How comes people never talk about PC exclusives?

[Rariow]

An "exclusive" isn't as much about it only coming out on one platform as about said platform's owner having a contract for it not to come out on other platforms. This is done for the typical "I'm going to buy console X because of game Y" sales.

The PC exclusives you're referring to aren't as much PC exclusives as simply titles too small to be able to afford the cost of entry on to the consoles. If you think about it, most games with big publishers come out on consoles as well as PC.

The reason big titles are very, very rarely PC exclusive is that it'd require someone big to pay money for the title only to come out on PC, and who's going to do that? Most people own a PC, so it's unlikely to drive PC sales, and even if it did, you can't be sure that the PCs being sold are going to be equipped with hardware/software from whoever's pushing the exclusivity deal.

 

[Miss G.]

Because how many high-profile PC exclusives do you see being released?

Also what Doom972 said re open platform.

I suppose my question would be, what constitutes a high profile? Certainly PC games in general have a lower profile, overall, than console games. For my money, I would say there are boatloads of PC exclusives that have a high-enough profile among PC gamers to matter. Many of these exclusives are exclusives because of genre and the limitations of console control schemes.

For instance, I consider Europa Universalis IV to be a high profile PC exclusive, but its profile compared to, say, CoD is a joke. I think that a discussion of PC exclusives is really important though, as I have a number of friends who have argued exclusives as a reason to pick Consoles over PC gaming. They were totally ignorant of the sheer number of PC exclusive titles that come out, and when I got a chance to show them, they were pretty blown away. Since gamers do take exclusives seriously when making their platform decisions, I think it would do people well to have a discussion about PC exclusive titles, mostly because they don't have the same profile as console exclusives.

Anyway, I realize I responded to a lot more than what you said, and I don't disagree with you at all.

Not interested in PC gaming or owning a PC in general, but the whole 'not knowing about PC exclusives' thing rings quite true. Even as I read this thread I see only three titles that I've even heard of; TF2 because I've followed LittleKuriboh's YGOTAS and he used some audio clips from it in a remix of his first episode, the Witcher because of the latest E3, and Civ V because of advertisement from this site.

 

[clippen05]

Because all the good PC exclusives get ported to console, while all the good console exclusives don't have a chance in hell to get ported to PC. I know there are exceptions, but for the most part, its true.

 

[Sight Unseen]

Dota 2
Team Fortress 2 (not an exclusive but is TF2 even still viable on consoles given how gimped it is compared to PC? Do people still play it on consoles?)
Civ V
Project Eternity
Torment: Tides of Numenera
Wasteland 2
Starcraft 2
Any strategy game

There are a bunch of MMOs.

You both make good points here. I'm going to blame my own myopia for part of this, given that I don't play MOBAs or MMOs. Still, as excited as I am by Torment and Project Eternity - seriously, I don't think I can stress enough how much I'm looking forward to those games - I maintain that they're not the sort of thing to make a huge impact in the mainstream. As evidence I use the fact that they were funded through Kickstarter, because no publisher would be willing to greenlight a PC-only, old school isometric RPG in this day and age.

As I said in my original post, the independent scene is thriving on PC, and is probably one of the best reasons to use the platform at the moment. You'll be hard pressed to find a "AAA" game that isn't Starcraft or Total War only appearing on PC, though.

While you're correct in saying that games like Torment and Eternity would have been turned down by the big publishers, I would counter that point by saying that I believe the reason for them turning down these games is that they think that the genre is dead and doesn't have enough fans who still want games like them. I'd be willing to bet that if Torment, Wasteland, and Project Eternity are all as successful as I really hope they will be that two things will happen:

a) the developers behind the games (inXile and Obsidian) will be able to secure their financial position enough to continue making sequels and other games of the same genre, as well as make the subsequent games higher profile than these first steps.

b) it will attract the big publishers who will hopefully realize that there is a viable market for these niche titles and that they can cash in on it with games of similar scope. Hopefully they will realize that not all of their franchises need to be runaway blockbuster hits to be successful, and that they can make good quality games with a smaller budget. Hopefully this will lead to a resurgence of old genres that publishers thought dead and that they will realize that they need to scale their budget to the market demand and not try to scale their market to their budget.

