Retail PC games sales decline 23 percent in 2009

[bullbert]

Maybe it is because more PC gamers are growing up and are becoming more responsible spenders and have finally realized that the $60/$50 pricing standards are a ripoff perpetuated by greedy publishers. Many are only buying during release-week with Hot Deals pushing the out-the-door price down to $35 or less, and are only buying older games with Hot Deals that push the price down even further into the $5-$15 range.

 

[Imp]

I think I may start to go the Steam route. Most of the retail games come with nothing other than a 10 page manual and a DVD case nowadays, and Steam auto-updates, so may as well.

The only problem is requiring an internet connection (not an issue unless something is dead) to play stuff.

 

[exar333]

These are like the stats that show how may computers are sold, but they don't count any "configured" computers like Asus, Dells, HPs, etc. What a crock.

I would say this is pretty good news for PC gaming. Considering console gaming was down 9% IIRC, I would bet a good 20-30% of PC gaming is from online sales. This probably means PC gaming either was down slightly, about even, or even up for the year.