11Jun

Madden Returns to the PC in 2018

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Imagine this: CNN is running nonstop election coverage as George W. Bush’s presidency nears its end. Bioware is still an independent studio known for top down, isometric RPG’s. Your grandma is lamenting Bob Barker’s retirement from the Price of Right, and Fox’s The O.C. has just aired it’s finale episode.

What do all these things have in common? The year 2007, the same year a Madden game was last released on PC.

Yes, it has been that long.

Over the weekend, Electronic Arts announced at E3 that Madden would be making a return to the PC platform. For the first time in over a decade, the console-less among us will be able to enjoy the latest rosters, mechanics and microtransaction laden game modes that EA Sports has to offer. 

Oh, you want to play as OBJ? Please buy this 600$ box that performs worse than the one you already have.

 No longer will PC gamers be forced to download custom, fanmade rosters for Madden 08 should they want to suit up as any of their favorite players who entered the league after 2008. While the PC gaming community has praised the efforts of sites such as footballidiots.com, few will complain that they’re now able to get the real thing. 

But why now?

There’s never been a better time to be a PC gamer, between the plethora of online distributors, XBOX’s Play Anywhere initiative, and hardware costs cheaper than ever (now that Bitcoin has fallen, at least).  So it’s no wonder that, according to GamesIndustry.biz, PC game sales now account for nearly as much revenue as all console sales combined!

It’s very likely that EA noticed this trend, and paired with the success of Madden mobile, sought to branch out onto as many platforms as possible. And it doesn’t hurt that PC-only games such as Guild Wars 2, World of Warcraft and League of Legends have seen massive success from selling microtransactions. In fact, such revenue on PC has doubled since 2012, now bringing in 22 billion USD globally each year. EA is undoubtedly looking to expand the success of it’s Ultimate Team modes to PC gamers everywhere.

Looking Ahead

Not one of these dweebs realize they could’ve hooked this up to an actual television.

While this is a great move for EA that will likely prove profitable, it’s difficult to suggest this has any long term implications for EA’s sports franchises. Such games are kept alive by their passionate base, which many deem as “casual” or quite separate from a typical gaming audience. 

It’s hard to imagine any of them switching to PC just because the option is there. And despite the ease of hooking a PC up to a TV and booting up Steam’s Big Picture mode, in the mind of gamers, consoles are still king when it comes to pulling off a hat trick against your boastful buddy sitting inches away. 

However, it’s worth nothing that this removes one of the last few arbitrary divides between consoles and PC’s: sports games have spent a decade being one of the only genres to be nearly exclusive to consoles. But as cross-platform multiplayer continues to grow, and Microsoft focuses on making it’s games playable on console and PC, it begs the question… how much longer will this divide exist?

There undoubtedly exists a perception of consoles being extremely separate from desktop machines, but this becomes less and less accurate every year. Before long, exclusive titles will be the only thing that separates these platforms.

Lastly, this news has certainly already sent ripples through the modding community. Games such as Skyrim are notorious for their vibrant and extensive modding communities on PC. Whether you want a total game overhaul, or merely the ability to play as Thomas the Tank Engine, the internet has something for everyone.

Here’s to hoping I get to sack the opposing quarterback as that weird flying hamster from Card Captors.Â