble rouse and call the folks at JPR a bunch of short-sighted idiots, take a look at their reasoning.
There are three things, in particular, that has the research institute convinced that there’ll be a mass exodus from PC gaming to consoles: Moore’s Law’s diminishing returns, high GPU prices and video game streaming.
Moore’s Law, at its simplest, is a general observation that computer processing speeds double every two years. That law, such as it is, is no longer in effect, and has slowed down to a veritable crawl. It means that the increases in CPU and GPU speed and feature sets aren’t as nearly pronounced as it used to be, which means consoles are viable for longer-term gaming. In the past, by the time a console’s halfway through its generation, PCs have far eclipsed their capabilities, and that’s not quite the case anymore. Within the next two years, that change will be even less pronounced. With consoles just being simpler to use – and with them closing the gap on features, including things like mouse and keyboard control – they reckon more gamers will opt for consoles. This is especially true of the new consoles will have new generation features like Ray Tracing.
The next thing is the increasingly high cost of GPUS. Brand new high-end GPUs cost as much as (and sometimes more than) whole consoles, which JPR believes will cause more of the lower end PC gamers (those sporting builds of $1000 or less) to make the switch.
The last thing that might draw players away from PC gaming are streaming services like Google’s impending Stadia, Xbox’s game streaming and whatever it is PlayStation is doing to make PlayStation Now more viable in the future. Under ideal lab conditions, these services work exceptionally well and could improve in future to be good enough for most players. Of course, that’s under ideal conditions, and we’re unlikely to have those here so it’s moot. With the lower overall cost of these services though, they could tempt players away from PC gaming, which is still seen as expensive.
“The PC market continues to decline because the innovation that took place in the past providing speed ups and clever new things has all but stopped, plus the product introduction times are stretching out to four years,” said Jon Peddie, President of Jon Peddie Research.
Okay, okay, NOW you can raise your pitchforks and commence the rabble rousing. We’ve heard of the death of consoles, the death of PC gaming and the death of mobile gaming for years – with none of that ever really happening. I don’t expect it to happen now.
Last Updated: May 13, 2019
Pariah
April 29, 2019 at 11:01
I defected from consoles to PC because the cost of actually gaming on one is so much higher. The initial cost (hardware) is lower for consoles, but the games themselves cost a bunch more.
One key point for all this is Steam’s local pricing often works out to quite a bit cheaper than the dollar price, in some cases even half the cost. Plus there’s the fact that a PC can do more than just game.
Admiral Chief Flammenwerfer
April 29, 2019 at 11:45
Indeed, you can use calculator on it
Pariah
April 29, 2019 at 12:01
Math is hard, ok?
Jake
April 30, 2019 at 21:04
Yup. Try to run Matlab in consoles during your hectic Minesweeper run…
Magoo
April 29, 2019 at 13:39
I defected because I fell in love with tech in general and not just gaming.
Kromas
April 29, 2019 at 11:17
Every generation has this report. It is the same as every MMO being the WoW killer.
Just ignore and continue gaming on your PC.
G8crasha
April 29, 2019 at 11:24
I will always be part of the Master Race, but, after this weekend, when my PSU decided to say bye-bye, I have begun using my PS4 more. I will most probably get my PC up and running again, but the convenience of using a console is what stands out for me, especially when troubleshooting hardware problems. Although, my PSU has lasted about 7 years, which is not too bad considering all that is in my rig. It’s been companion to numerous upgrades of different components.
Pariah
April 29, 2019 at 11:24
I think you bring up another good point. Incremental upgrades on PC are possible, and when one part goes you just have to replace that. Consoles just don’t have that flexibility.
Pariah
April 29, 2019 at 11:24
I think you bring up another good point. Incremental upgrades on PC are possible, and when one part goes you just have to replace that. Consoles just don’t have that flexibility.
Jake
April 30, 2019 at 21:16
Good point!
So those pesky console-pissants are anti nature too.
Better call Green Peace too to burn the heretics!
Admiral Chief Flammenwerfer
April 29, 2019 at 11:45
if you call a company after yourself, then your ‘research’ automatically is BS
Magoo
April 29, 2019 at 13:48
What are you trying to say about Magoo’s Fabulousness Rating Index?
