Support NeoGAF

[Astray]

Tldr- we don't know

If everyone never buys any new games then the entire industry would have shrunk ages ago.

Someone somewhere must be buying games new. Not knowing the exact numbers doesn't mean we can't make inferences.

 

[noob smokes]

Pc dude beg for day & date yet dont buy or play new games

 

[TintoConCasera]

It take about 2 years of patching for new AAA games to become stable enough on PC

Lmao what

 

[Optimus Lime]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I've definitely spent less on new games this year, and the major reason is - they're too expensive. They've priced themselves out of my budget. I just don't want to pay $100-130AUD for a new game. If I can't get a key for cheap, then I don't bother, or I wait for Gamepass. The declining quality in video games absolutely does not help, but the reality is that, in the PC space, new releases are also competing with emulation, with F2P, and with the ocean of indie games that come out every month.

I have spent a lot of this year replaying the Tony Hawk series, with the Retroachievements plugin for PCSX2. It has been fun beyond belief, and has easily been the best gaming experience I've had in a long time. The latest genderqueer AAA slop just cannot compete with THPS4 at 5K, and when we're talking about $100-130AUD vs $0, there's no reason for me to give it a chance. I could pay stupid money for some horrible AAA game that will 99% of the time remain unfinished in my Steam library with a playtime of 10 hours, or I could pay zero dollars to have extreme amounts of fun for months and months on end.

Hmm. I wonder which one I'll pick.

 

[rodrigolfp]

This is a a thread about STEAM users.

You frequently comment without reading, to the point where I genuinely question if you are illiterate or something.

???

You brought Xbox console Gamepass users to the thread because???

 

[SHA]

In 2028 it's going to be %90 and someone will come out and say I wish we get games like 2024 games. We're living in the matrix, it's a loop, no one will praise what they got in the present time.

 

[JimboJones]

Weird seeing people trying to frame this as a terrible thing.

 

[mayham2199]

I doubt the mix on PS5/Xbox is much different outside of annualized releases like sports games, CoD et al. GaaS games are by far the most successful games in both engagement and revenue. It's going to be all Fortnite, Roblox, Minecraft, Apex etc if we had open source data as good as Steam offers.

You think it's the same on console as long as you remove some of the most popular games on console from the equation? Interesting.

 

[RoboFu]

This year I've bought almost every retro console there is to own lol.

NES rgbmod
PlayStation xstation mod
Saturn
Genesis
Super Famicon
PC Engine

Also got an OSSC and a bunch of scart cables
New wireless controllers for each and even a Saturn 3d controller

I bought maybe 4 Borden games this year lol.

 

[Rush2112]

People buying cheap old games.

Crazy number though.

It’s not just buying. They buy the new games, too. But they mostly play the old ones.

 

[OverHeat]

majority of new games sucks these days…

 

[Laptop1991]

That doesn't surprise me with the lower quality of games being released at higher prices, i didn't buy and play a single one of the new games this year to play on Steam, and have actually used GOG more this year than Steam, largely due to Bethesda's bad Fallout 4 next gen update patch on PC which affected mods and the impressive Fallout London, but it's still not good for Steam. i've always used Steam the most in the past.

 

[Spukc]

Pc gamers don’t actually play games.
They just benchmark gfx settings.
And install mods then try the said mod for 5 min, and continue complaining on forums

 

[DAHGAMING]

I gamed on PC almost exclusively this year and couldn’t disagree more. There is plenty of stuff to buy that’s not woke or bug ridden.

Even the so-called bad games like Star Wars outlaws had amazing graphics and tech I couldnt wait to check out.

This year alone, I played:

1. Dragons Dogma 2
2. Indy
3. Black Myth Wukong
4. Silent Hill 2
5. Space Marine 2
6. Dragon Age Veilguard
7. Nobody Wants to Die
8. Star Wars Outlaws
9. No Rest For the Wicked
10. Suicide Squad
11. Brothers Remake
12. Stalker
13. Hellblade 2

Of these games, only Dragon Age was woke. Only Suicide Squad was truly bad. And only stalker was truly buggy.

The rest were non-woke, mostly good to great games that released in a decent state on PC.

