• MS and Sony back away from PC even as they admit that's not good strategy

    From Spalls Hurgenson@[email protected] to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Fri Apr 24 11:42:54 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action


    So, there was news a few weeks back about Sony deciding that they were
    backing away from PC and returning to making their first-party games Playstation Exclusives. Meanwhile, Microsoft recently announced that
    it's rebranding "Microsoft Gaming" as "XBox" and putting more focus on
    their console market. But at the same time, both have admitted this
    may not be the smartest move to make. A Sony exec said that, with game development budgets being as high as they are, he can't see how Sony
    will recoup the costs of its games without selling them on PC too, and Microsoft admits that its prescence on PC isn't strong enough.

    But at the same time, I get it. The PC video game market is booming...
    but it's not where the young people are at. PC games (and to some
    degree console games) are 'unc games', 'unc' apparently being the
    newest term for 'boomers' or generally just any old fogey these days,.
    The kids are all on mobile. So it makes sense to divert some of the corporation's attention from those old markets to free up cash for the youngsters' interests. The PC market has a limited lifespan; it's too expensive, its games tend to be longer and move involved, and they
    aren't really made to be played in short bursts and on the move.

    Still, it's not like consoles are much better in that regard. Sure,
    they may be seen as something a bit more appealing to the younger
    set... but only when compared to PCs. If PCs are for the middle-aged
    player, then consoles are increasingly for the post-university crowd;
    the sort who played "Call of Duty III" as teenagers but now have jobs
    and are starting families. So retreating to consoles may give
    Microsoft and XBox a few more years... but not much.

    Meanwhile, ignoring or downplaying the lucrative PC market (which may
    not be as important to the youngsters, still attracts a lot of
    youthful eyeballs) seems silly to me. Especially as the economy
    worsens, it'll be the old fogies who have the free cash more than the
    teens and tweens. You'd think you might want to focus on that group
    first.

    Then again, I have an obvious bias towards that strategy, being 'unc'
    myself. ;-)








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  • From Dimensional Traveler@[email protected] to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Fri Apr 24 17:34:37 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On 4/24/2026 8:42 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

    But at the same time, I get it. The PC video game market is booming...
    but it's not where the young people are at. PC games (and to some
    degree console games) are 'unc games', 'unc' apparently being the
    newest term for 'boomers' or generally just any old fogey these days,.
    Well, just to make you feel older I read today that some younger people
    are referring to the 1990's as "The Late 1900s".
    --
    I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
    dirty old man.
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