DICE's Cousins: Huge Opportunity For PC Game Growth

Author: by Staff

Talking as part of an in-depth new Gamasutra interview, Battlefield Heroes senior producer Ben Cousins has called the death of PC gaming "a crazy idea", suggesting that "hundreds of millions" of game-compatible PCs mean a bright future on the platform. The Electronic Arts-published Battlefield Heroes, which will debut later this year, is a free to play title that is funded by in-menu/website ads and microtransactions. When discussing the hypothesis that consoles are a 'niche market' in some ways, Cousins explained: "If you look at the amount of PCs that are out there, we're talking hundreds and hundreds of millions; if you look at the amount of PS3s and 360s, we're talking tens of millions, barely. So, absolutely, people think that the PC is dying, but that's a crazy idea... I think we're going to continue to see high-end packaged good games on the PC. But I think they're going to, as you say, have an element of connectivity; they're going to have an element of persistence which you need to be connected online to do; and they're going to be, probably, more multiplayer focused." Further on in the interview, Cousins expanded on the possibilities for worldwide growth of games, both on and off consoles - and especially internationally, explaining: "I think you saw a huge growth in the industry when the NES came out, and then again when the PlayStation came out. I mean, people didn't realize that -- people felt that all of the growth had been done, but it really feels like, to me, that we're on the cusp of another expansive period of growth, between the DS and the Wii audiences, and there's also an opportunity on the PC now. PCs are everywhere -- there are hundreds of thousands of internet cafes in India, and this is a poor country that soon will have a completely global, online connected world, for which games will be completely different." You can now read the full Gamasutra interview with Cousins for a more in-depth look at his views, including much more on the ad/microtransaction powered whimsical take on the Battlefield franchise he's currently working on.