Strategy Informer  

Despite retail sales showing a rather poor performance for the PC in the shops "it's been growing for several years" says Riccitiello.

Digital distribution services and subscription based games have gained the edge over traditional retail. The market has just shifted with the times, not shrunk.

"One of the things we try to look at at EA is the total business represented on PC game software, and we're seeing a growth in business there. It's been growing for several years," Riccitiello said.

"It's just been categorized wrongly by looking simply at the box side of the equation," he added. "The fastest growing is subscription, microtransactions-based and casual games, many of which are pretty much centered on the PC."

World of Warcraft is a heavy-weight defender of the PC games realm with millions of gamers each paying a monthly subscription, EA's The Sims franchise has been doing its part too with frequent expansions and add-on packs.

For 2007 PC software sales at retail in the industry equated to just 14% so the PC market if calculated by retail alone will look increasingly dire compared to it console counterparts, but the PC market is far from trouble and is in fact the most innovative of the bunch.

Digital distribution, subscriptions and microtransactions are the future of PC games if trends continue.