I honestly dont know how real gamers can dismiss so many games, let alone PC gamers who want to play the latest and greatest on their new shiny graphics cards. As a console gamer, I bought everything on consoles on day one because i truly enjoy video games more than movies, sports, tv shows, and music. I dont waste money on concerts. I dont buy onlyfans subs. i have my one MLB sub but thats about it. Games are my passion and its insane to me that people would dismiss 85% of the games for these arbitrary reasons.

Fair enough, and its all good you enjoyed all these, im not trying to come across as "i hate everything so everyone els should aswell". Out of that list though Indy is good and am currently playing through and is well optimized. Black Myth and Space Marine 2 seem decent and games I want to play and run well from release. I love the STALKER games but its a wait for me untill more patching. Dragon Dogma 2 is another I need to play.
I did get Outlaws recently played for a few hours but wasnt impressed. Finished Hellblade 2 , it was decent but more of the same.

 

[poppabk]

If everyone never buys any new games then the entire industry would have shrunk ages ago.

Someone somewhere must be buying games new. Not knowing the exact numbers doesn't mean we can't make inferences.

Amount of time spent playing games is only tangentially related to buying them. And buying games in the year of release is only a small part of the entire industry, even just ignoring continuing sales we already know that Sony make more a lot more revenue from selling add-on content than from selling actual games.

 

[Holammer]

It's a nothing burger and first reply already nailed it. The evergreen games take 100s of hours of player's time and we're likely looking at similar number on consoles.

Most played games - Microsoft Store

 

[AtomicStarving]

Too busy on pornhub holy shit

 

[{insert code here}]

Can't really draw any conclusions with just 3 data points ('22, '23, '24). I'm curious to see what the data going back ten years looks like.

 

[ArtHands]

This is talking specifically about Steam, not PC using Epic, GOG, Direct2Drive, etc. PC was my primary system. I'm not sure why you haven't done this, but every PC gamer I knew growing up bought games day one even while we played older games.

And this isn't exclusive to PC either.

On the PS5, I can go back and play terrific games from the 70s and onward. On the Switch, it's the same thing. Etc, so having BC isn't exclusive to PC. I have 100s of physical games on PC I still play sometimes, but I still play new games on PC too.

PC does have generations. It's even in the wording of new CPUs and GPUs. When giant leaps happen on hardware, that's a new generation. You can still use you old hardware to play most games (same with consoles), but there is a leap forward.

You can’t play games you bought on Vita on your PS5, or your Wii games on Switch. You can still play PC games released during the Vita/Wii era on modern PC.

Weird seeing people trying to frame this as a terrible thing.

It is the console players thing. PC has been the platform where old games has drastically longer leg than consoles, because they are also constantly being rediscovered by new players over the years. This is also the reason why games tend to have longer support on PC, and why multplayer games are best on PC.

Like Stardew Valley selling 19m on PC vs 11m everywhere else over the years.

As of February 2024, Stardew Valley has sold over 30 million copies across all platforms, with over 19 million copies sold on PC alone.

 

[Danny22]

would consoles really be that different if we were to cut out on the sports titles and the yearly cods? Seems to me live service is rampant there as well.

 

[Mortisfacio]

would consoles really be that different if we were to cut out on the sports titles and the yearly cods? Seems to me live service is rampant there as well.

I'm pretty sure it already is. Look at the most played titles like Fortnite, GTA V, Siege, Roblox, Minecraft, Rocket League, Apex Legends, etc.

It's the sports titles and yearly CODs that are recent titles.

 

[awwr999999]

There are far more old games than new games?
PC also has infinite backwards compatibility.

PS and Nintendo have old games/platforms that they could easily bring back with endless generations just by going digital-only.

It's a nothing burger and first reply already nailed it. The evergreen games take 100s of hours of player's time and we're likely looking at similar number on consoles.

It's much worse for consoles because of their continued use of physical media.
Consoles have no data on how much time users spend on old consoles instead of on new consoles.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I've definitely spent less on new games this year, and the major reason is - they're too expensive. They've priced themselves out of my budget.

How many brand new games did you buy when they were $60 dollars?

 

[StreetsofBeige]

This is talking specifically about Steam, not PC using Epic, GOG, Direct2Drive, etc. PC was my primary system. I'm not sure why you haven't done this, but every PC gamer I knew growing up bought games day one even while we played older games.

And this isn't exclusive to PC either.

