Slumping PC hardware sales doesn’t mean a decline in PC gaming

Hokey tablets and mobile smartphones are no match for a good PC by your side. At first glance, it may appear the era of PC gaming may be coming to a close. Latest findings from global market firm IDC report that PC shipments have suffered the worst quarterly decline since records began. For Q1 2013, only 76.3 million PC units were shipped worldwide, a decline of 13.9% year-on-year. It's also the largest quarterly drop since IDC started keeping track of the PC market in 1994. The blame, however, seems to pinpoint a failed Windows 8 operating system and a growing mobile/tablet market. So does this mean the end of PC gaming as we know it?

Simply put, very unlikely. Odds are, the people who stopped buying PCs in favor of tablets/smartphones are the ones who use it solely for surfing the web and watching movies. For them, a tablet might be a better way to go. For those of us who enjoy our games on "ultra" to take in the crystal clear visuals, there's really no replacement for a good computer. And if there's anything we've learned this past year or so, it's that PC gaming is far from dead.

Diablo 3 became the fastest-selling game ever, as a PC exclusive. It sold 3.5 copies alone on launch day and 6.3 million just a week after its release. It may be coming to consoles now, but it's hard to argue against those sales. SimCity is another prime example. Despite its launch week setbacks, SimCity sold well over 1 million copies in its first two weeks.

Further proof is in the worldwide market. Despite the explosive presence of mobile devices, the PC software market experienced an 8% global increase year-over-year. This was thanks to great PC exclusives like Diablo 3, Guild Wars 2, Minecraft, and World of Warcraft. Let's not forget about League of Legends which is the most played played video game in the world. And no, League of Legends is not available on any other platform.

So you see, as long as their is demand for PC games, the desktop computer that we've grown to love will never really disappear. Computers may not have the household presence they once did, but for gamers, it provides a nice alternative gaming option — especially with those Steam discounts!

[GamesIndustry]

[Photo courtesy of Defence.pk]