Pariah
April 29, 2019 at 14:03
MFRI sounds like a disease, so…
Magoo
April 29, 2019 at 14:10
This attitude is why you’re a 6/10. Fact.
Pariah
April 29, 2019 at 14:10
And here I thought it was my face. Which is now sad looking and dejected. Thanks.
Magoo
April 29, 2019 at 14:39
Drabulous [—–O———————————] Fabulous
Admiral Chief Flammenwerfer
April 29, 2019 at 14:24
That it is complete and utter BS
Magoo
April 29, 2019 at 14:39
Oh. Ok.
Llama In The Rift
April 29, 2019 at 11:53
But consoles are essentially becoming PC’s…o_O
Jake
April 30, 2019 at 21:16
…Or mobile phones.
CrAiGiSh
April 29, 2019 at 12:00
So … anyone want to sponsor me a console in 2020?
geel slang
April 29, 2019 at 12:01
Yeah, no, even the xbox one x and PS4 Pro cant hit 60FPS. Just look a Seikiro. Untill this happens people will have to play on PCs.
Also, cost is relative, if you take into account to cost of owning a car, buying a house and vacations, a R20000 PC every 5 years is not a big deal.
Magoo
April 29, 2019 at 13:48
I feel like that’s not a very good point. Compared to a house a lot of things are cheap. To get PC performance equivalent to console performance over 5 years will be a lot more expensive than buying a console. Even by your standards it’s four times the price.
You will get more from a PC because you pay more. Some people can’t afford to pay more, period.
Guz
April 29, 2019 at 12:28
An thats if you get top of the range items, you can build much cheaper middle ground rigs for +-R10 000 – R12 000 easy.
Just a few hundred away every month in a PC saving account and you wont even notice
Guz
April 29, 2019 at 12:22
What blasphemy is this!!!! Burn the heretics!!!!
Magoo
April 29, 2019 at 13:55
But not the original one, he can stay.
Pariah
April 29, 2019 at 14:03
Agreed. Those copycats can GTFO
Jake
April 30, 2019 at 21:16
NO! Burn their heretical consoles!
…Pitchforks need targets too.
Steffmeister
April 29, 2019 at 12:39
I have slowly migrated from PS4 to PC, and now only use my PS4 for exclusives (and Netflix).
Magoo
April 29, 2019 at 13:32
Just came here to say that the folks at JPR are a bunch of short-sighted idiots!
I’ll go read the article now.
Quentin Huggett
April 29, 2019 at 10:54
I remember when the PS2 came out… PC gaming was dead, was gonna die, it was over, consoles were the future….
HvR
April 29, 2019 at 12:34
Research firm clearly needs to do more research.
They clearly left out 2 (probably most important) factors:
Game differences between the consoles and PC. Consoles closed habitat does not cater for really small indie games. Console makers have yet to make full complete support of KB and mouse a priority and they probably never will so gamers who prefer proper control and certain genres of games just does not work with a controller will not switch.
Other is the 1% crowd, they guy (*cough cough Kromas) who wants the best and the latest tech. They might be small in numbers but their spending power is enough to sustain the industry.
Steffmeister
April 29, 2019 at 13:01
GPU prices have been a problem, but I do believe prices will improve when AMD and Intel bring some competition to the market.
Guz
April 29, 2019 at 17:31
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/26f8ad027f745d26ec2760c4c78252a21e890326e4de017085e1de2df5bed6a0.png
Jake
April 30, 2019 at 21:17
Well, I guess you could play Fallout 4 in consoles without puking from its ugliness if you would just claw your eyes out first and pretend somebody actually does graphical mods for consoles…
Victor Damázio
May 2, 2019 at 00:19
That’s what people are saying for years, PC Gaming is dying and something like that.
The real reason why PC Gaming got so much bigger in recent years, getting such a huge playerbase, it’s not because of graphics, it’s because of games, as long as PC keeps stealing the games exclusive to consoles, and keeps getting popular games, this market will stay strong.