the real problem is that gaming is becoming too 'mainstream'. A large majority of the people I hang out with here at college are just normal people and not 'gamers', however i swear every house i go to everyone has an xbox and a CoD title. it's just become something that everyone has regardless of if they are a regular gamer or enjoy lots of different games. Its because of this, the widespread of consoles and 'casual' gamers, that they will keep making these games and keep shunning the PC community. In my eyes there's only a few reasons for any company to make PC games at this point in time: MMOS: See: world of warcraft, SWTOR, etc. These cannot be made on a console (well they kinda did with like PSO and such back on the PS2, but i wouldnt say its hugely popular), and create a massive amount of revenue due to long playing times of customers and huge monthly fees. These games are also extremely accessible and thus anyone can pick them up and get hooked. RTS games: Dota, SC2, all other rts titles This is basically where the hardcore gaming community is hanging on, in my eyes. The majority of competitive gaming play is through RTS games. Dota1 and now Dota2 has a massive player base of almost purely competitive players. SC2 as did SC1 has an incredible global competitive presence (ESPECIALLY IN KOREA). You also cannot play RTS games on a console unless its some shitty port like Halo Wars. As long as there are competitive PC gamers, this genre will still live on. Finally you have the FPS genre. This is where the majority of users that aren't strictly competitive fall into. This covers games such as the ones we play: arma, BF series, etc. This is a massive grey area especially in developers minds. The entire market is pushing FPS now as a casual genre(see: CoD), and thus it's very hard to get a budget for a serious FPS title that isnt affected by producer's ideas (SEE: BF3). Games such as BF2 and ARMA live on through the fact that PCs let you mod the shit out of games, and this is perhaps the only reason such games can even exist. The age of competitive FPS is over, it died with quake3 and CS. CS:S made a comeback , but even then its still pretty old. im honestly basing a lot of this on what i've seen from Blizzard over the last few years. I'm sure you all know that Blizzard is an insanely good and popular developer that put out many quality titles back in the 2000s or so, and those games all fit what im trying to say here. THey had loads of good, quality RTS games (SC, WC series), and made one of the most successful online RPGs ever with diablo 1 and 2. It's games like these that EVERYONE remembers playing. This is where my appreciation for blizzard is starting to come back. Honestly, when they came out with WoW, i thought it was cool that they madesuch a ridiculously high budget MMO that was based completely on warcraft lore, which was also very interesting and allowed for a unique spin compared to games such as everquest with the 'typical' rpg setting. They completely lost my approval as they started added these pointless expansions and reworking systems to make the game easier and more accesssible. Screw WoW, however. Blizzard recently made Starcraft 2, a sequel after over a decade since the original. After the current status of WoW, many people were sceptical about how SC2 would release, thinking it would not live up to the epic status of the original. well they were wrong, they came out with an amazing title that resembled Starcraft 1 in all its glory. I mean i played this game for months, and it was just so well done. Blizzard KNEW that they had to make a perfect game with the same competitive level as the first, and that they did. Then you have the upcoming Diablo3. I mean who the hell doesnt remember diablo 2 (and even one, honestly i was pretty young for that one)? so we were watching the development of it at the very beginning, and there was very limted info and it looked like it would never release. It also was starting to look dumbed down and honestly was looking like someone crossed WoW with diablo2. Well now the game has an official release and all of the blanks are filled in, and it looks like its going to be an epic remake of such a prized game. it's companies like blizzard, and other smaller ones like bohemia interactive, THQ and its RTS lines like COH and WH40k, modding companies like BSS that made PR, and others, that are keeping the PC community alive. Apart from companies like this, you really just can't trust ANYONE with making a solid title. So I used blizzard as an example of a company who was making groundbreaking titles from the start, and now is trying to bring those games back in their full form for the PC community to enjoy. An example of a company who tried to do this and FUCKED UP/SOLD OUT is none other than fucking BIOWARE. Yes Bioware makes me extremely angry. i'm not saying that mass effect and dragon age arent fun games or anything, but jesus christ could they have sold out/ console ported a little harder? They made these massive, epic games in the past such as the widely popular baldur's gate series, with deep RPG elements and massive worlds to explore, and then they come into the new millenium making these linear console ports? its a fucking joke. They just sold out to EA and now are making these games just to turn profits and shit. It just makes me really, really sad that companies do this, and honestly its the fucking FANBASE that allows them to continue it. As long as people are going to keep buying consoles and buying/playing these shitty console adapations, they're going to keep making them. thats what people dont seem to understand. Here in america, even if a developer has intentions to do good, its still undermined by the fact that they are a business, and the goal is to make money. Id say the only reason blizzard can afford to make these quality exclusives is because they have billions of dollars from WoW to work with. other smaller companies have an incredibly hard time making quality games, without resulting to porting them to consoles to make their money back. and dont get me FUCKING STARTED ON BF3