# (PC Gaming) Pirates Lament Anti-Piracy Measures **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 7, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-pirates-lament-anti-piracy-measures/742426 "2016-01-07T18:15:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-pirates-lament-anti-piracy-measures/742426/102 "2016-01-12T19:53:11Z")
Well for one thing if you count absolute numbers of gamers, Steam has already been replaced as the worlds biggest gaming store. Do the math and I think you’ll find there are far more people playing Candy Crush and all its clones and spin offs on android than there are PC gamers on steam. So Google Play has already replaced Steam as number 1 gaming store world wide if you look at total volume of sales. This is only going to continue. There is little reason for someone to have a PC at home, the average person can do everything they want on the internet on a phone or tablet now. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-pirates-lament-anti-piracy-measures/742426/103 "2016-01-12T20:34:57Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > Well for one thing if you count absolute numbers of gamers, Steam has already been replaced as the worlds biggest gaming store. Do the math and I think you’ll find there are far more people playing Candy Crush and all its clones and spin offs on android than there are PC gamers on steam. > > So Google Play has already replaced Steam as number 1 gaming store world wide if you look at total volume of sales. This is only going to continue. There is little reason for someone to have a PC at home, the average person can do everything they want on the internet on a phone or tablet now. Uhm, ok, so PC gaming and console gaming are doomed. I think everyone knows all gaming will go mobile at some point, but that point isn’t here yet, and probably won’t be for a while yet (thank the gaming gods). Also, the overall state of the PC market isn’t indicative of PC gaming at all. The overall PC market is a behemoth that dwarfs most other markets, in the meantime, PC gaming is only a small slice, a small slice that continues to see a rise in sales year after year. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-pirates-lament-anti-piracy-measures/742426/104 "2016-01-12T20:59:58Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > Uhm, ok, so PC gaming and console gaming are doomed. I think everyone knows all gaming will go mobile at some point, but that point isn’t here yet, and probably won’t be for a while yet (thank the gaming gods). I actually consider this super unlikely. Gaming devices are like cameras. Sure, you can take okay pictures with your smartphone, but if you actually have a serious interest in photography, you buy a real camera. “Mobile” devices have all kinda of undesirable properties for a lot of games. > [@](#): > > Also, the overall state of the PC market isn’t indicative of PC gaming at all. The overall PC market is a behemoth that dwarfs most other markets, in the meantime, PC gaming is only a small slice, a small slice that continues to see a rise in sales year after year. This is a weird thing to say, since these two markets are closely intertwined, and PC market is shrinking in the face of mobile devices. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-pirates-lament-anti-piracy-measures/742426/105 "2016-01-12T21:22:20Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > Uhm, ok, so PC gaming and console gaming are doomed. I think everyone knows all gaming will go mobile at some point, but that point isn’t here yet, and probably won’t be for a while yet (thank the gaming gods). I didn’t say they are doomed. There will always be a market of hardcore gamers and it can be a very profitable niche to target them. But Steams real competition is not the Windows App Store or Origin or Uplay, its Google Play and the iOS app store. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-pirates-lament-anti-piracy-measures/742426/106 "2016-01-12T21:25:17Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > I actually consider this super unlikely. Gaming devices are like cameras. Sure, you can take okay pictures with your smartphone, but if you actually have a serious interest in photography, you buy a real camera. > > “Mobile” devices have all kinda of undesirable properties for a lot of games. > > This is a weird thing to say, since these two markets are closely intertwined, and PC market is shrinking in the face of mobile devices. Not sure why it’s weird. It’s factual though. He is implying that PC gaming will or is shrinking because tablets. The overall PC market is shrinking 'cause tablets - though ti still ships more units in a quarter than Microsoft shipped xbox 360’s in like 7 years. But PC gaming hardware is NOT shrinking. It’s GROWING. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-pirates-lament-anti-piracy-measures/742426/107 "2016-01-12T21:26:47Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > I didn’t say they are doomed. There will always be a market of hardcore gamers and it can be a very profitable niche to target them. But Steams real competition is not the Windows App Store or Origin or Uplay, its Google Play and the iOS app store. You’re contradicting yourself… What market does Steam cater to? I don’t think it’s the casual mobile gaming market, do you? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-pirates-lament-anti-piracy-measures/742426/108 "2016-01-12T21:36:27Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > But Steams real competition is not the Windows App Store or Origin or Uplay, its Google Play and the iOS app store. Nah. Mobile gaming isn’t even close to occupying the same market space. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-pirates-lament-anti-piracy-measures/742426/109 "2016-01-12T22:23:02Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > You’re contradicting yourself… What market does Steam cater to? > > I don’t think it’s the casual mobile gaming market, do you? Their is plenty of casual games on steam, and I think there will start to be more AAA and “hardcore” games on mobile platforms. Mobile gaming is also growing much much faster than PC or console gaming. [http://www.newzoo.com/insights/global-games-market-will-reach-102-9-billion-2017-2/](http://www.newzoo.com/insights/global-games-market-will-reach-102-9-billion-2017-2/) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-pirates-lament-anti-piracy-measures/742426/110 "2016-01-12T23:15:08Z")
Yes, the casual market and the mobile market (which overlap but are not identical) are experiencing an awful lot of growth. That still doesn’t mean much for their relation to the PC/console market because they occupy very different spaces. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pc-gaming-pirates-lament-anti-piracy-measures/742426.md?page=5)