As I detailed yesterday in our PC Gamer at Tokyo Game Show 2024 Day 1 report (see link above), PC gaming has been the notable winner at this year's TGS, with game publishers all around the world, but notably now in Japan, looking at the PC as an area for growth following the collapse of the traditional console-exclusives gaming industry structure.
There are multiple reasons for that, but the biggest by far has been Microsoft's creation of its 'Netflix for games' Game Pass subscription service, along with the house of Redmond's push, back in the early 2010s, into cloud gaming with its Azure infrastructure. Today, in 2024, Microsoft dominates this space, both in terms of service and hardware. The latter so much so that Sony is reliant on Azure for its own PlayStation cloud gaming services to operate.
Touring around Tokyo Game Show 2024 and speaking to Japanese gamers, it's clear that 10 years later Game Pass has actually been very beneficial to PC gaming, and I don't just mean in terms of the PC gamers who subscribe directly to it. With consoles losing many of their software exclusives, and with it becoming cheaper than ever to play many games on day one through Game Pass, Japanese gamers who traditionally would have stuck loyally to Sony, for example, are now looking to PC (Xbox still doesn't have great brand recognition in Japan) as a viable way to play all the games they want to, regardless of if they do so through Game Pass or not.
After all, PC is getting almost every new AAA game (mostly now on day one, and with better ports than ever before), as well as boasting the healthiest indie scene on the market. Indeed, as I noted yesterday, there's a really strong indie and small studios presence here at the TGS this year, and almost all these games are releasing on PC. Japanese gamers are seeing this.
Microsoft masterclass
Microsoft's ascendancy here feels almost perfectly timed, as it comes when its main console competitor, Sony, is having a tough time, with the Japanese gaming giant forced to restructure earlier in 2024 in order to 'continue to grow' its gaming business. In my opinion, Microsoft has probably been waiting years for this. Game Pass has now become a gaming standard, and globally is now considered the cheapest and, in some regards, easiest way to play games.
On a surface level, that seems to be a mere tool to combat Sony and its currently dominant PlayStation consoles, but the fact that Game Pass brings the majority of its titles to PC Game Pass, too, has meant that PC gaming has benefited massively as well. Look at how, just today at the TGS 2024 Xbox showcase, Phil Spencer revealed that Starcraft 2 and Starcraft remastered are coming to Game Pass, classic PC games that will be unlocked day one for PC Game Pass users on November 5th.
Indeed, the feeling I get when talking with other colleagues is that Game Pass has been the Trojan Horse that has broken the exclusives business and, at least for gamers, what it offers is unmatchable today by any other service. That's making it easier for gamers to get into PC gaming, as the price of hardware, traditionally far higher than the price of buying a console, can now be offset to a degree by subscribing to a service like Game Pass, which joins the PC's pre-existing best-in-class offering of affordable gaming software from the likes of Steam.
PC gaming hardware is no longer in its own financial ballpark
Another factor that seems to have contributed to PC gaming's ascendency, in Japan and around the world, is the fact that console hardware continues to leap in price. At TGS 2024, Sony is showcasing its new PS5 consoles, including its standard PS5 Pro and the limited-edition, 30th-anniversary PS5 Pro. The standard system is ringing in for $700 US dollars, though, while the 30th-anniversary PS5 Pro costs $999. Suddenly, new gaming consoles are costing as much as a powerful new gaming PC, and once again that feels market-shifting.
The PS5 Pro announcement has, if you ask me, given Spencer and Microsoft a boost, and you can feel the optimism here at TGS, especially in a country that has always given Xbox the cold shoulder. Now, of course, it must be seen if Microsoft can capitalize on the momentum, as recently it's not been doing a great job of delivering gaming wins, with notable failures like Redfall dragging its rep down. But the opportunity is there. If Xbox capitalises on it, delivering wins with games like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Doom: The Dark Ages, it could make some notable gains.
Post-Kojima Konami is in recovery mode
Following the departure of Konami's enfant prodigè, Hideo Kojima, the Japanese firm has entered recovery mode in terms of its gaming division (Konami as a holding owns many businesses, from casinos to gyms), leaning heavily on its incoming Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater remake in Unreal Engine 5 to hit hard for it financially. Walking around TGS, this is evident. The Metal Gear Solid Delta booth is huge and, at least from what I've seen of the game, it looks like it is going to be a winner. At the end of the day, though, it is another remake, but that's the state of the industry at the moment, where re-dos are seen as safe, cheaper-to-make-than-a-new-AAA-game bets.
But something else is evident at Konami's TGS showing: There doesn't appear to be much else incoming, and that's led me and other journalists to ask, 'well, after Delta, what's next?' The answer, for now, remains a mystery. However, following EA's departure from the Fifa licensing agreement, there have been rumours circulating that a new football game could be on the cards for the Japanese company, which historically had great success for a period with its Winning Eleven/Pro Evolution Soccer series.
Finally, SNK is back, and releasing day one on PC
Finally, it would be remiss of me not to mention the continuing resurrection of a proper old-fashioned Japanese gaming firm, SNK, which following being bought out by a Saudi Arabian firm has returned to the Tokyo Game Show with a real presence. With a large booth promoting its upcoming new versus fighter, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, SNK as a brand is definitely re-emerging into mainstream gaming consciousness. And, naturally, City of the Wolves is releasing on PC day one, with the game already up for pre-order on Steam.
This fighting game will join all other major versus fighters on PC, with Capcom's Street Fighter 6 and Bandai Namco's Tekken 8 already available on PC and selling well. Throw in each new Mortal Kombat game releasing on PC and it's easy to see how our beloved gaming platform has now been fully embraced by fighting game devs, many of which are those aforementioned Japanese firms that are specifically looking at the PC as growth area. And with Tekken 8, Street Fighter 6 and, almost certainly, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves offering up cross-platform play, there's never been a better time as a PC gamer to kick ass and take names.
Tomorrow, on Tokyo Game Show 2024 Day 3, I'll return with a report providing some deeper dives into key booths. Until then!
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