Grand Theft Auto 5 is out today and the hype machine is in full swing as spoiled pre-teens and sheepish adults clamor over Rockstar’s newest open world experience. With positive record-breaking review scores coming in, (99/100 on Metacritic? Seriously?) GTA 5 is bound to be nominated for every award that the gaming industry has to offer. It will probably win most of those awards and be regarded as one of Rockstar’s best games.
Let me be real with you. I am not a fan of GTA at all. I barely got half-way through GTA 3 and decided the series wasn’t my thing. It’s okay if you, the lovely reader, enjoys that game; many people do. I’m not even going to bash the game with its faults. I’m not going to sit here and write out how I think the combat sucks, the missions are lame, or that the stories are usually sub-par.
What I will complain about is the lack of a PC release and how Rockstar seems to be stuck in the past. So why do I say that?
As you may have read in an article posted by one of my colleagues, GTA 5 is the most expensive game ever made. So how in the world did they not have the money to secure even a digital release on the PC? How is it that even though PC gaming is on the rise and “next-gen” consoles are simply disguised as PCs, running technology that has been around for at least the last two years, Rockstar refuses to give PC gamers its blockbuster game the same time as current consoles?
With the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 both coming out this November, us PC gamers need to make game studios realize that there is a huge market on the platform and it would serve studios well to include PC releases on the same dates as consoles.
The answer is that Rockstar is stuck in the past when consoles were the primary gaming platform and PC gaming was the niche market. The folks there have not realized that PC gaming is stronger now than it has been in the last 10 years and is continuing to rise in spite of what some media outlets have suggested.
What worries me is that Rockstar, though having intelligent people working there, have missed the mark and potentially turned away sales by not including a PC release. Many studios look up to Rockstar and could potentially think ‘Well if Rockstar doesn’t worry about the PC platform, why should we?’
With the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 both coming out this November, us PC gamers need to make game studios realize that there is a huge market on the platform and it would serve studios well to include PC releases on the same dates as consoles.
Petitions like this one here, which has raised over 400,000 signatures, are a good start but there is still a lot of work to be done. Emailing developers directly, going to trade shows and events, being active on forums, any way to tell studios that the PC gaming market is strong and a financial incentive is what we, as PC gamers, need to start doing. Let’s keep up the petitions, use social media to our advantage, use that wonderful gift of a voice we all have, and spread the good news of PC gaming. The future of video games are upon us, let’s make sure we take an active role in shaping it.
Do you wish there would have been a PC version released the same time as consoles? Comment below!
Published: Sep 17, 2013 03:30 pm