Tentpole franchises like Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty are mainstay for PC gaming, but the platform offers more options than ever before.
As multiplexes fully open back and film distributors lessen the hybrid streaming/theater strategy, modern cinema is at a crossroads. Audiences aren’t going back to the theaters in large numbers for a variety of reasons. From the rise of ticket prices and everything associated with the movie-going experience to the rise in Oscar-worthy films from streaming platforms like Netflix and AppleTV+, there’s little incentive now. It’s the reason why film studios are gravitating toward established franchises, remakes/reboots and intellectual properties like comic books adaptations. Of course, legendary film makers like Martin Scorese and Francis Ford Coppola have used the popularity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to call out the lack of original storytelling with significant budgets. Modern console and PC gaming have run into a similar argument as well, with even some of the best PC games sometimes going to the same storytelling well for content. Newer IPs with budgets anywhere near AAA have been few and far in-between over the past decade. Just a look into the highest-grossing games of 2021, the top ten were literally exclusive to sequels and reboots. Original IPs don’t begin to show up until number 13 with decades-old Minecraft alongside Back 4 Blood (the spiritual successor to Left 4 Dead) at the 18th spot. In 2020, Cyberpunk 2077 was the only non-sequel to crack the top ten and that’s adapted from a pen-and-paper RPG. This year looks to be a bit different for big-budget AAA titles with the overwhelming success of Elden Ring alongside upcoming releases like Forspoken and Starfield (though Elden Ring, while full of original elements, is still a FromSoftware “Soulsborne” title). However, these are more exceptions to the norm. When it comes to PC gaming specifically, big-budget AAA exclusives don’t make as much sense for developers as they used to. That’s because the platform has continued its reputation as an experimental playground for creators of all budgets. Outside of third-party AAA games, day-one releases on Microsoft Game Pass and more recent later-life ports of Sony PlayStation exclusives, PC gaming still manages to exist in its own world.
