March 6, 2010

Bad Company 2 PC beating consoles

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Limited EditionCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2The Battlefield series has always been sold as a PC game. A couple years ago that could have been said about the Call of Duty franchise. Then Modern Warfare 2 hit and the console versions destroyed the sales numbers and hours played of the PC version. The debate raged whether Infinity Ward had given up on the PC because there wasn't any money there. PC gaming is dead right?

Wrong. In an amazing turn of events, PC gamers do exist! Today we get word that Battlefield: Bad Company 2's PC version is beating the numbers on the consoles.
btw: PC currently has more people playing and are in game servers than both the consoles.

Noticed on Kotaku that this post was taken the wrong way. The PC had more players than either console not more than both consoles combined. You'll need to work to beat both consoles combined effort
This can be taken two ways: BFBC2 didn't sell well on the consoles or there are a MORE PC gamers willing to buy a game that gives them what they want.

I never agreed that Infinity Ward was screwing PC gamers with Modern Warfare 2. I was intrigued by the peer to peer play and the Steamworks integration. I believed MW2's downfall on the PC was that it just wasn't that great of a game for PC gamers. Compare it to Halo, one of the consoles biggest game series which did poorly on PCs as well. It could be said the Call of Duty franchise has been "consoled" and therefore that makes it poor for PCs.

The Battlefield series has always taken advantage of the power of the PC: dedicated servers, customization, big battles, and tight controls. I suspect BFBC2 is a much different experience on the consoles. Console games always have to provide auto-aim to allow the majority of gamers to hit their targets. Mouse and keyboard control is superior and requires no meddling from the developers. 

We could say that Battlefield games have been "PCed" and therefore make poor console games.  I doubt that, simply because in the PC version no sacrifices have to be made :)