Admittedly this is a pipe dream on my part, but I hope that these kickstarter games are the first step in a growing movement rather than flash in the pan one off games.

Also, to add further to your list of games known for the PC, although they are admittedly mostly made by EA and EA is evil:
-the Sims (again, not an exclusive, but PC is the definitive version of the game and I think probably the most successful one. The console versions don't really compare to the PC version in many ways)
-SimCity
-Crysis (the original)
-Civilization
-Arma

 

[LAGG]

Because PC is default platform - no need to add word "exclusive" =)

Yep, nobody uses the word "exclusive" when talking about PC games. It's just a "game" and that's it.

"Exclusives" is marketing blabering from manufacturers. They pay publishers for exclusivity or publish the games themselves.

 

[Charli]

Because PC is default platform - no need to add word "exclusive" =)

Yep, nobody uses the word "exclusive" when talking about PC games. It's just a "game" and that's it.

Kinda this... there's nearly NO game that couldn't have a PC port or be re-kitted to work on PC. So in many peoples minds it's just kinda the default. You're either keeping it off PC or you aren't.

And don't forget for a long time PC was kinda hanging around as a niche for MMO's and Indie games, only now with the dawn of easy digital distribution and publishing are console developers starting to see the merits in having their games on the PC as well as their consoles of choice. More people flat out HAVE a PC, and more people than ever have steam, or visit GoG etc. It's now a viable way to sell games.

Since ironically enough despite what they spew for ages about the PC, a great deal people would rather pay a fair price for a game than pirate it. Digital publishers now do this. By eliminating box, advertising, worker and shipping costs they're able to cut prices here and there and have massive sales.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Exclusivity requires a proprietary platform in order to remain exclusive for long.
"PC" isn't proprietary because it doesn't conform to one specific standard or mold.

(The ultimate irony being the next gen consoles using x86 architecture, that which most PCs use.)

In the end, exclusivity is just marketing to justify a proprietary business model (which has its positives and negatives).

 

[4RM3D]

There are PC exclusives?

And no, Dwarf Fortress doesn't count.

 

[Gorrath]

There are PC exclusives?

And no, Dwarf Fortress doesn't count.

This is basically what I was talking about before. It's not that they don't exist, people are just totally unaware. Many of the games are indie in nature, but there are a fair few that aren't. Paradox produces games almost solely for PC. The Europa series, Crusader Kings, Sword of the Stars, ect. PC not only has exclusive games, it almost has exclusive genres. As has been mentioned this has a lot to do with control schemes. Of course the mileage on this may vary depending on how we want to define what an 'exclusive' is. To me it just means a game, for whatever reason, is only being released on a single platform.

I agree that DF does not count, but only because it isn't really released, it just exists in a state of constant alpha.

 

[Skeleon]

Because "PC" is not a defined, singular device like a console is. So in that sense it can't be an "exclusive". There is no company producing the gaming PC that runs particular games. Pffh. In my case, exclusivity probably stems mostly from what my computer can and cannot run due to performance issues rather than artifical platform-restrictions.

 

[RandV80]

PC probably doesn't enter the 'exclusive' argument because it's basically become a dick measuring contest between Sony and Microsoft fans in the ongoing console wars. PC games have always been a sort of separate entity so no one really cares.

Now if you want to count them off PC has many great 'exclusive' titles, But they're more focused in catering to niche audiences. Basically A or AA games rather than AAA games. A game like Crusader Kings II isn't going to get the COD/Madden playing fratboys excited, but for the smaller audience that likes a deep strategy game you won't find anything like it on a console.

 

[Evonisia]

Probably because when somebody thinks "PC Exclusive" they think Indie Games, which usually aren't advertised as "X Exclusive".

 

[Dr. Dice Lord]

I always find it kind of interesting that people on the escapist totally forget to mention little PC-exclusive gems like...
- ARMA II & ARMA III
- The "mythical" Day-Z Standalone
- Red Orchestra 2 & RO2: Rising Storm
- Planetside 2
- Chivalry Medieval Warfare

Not all games on the PC have to be Arrpeegees or RTSs. Granted these are all technically FPSs, but I challenge anyone to find better console equivalents. After growing sick and tired of BF3 in less than a year, I always found myself returning to Red Orchestra 2. In my opinion, all of these games should be touted as masterpieces in one aspect or another, from realism to action.