On the PS5, I can go back and play terrific games from the 70s and onward. On the Switch, it's the same thing. Etc, so having BC isn't exclusive to PC. I have 100s of physical games on PC I still play sometimes, but I still play new games on PC too.

PC does have generations. It's even in the wording of new CPUs and GPUs. When giant leaps happen on hardware, that's a new generation. You can still use you old hardware to play most games (same with consoles), but there is a leap forward.

On PS5 and Switch, someone can play BC games from the 1970s? How does someone do that unless it's a re-released digital copy someone has to re-buy again?

 

[ArtHands]

PS and Nintendo have old games/platforms that they could easily bring back with endless generations just by going digital-only.

It's much worse for consoles because of their continued use of physical media.
Consoles have no data on how much time users spend on old consoles instead of on new consoles.

True, but the point is those are modern bespoke ports and not backward compatible game, and thus would be counted as "new game" on consoles. A sales of Luigi's Mansion: The Dark Moon on Switch will be counted as a sales of a new 2024 game, not a sales of a 2013 game.

If a console players were to buy games like Legacy of Kain 2 on PS5, he'll be buying it as the upcoming 2024 game. If a PC players were to buy it now, he'll be buying it as a 2001 game. In such circumstances, there will be a pent-up demand of Legacy of Kain 2 remaster, which would count as a new game, on PS5 since the game isn't readily available there all these while. On PC, those who want Legacy of Kain 2 can and have bought the game easily on Steam, which would result in lesser demand for the upcoming remaster.

 

[StereoVsn]

I mostly play a game released over 10 years ago, but it's Paradox, so there's always new DLC. I'm not very interested in modern gaming.

Hello there fellow Paradoxer. I also spent more time this year playing EU IV, Stellaris and some CK3/Vicky 3 vs anything else, lol.

 

[ResilientBanana]

PCMR, when will you start supporting our hobby?

Spoiler

laughs in 3,317 Steam games owned lol

Release good games the majority wants to play, and don’t sell them for $70-$100+.

Also, we don’t always want to play console games or cinematic games all the time. We can do that on the other consoles we own.

Lastly, We like to mod games, it’s fun, let us do that and it will build its own community and take off from there.

Basically, make a game that feels like it’s from the early to late 2000’s with modern graphics, that doesn’t rely on tricks and runs smooth, that we are allowed to mod any way we please for $40. It would sell like hot cakes and an indie dev would make a ton. Just be fun.

 

[Optimus Lime]

How many brand new games did you buy when they were $60 dollars?

More than I do now.

 

[newtypepilot]

most accounts are just bots for the csgo casinos anyways.

 

[DaciaJC]

Weird seeing people trying to frame this as a terrible thing.

Seriously. One of the many beautiful things about PC gaming is how far you can extend the lifespan of older games through hardware upgrades, community fixes, mods, etc. That players are choosing to spend most of their time revisiting classics or devoting themselves to high-quality evergreen titles rather than simply consuming the newest AAA slop and moving on is awesome, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Stuart360]

Some weird but not surprising replies from our resident console only guys. I'm actually surprised its as high as 15%, when PC gamers literally have tens of thousands of games available to them, from their whole gaming history in many cases.
When we are talking 2024 games only, i would of guessed more like 5%, or 10% at the most.

 

[ArtHands]

Seriously. One of the many beautiful things about PC gaming is how far you can extend the lifespan of older games through hardware upgrades, community fixes, mods, etc. That players are choosing to spend most of their time revisiting classics or devoting themselves to high-quality evergreen titles rather than simply consuming the newest AAA slop and moving on is awesome, as far as I'm concerned.

Yes, PC games tend to have a much better longevity, in terms of sales. I would say Steam's algorithm is really helpful in matching the players to the type of games, regardless of age, that Steam thinks they like.

This is in contrast to consoles where generally games has a huge 2 weeks launch, followed by a steep sales drop with empty players, as they migrate to the next game of the moment advertised by Sony or Microsoft.

 

[Don Carlo]

Only 15% of all Steam users' time was spent playing games released in 2024

Steam's end-of-year review of what we play and how we play makes for some interesting reading.

www.pcgamer.com

PCMR, when will you start supporting our hobby?

Spoiler

laughs in 3,317 Steam games owned lol

 

[DryvBy]

Release good games the majority wants to play, and don’t sell them for $70-$100+.

