In a recent interview with PC Retail, Blizzard's COO Paul Sams gives us a look into the present and future state of the company after the launch of the record-breaking Wrath of the Lich King expansion for World of Warcraft. Sams touches on the work Blizzard is doing between Starcraft II, Diablo III and their upcoming "unannounced" MMO, still in the works.
What we found most interesting about this interview was Sams' view on PC gaming, discouraging that water-cooler rumor that MMOs (namely WoW) are keeping PC gaming alive in this troubled market. He points out that their support of games like Starcraft II and Diablo III shows that they believe in the longevity of PC gaming across the board. "I think that there's always going to be a very big place for PCs – they are multi-use devices." Sams stated. "Consoles are brilliant, but at this stage are not multi-use devices, or at least not compared to a PC."
[Via WoWInsider]
Reader Comments (9)
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 5:39PM (Unverified) said
I may hate Blizzard and their products (yes, I admit it) in the way they rehash every single thing (or steal ideas from other companies); however, I do agree with that statement entirely.
Why buy a console and then have to buy a PC for emails, IMs, pictures, ect. and more when you can play games on a PC just the same as a console? Even better is that PC games support more online players then their console counterparts and support mods, free updates, and more customization.
Why buy a console and then have to buy a PC for emails, IMs, pictures, ect. and more when you can play games on a PC just the same as a console? Even better is that PC games support more online players then their console counterparts and support mods, free updates, and more customization.
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 5:56PM halfcaptain said
PC gaming makes perfect sense to me. Leave it to mass-induced WoW mania in the media to canonize Blizzard as the savior of PC gaming. I don't think PC gaming is going to die soon, if at all. If anything, consoles are increasingly encroaching on PC territory. If a gaming PC and a gaming console have comparable system specs, the only difference being a controller and high-gloss, polished plastic case, you could almost just lump the two together as gaming systems.
Props to Blizzard though for the humble denial. I will also give them grudging props for making decent games.
Props to Blizzard though for the humble denial. I will also give them grudging props for making decent games.
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 8:34PM (Unverified) said
If pc gaming ever die expect the price of console to up, there will less genres and more pirates hacking away on the consoles. Gaming would no longer be world. computers and would also slow down and meny people would jobs.
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 8:48PM (Unverified) said
If pc gaming ever die expect the price of console to up, there will less genres and more pirates hacking away on the consoles. Gaming would no longer be around world. computers and would also slow down. Meny people would jobs. Gaming is self would die.Ati,AMD,Intel and invida would be hurting for money because they don't money on old hardware. There would be no new invation. Computer sales around the would slow down.Technology would also slow right down.
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 8:58PM (Unverified) said
If pc gaming ever die expect the price of console to up, there will less genres for games and more pirates hacking away on the consoles. Gaming would no longer be around world. Computers market would also slow down a mjorly. Meny people would lose jobs. Gaming is self would die,Ati,AMD,Intel and invida would be hurting for money because they don't make money on old hardware. There would be no new invation. Computer sales around the would slow down.Technology would also slow right down.
None of that would happen because big business would turn on consoles and so would hardware companies. Pc gaming is the back bone of the computer and tech market.
None of that would happen because big business would turn on consoles and so would hardware companies. Pc gaming is the back bone of the computer and tech market.
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 11:13PM ultimateq said
Why the triple posts?
I would agree that Blizzard did not SINGLE HANDEDLY "save pc gaming". They did, however, contribute to its longevity.
There are games that you just can't play on a console unless you have a keyboard. Then it becomes clunky trying to switch between a keyboard and controller. If they switch entirely to the keyboard on their console well then why not just play a PC?
I would agree that Blizzard did not SINGLE HANDEDLY "save pc gaming". They did, however, contribute to its longevity.
There are games that you just can't play on a console unless you have a keyboard. Then it becomes clunky trying to switch between a keyboard and controller. If they switch entirely to the keyboard on their console well then why not just play a PC?
Posted: Dec 5th 2008 11:39PM (Unverified) said
PC gaming hardware sales is over $20 Billion a year. PC Gaming makes more money than consoles. We just don't get the real numbers. The thought that PC Gaming is dying is one put into our minds by companies who have an interest in hyping up consoles, consoles which have become PC's. The Xbox and Playstation are PC's now. They have processors, use PC graphic chips, hard drives, online connection, get updates and patches, etc. Consoles are simply very limited, closed system PC's, somewhat like a Mac.
PC Gaming wasn't kept alive by Blizzard, it was never dying to begin with. It never has been, it never will be. And there's just as much piracy on the consoles as there is on the PC, so that is debunked along with a dozen other false claims.
PC Gaming wasn't kept alive by Blizzard, it was never dying to begin with. It never has been, it never will be. And there's just as much piracy on the consoles as there is on the PC, so that is debunked along with a dozen other false claims.
Posted: Dec 6th 2008 7:31AM halfcaptain said
witness!
saying 'Bliizzard saved PC gaming' is pretty much the same as claiming that the 'iphone saved cell phones.'
Reply
saying 'Bliizzard saved PC gaming' is pretty much the same as claiming that the 'iphone saved cell phones.'
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