 

[TrevHead]

As pointed out already console exclusives are often hyped that they are exclusives so that they become desirable. PPl tend to want something even more if it has been denied to them. For example most arcade shmups are exclusive to the 360, often in CAVE shmup articles there would be alot of ppl moaning that there were no PS3 version even though the games are Japanese. Yet when a shmup does get at PS3 port 95% of them don't bother buying it and the game bombs.

Also despite what most ppl in this thread would have you believe not every exclusive is down to money hatting and under the table deals. Alot of exclusives are simply niche games that aren't worth porting to other platforms due to the bulk of their customers been on one platform. Each gaming machine has it's own unique control types, game genres and type of gamer / community that like similar things.

Here are the genres that perform best on each platform:-

PC: MMO, RTS, fast paced or sim FPS, MOBA, Simulation, Visual Novels, M&K 2D games, Horror, point n click adventure, space sims, WRPGs, Diablo type hack and slashers.
360: 3rd person cover shooters, Shmups, console FPS, XBLA arcade ports
PS3: Japanese games, Japanese MP genres like fighters, JRPGs, Movie/artistic based games like HardRain, Flower & Beyond 2 Souls.
Wii/WiiU: Lightgun Games, Rail shooters, party games, platformers, kids games
PSP/Vita/DS/3DS: Monster hunter, SRPG, Rhythm Games, Puzzlers, Dungeon Crawlers

PC does have it's own exclusives between digital platforms. PPl getting annoyed over Origin exclusives is very similar to WiiU hate.

 

[StriderShinryu]

I don't discuss them personally as, outside of some cool indie stuff, there aren't many PC exslusives I care about.

 

[Anachronism]

While you're correct in saying that games like Torment and Eternity would have been turned down by the big publishers, I would counter that point by saying that I believe the reason for them turning down these games is that they think that the genre is dead and doesn't have enough fans who still want games like them. I'd be willing to bet that if Torment, Wasteland, and Project Eternity are all as successful as I really hope they will be that two things will happen:

a) the developers behind the games (inXile and Obsidian) will be able to secure their financial position enough to continue making sequels and other games of the same genre, as well as make the subsequent games higher profile than these first steps.

b) it will attract the big publishers who will hopefully realize that there is a viable market for these niche titles and that they can cash in on it with games of similar scope. Hopefully they will realize that not all of their franchises need to be runaway blockbuster hits to be successful, and that they can make good quality games with a smaller budget. Hopefully this will lead to a resurgence of old genres that publishers thought dead and that they will realize that they need to scale their budget to the market demand and not try to scale their market to their budget.

Admittedly this is a pipe dream on my part, but I hope that these kickstarter games are the first step in a growing movement rather than flash in the pan one off games.

There's no denying that it would be wonderful if all these Kickstarted games did give the publishers the kick they need to realise there's money outside of the multi-million dollar AAA model. Although, considering Ubisoft's recent comments that they won't give anything the green light unless they feel it can be turned into a franchise, I'm not going to hold my breath too much. Still, we can always hope. The first real test will be when Wasteland 2 comes out, I suppose.

To be honest, I'm just hoping that Project Eternity proves that Obsidian can make a great, bug-free game when they're allowed to just do what they want to do. Even during the Black Isle days, as much as I love those games, they tended towards being buggy. If Eternity can live up to Obsidian's potential and deliver a stable experience, I hope it'll give them the reputation and clout they deserve.

 

[BoredRolePlayer]

Only time an exclusive is talked about on PC is when it says made for X video card chip set, or some feature. Like having PhysX is a thing some game makers bang on and on about sometimes.

 

[Yuuki]

Because if you tried to count every game that was exclusive to PC, you would easily lose track. PC has WAY too many titles it has built-up over the decades, the word "exclusive" is redundant.
It's simply considered a default/open platform that anyone can release their game on.