PC Gaming Holds Leads over Consoles

In the match between PC versus Console gaming, PC has beaten its rival hands down. Move with the times-get a rig built with Gigabyte’s gaming motherboard.

Gaming rigs: A deep market penetration on the cards

Once a mere pastime, PC gaming has evolved into a business worth billions of dollars globally. According to a worldwide PC gaming market report by DFC Intelligence (DFCI), gaming software revenues are expected to escalate to $98 billion by 2020. In 2016, they were pegged at $79 billion.

Yet another study, Newzoo’s Global Games Market Report estimates that gamers would generate $99.6 billion in revenue for 2016 worldwide—8.5% higher than in 2015. While DFCI report focuses primarily on PC gaming, Newzoo’s report covers all formats—Smartphone, tablet, handheld, TV/Console, casual web games, or PC/MMO.

The Console games continue to dominate the gaming formats with 29% share; the mobile games stand at No. 2 with $36.9 billion revenues. PC gaming controls 27% share, marginally lower than mobile gaming. Another survey, by Deloitte Global, places the total global PC games revenue ($32 billion) ahead of Console games ($28 billion) for the year 2016.

Strong activity on the PC front

However you look at it, PC gaming remains as the serious format even today. The competition for PC gaming is primarily from gaming Consoles and mobile devices. Incidentally, this is happening even when there has been an overall decline in the desktop market. IDC statistics show that the PC shipments in India declined by 2.2 percent to 21.4 lakh units in the April-May-June 2016 period. On the other hand, Console games continue to dominate the space due to sustained marketing and distribution efforts by brands including Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. However, despite such competition, PC gaming continues to hold its ground, indicating healthy growth in the near future. (Source: DFC Intelligence)

The environmental factors

In addition to the technical factors, a few environmental factors also are at play giving a boost to PC gaming. For instance, consider the role of cyber cafes. According to Cyber Cafe Owners’ Association of India (CCAOI) there are about 72,000 cyber cafes in the country. Businesses are looking at exploiting the huge presence of cyber cafes as an opportunity to encourage PC gaming.

For instance, the Korean game publisher Funizen has converted 3,000-plus cyber cafes from India’s tier 2 and tier 3 cities into gaming zones. The PC hardware manufacturers, such as Nvidia, Gigabyte, and more, have been organizing gaming contests to promote PC gaming with the help of gaming zones and cyber cafes.

Youngsters find gaming zones as a convenient venue to interact and play. “Many youngsters have best in class rigs at home. But they still come here to enjoy playing with friends and as a team. Our customers often play popular games, such as Dota 2 ,with contestants from places like Vietnam and Hong Kong by forming teams here,” informs Bruce Vase, the proprietor at Gamers’ Pride, a specialist gaming zone in Mumbai.

In the backdrop of a rise in PC gaming adoption, a community of system builders specializing in gaming rigs is steadily on the rise. Explaining the reason behind their rise, Pramod Hambir, Co-Founder, Havok Nation, a gaming rig specialist from Pune says: “PC gamers ask for great performance, stability and looks. A gaming rig not only allows for playing high-end games but also offers superb performance for multimedia applications such as 3ds Max, Photoshop, VRay and AutoCAD.”

Havok Nation sold over 80 high-end gaming rigs in 2015. Pramod informs that a minded gaming rig can be bought for below Rs. 60,000 while the high-end ones may cost up to Rs. 1.50 lakh. While gaming rig making is still a nascent business, it’s been growing at a handsome 30% to 40% rate annually.

The environmental factors in addition to the technical factors, a few environmental factors also are at play giving a boost to PC gaming. For instance, consider the role of cyber cafes. According to Cyber Cafe Owners’ Association of India (CCAOI) there are about 72,000 cyber cafes in the country. Businesses are looking at exploiting the huge presence of cyber cafes as an opportunity to encourage PC gaming.

Options available

The easy availability of best-of-breed hardware components is another important factor boosting the adoption of PC gaming in India. Recently, the market leader Gigabyte launched two class-leading motherboards—AORUSGA-Z270X-Gaming 9 and AORUS GAZ270XGaming 7—that comprehensively address the performance hunger of gamers. Designed for gaming enthusiasts, Gigabyte’s AORUS line of motherboards support Intel 7th and 6thGen Core processors and deliver great performance along with personalization.

The series delivers greater control in the hands of the gamers by incorporating several unique features such as liquid cooling support, customizable RGB LEDs, and enhanced smart fan controls. Gigabyte also offers another option, the high-end, GA-X99-Ultra Gaming mother boards.

So the next time you wish to buy a gaming system, don’t console yourself with a monolith, get a gaming rig built with best-in-class hardware from Gigabyte.