PC is a relatively open platform compared to consoles, but at the moment, PC is dominated by Steam, and other competitors don't pose much of a threat to it. Recently, foreign media PC Gamer evaluated various game platforms and game services on PC in 2023, and finally came to the conclusion that the Steam platform is still winning!
PC Gamer pointed out that since last year, many major manufacturers have begun to return to the Steam platform, including EA, Activision, Microsoft, etc. And this year, Blizzard, which has always been on its own, also released "Overwatch" and "Diablo 4" to the Steam platform for the first time. You must know that Blizzard's Battle.net platform has a longer history than Steam, and Blizzard games have been exclusive to Battle.net for more than 20 years.
At the same time, the Steam platform has gathered almost all of this year's PC titles, including Game of the Year winner "Baldur's Gate 3", the mighty "Starfield", and the popular "Hogwarts Legacy". Steam is also the birthplace of several popular indie games, such as Deadly Inc., Battlebit Remastered, Pizza Tower, and PC Gamer also specifically mentioned a Chinese game "Yijian Storm", which was introduced to many overseas players.
In addition, while Steam is no longer active in VR, the Steam Deck handheld is one of the most successful hardware devices in recent years, further expanding Steam's user base and benefiting from desktop-only gamers.
Overall, PC Gamer thinks that Steam has performed very well this year, while its competitors have fallen behind in comparison. For example:
Perhaps the biggest contender for Steam, Epic, has also had some success this year, including the investment and exclusive Alan Wake 2, which has received a lot of praise in the industryFortnite nostalgia was a hit, and later LEGO survival and racing modes were introducedEpic won the lawsuit against Google. But Epic hasn't had a smooth year either, as they laid off more than 800 employees in September, and Bandcamp, which was acquired just over a year ago, was resold.
Then there's PC Game Pass, Microsoft's gaming subscription service that has also become a new competitor on the PC platform, but it's not big enough to make a big impact on Steam.
Some other third-party gaming platforms, such as GOG, ITCHio, they are basically nothing new. In addition, various cloud streaming game platforms have not improved much this year.
So, PC Gamer believes that so far, Steam is still the biggest winner on PC, and it is by far the lead. I wonder if you agree with them
Recently, the return of Blizzard's national server has not only attracted the attention of domestic players, but also analyzed some details of this return. Foreign media xfire issued an article saying that considering the reorganization of NetEase's servers and team, the "compounding" process between the two parties is expected to take up to six months.
According to the author, there was recent news that Blizzard and NetEase have reached a new licensing agreement and will return to the Chinese market. The reason behind the new partnership may be due to Blizzard's merger with Microsoft, as well as changes within the company.
In terms of games, World of Warcraft announced three new materials this year: Battle for the Center of the Earth, Midnight, and The Last Titan. **Indicates that if NetEase's servers can be restored before the launch of the first expansion in 2024, it will be good news for more than 3 million WOW players in China. In addition, "Overwatch 2", which currently has a lot of negative reviews on Steam, is also expected to reverse its reputation with the return of the national server. Microsoft and Blizzard can also use the Chinese market to promote the development of their own mobile game business.