Epic Games expects console to PC gaming shift

The video game industry seems to have a stronger focus on console gaming at the moment, but that is expected to change in the future, the president of Epic Games recently said in an interview.

Video game piracy remains one of the leading causes behind a continued transition from PC to console gaming — but that could eventually change once publishers iron out piracy-related issues.

“Most publishers I’m speaking to right now think their money’s going to be shifting back to PC and away from traditional consoles, just because folks are in that mode of wanting to spend a little bit of time every now and then, and paying money to save time because there’s so much media competing for it,” said Mike Capps, Epic President, in a recent article in Edge magazine.

Epic used to be a traditional PC game company — it wasn’t too long ago it had just one console title — but now most gamers know Epic as a console game developer.

I heard id Software’s Todd Hollenshead speak a few years ago about the billions of dollars in revenue lost through piracy.  Hollenshead said it was absolutely vital piracy was battled without interfering with game play, but it seems that EA and other studios are interested in protecting their assets more than game play – even if it alienates consumers.

I own a Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii game console, and my girlfriend has a Sony PlayStation 3, but I still prefer PC gaming over any of the consoles.  However, it’s disappointing that so many game studios are more interested in console game development — especially as the cost of game development continues to rise.

If piracy really is a major problem in the gaming industry, it’s up to the publishers to find ways to battle piracy without the dubious estimates that the Business Software Alliance (BSA) comes up with.  They estimate $51.4 billion in lost revenue annually which does not seem like a very realistic figure.