The rapid rise of digital distribution has put an endless sea of fresh games at our fingertips, and opened up new ways for developers to innovate. Blockbuster PC exclusive and side-by-side ports of AAA hits may still satiate the most hardcore among us, but plenty of enthralling gaming opportunities exist for players who don't wield the latest bleeding-edge hardware. Quirky independent projects, social networking apps, and free games are filling in the gaps to entice new players into the fold. No matter how you look at it, the options are staggering. It's an exciting time to be a PC gamer.
Super Meat Boy: Awesomely difficult.
Independent Innovators
As an open development platform, the PC has always been a breeding ground for ultra-creative, self-published games crafted by small studios. Some of the hottest games released on the PC in the last few years were made by independent developers, and indies are gaining momentum to lead the charge into a bright future for the platform. With immensely popular digital distribution services like Steam opening the door to independent releases, bigger indie games like Terraria, World of Goo, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, AudioSurf, and Darwinia are reaching much wider audiences -- and giving players less-expensive options to dig into.
Perhaps even more thrilling is the way some indie developers have revolutionized the distribution process by venturing off the beaten path and getting fans involved in the early stages. Crowdsourcing has become a popular way to fund game development in the indie world, while giving players a chance to enjoy checking out a game and offer input as it's being made. It's a win-win for all parties involved. Minecraft is a prime example of crowdsourcing in action: Markus "Notch" Persson's crafty retro sandbox building game has already generated millions of dollars (and the game isn't even finished!), affording him the financial freedom to form a studio from scratch and focus on development, unhindered by financial concerns. And all Notch did was offer players paid access to the alpha version, which entitled them to future updates as they were rolled out. Other indies are using variations on the model; Chris Hecker offers a paid beta program for his upcoming project Spy Party, Eskil Steenberg took a similar route with his ambitious massively multiplayer online game Love MMO, and others continue to follow suit. Where else can the average player get hands-on involvement in a game months (and sometimes years) before it's even officially launched?
Minecraft: Awesomely creative.
The Online Freeware Revolution
Beyond more mainstream indie fare, a large number of individuals are coding and releasing interesting PC games well below the radar. A thriving scene of talented do-it-yourselfers focus their efforts on making bite-sized Flash and downloadable games... and considering that many of these quality games are offered up as freeware or sold at a very meager price, little-to-no risk is involved in giving them a shot. Sites like Newgrounds, YoYo Games, and Kongregate are online repositories for freeware, though many creators make their projects through their own sites as well. Indie studio Nitrome has launched dozens of high-quality freeware Flash games. Others, like Super Meat Boy creator Edmund McMillen, got their start making freeware games before breaking into the mainstream market. Whether you need a glorious bite-sized time-waster to stave off boredom at work, or just want something fresh to load on your laptop for some on-the-go action, quality freeware options are becoming more plentiful.
Small indies aren't the only folks making free games, either; the MMO circuit has long been a hotspot for free opportunities to wade into epic fantasy worlds or pop caps into vast numbers of other virtual humans from the safety of your meatspace dwelling. The bigger free-to-play MMOs often pack a lot more depth and oomph than your average free indie game, and they come in a wide range of flavors. Aside from the deluge of hardcore online MMOs, you've got real-time strategy combat games like League of Legends, old-school first-person shooters like Quake Live, and just about everything else in-between. And let's not overlook the more recent trend of successful big-name games transitioning over to free-to-play models, which is a boon to late adopters. Valve's intense online shooter Team Fortress 2 just made the shift, and superhero MMO City of Heroes will transition later this year. Even World of Warcraft now offers a limited free-to-play experience for characters up to level 20. Indeed, you don't have to look far for free PC gaming entertainment these days.
League of Legends: Awesomely addictive.
Social Gaming and the Changing Future
PC gaming continues to evolve in surprising directions as new players are drawn in, sometimes from the most unexpected of places. The booming casual game market is still growing at a fast rate, fueled in recent years by the skyrocketing interest in social networking. Yes, Facebook is now a serious tour de force in the PC gaming world, whether you like it or not. Don't scoff at light casual fare like Farmville and Empires & Allies; they clock more users than some of the most hardcore games combined.
Casual Facebook game developer Zynga generated $600 million in revenue last year alone -- no simple feat, since its games are free, aside from optional microtransactions. One of the company's older leading games, Farmville, topped out at over 84 million active monthly users in its heyday. That staggering figure was broken by CityVille, which hit 100 million active monthly users. Compare that to World of Warcraft's mere 12 million subscribers, and it begins to make a lot of sense when we see big names like Sid Meier gravitate toward social games. The good news is, this could attract other mainstream game developers and increase the quality of Facebook games across the board. Meier's just-released CivWorld -- spawned from the immensely popular Civilization strategy series -- is an impressive taste of Facebook gaming's possible future.
As technologies and trends change, the face of PC gaming evolves far beyond the simple boxed retail offerings of days long past. It's a different animal, and with so many new and exciting ways to access and experience games, we've never had a better time to champion the old keyboard-and-mouse. Noble warriors of the PC, we tip our goblets to the prosperous days ahead for our platform of choice!