Also, we don’t always want to play console games or cinematic games all the time. We can do that on the other consoles we own.

Lastly, We like to mod games, it’s fun, let us do that and it will build its own community and take off from there.

Basically, make a game that feels like it’s from the early to late 2000’s with modern graphics, that doesn’t rely on tricks and runs smooth, that we are allowed to mod any way we please for $40. It would sell like hot cakes and an indie dev would make a ton. Just be fun.

What this translates to is PCMR doesn't have any good games to play. Sad.

 

[lh032]

of course.
All they do is log in steam and PCMR boast about "increase of steam userbase YOY"

 

[Panajev2001a]

Some weird but not surprising replies from our resident console only guys. I'm actually surprised its as high as 15%, when PC gamers literally have tens of thousands of games available to them, from their whole gaming history in many cases.
When we are talking 2024 games only, i would have guessed more like 5%, or 10% at the most.

Not just a console vs PCMR angle mate, we all get PC has an extensive BC catalogue but if people spend time playing older games (2023 and older) and not buying games on PC it is not a great trend for publishers.

We know people look for sales everywhere but a stat like this would talk poorly about the value of PC customers for newly released non longeve GaaS titles.

 

[poppabk]

Not just a console vs PCMR angle mate, we all get PC has an extensive BC catalogue but if people spend time playing older games (2023 and older) and not buying games on PC it is not a great trend for publishers.

We know people look for sales everywhere but a stat like this would talk poorly about the value of PC customers for newly released non longeve GaaS titles.

Maybe that was why Game Science were crying. Lack of sales on PC.

 

[asdasdasdbb]

Some weird but not surprising replies from our resident console only guys. I'm actually surprised its as high as 15%, when PC gamers literally have tens of thousands of games available to them, from their whole gaming history in many cases.
When we are talking 2024 games only, i would of guessed more like 5%, or 10% at the most.

As the article notes, it was 9% last year. Wukong and Helldivers 2 is probably where the gain comes from.

I'd say the % is higher on console but also not that much more. It's still also mainly F2P and GAAS there.

 

[ResilientBanana]

What this translates to is PCMR doesn't have any good games to play. Sad.

This is inherently not true, we just play the good ones for extended period of time or wait till the $70 go on steam sale.

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

Not surprised since some of the good stuff this year like Rebirth and Stellar Blade aren't released yet on Steam. Only good thing released this year there are Space Marine 2 and Wukong.

 

[MikeM]

Why spend day 1 money on broken/unfinished games?

 

[Kenpachii]

Day 1 games are broken, way to expensive and half complete most of the time. Just look at stalker 2 for example.
PC gamers wait for discounts in general as they have a ton of games to play already, new games tend to not discount heavily until a year later.

 

[Gaiff]

Check any uk sales thread.

Why do you love spreading misinformation and being so dishonest? It’s insanely annoying.

 

[ArtHands]

What this translates to is PCMR doesn't have any good games to play. Sad.

That's some desperation considering PCMR has most of the great games released this year.

 

[Gaiff]

Not just a console vs PCMR angle mate, we all get PC has an extensive BC catalogue but if people spend time playing older games (2023 and older) and not buying games on PC it is not a great trend for publishers.

We know people look for sales everywhere but a stat like this would talk poorly about the value of PC customers for newly released non longeve GaaS titles.

99.99% of games were released before the current year. That players spent 15% of their time on current releases is disproportionately high in favor of new games.

 

[FrankWza]

PCMR, when will you start supporting our hobby?

 

[AGRacing]

I’m in this category.
I own a steam deck and play emulated classics and older purchased games. I just bought Mass Effect trilogy and Ridge Racer Unbounded on sale (never tried that ridge racer before).
I played some Indiana Jones on Game Pass PC. Didn’t buy Dragon Age (I mention that because I thought I would). Play some Fortnite with and without my kid sometimes.
I bet my % is much lower than 15%.
But PS2 on my steam deck? I had a great year.

 

[DryvBy]

This is inherently not true, we just play the good ones for extended period of time or wait till the $70 go on steam sale.

Did you miss what I replied to? I was clearly joking.

 

[ResilientBanana]

Did you miss what I replied to? I was clearly joking.

Went over my head. My bad.