Volition: PC still worth investing in

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 17 March, 2011

"Let's make a game worth stealing."

Saints Row: The Third and Red Faction: Armageddon developer Volition is convinced making PC versions of its multiplatform games is still worth the time and money required – despite the threat of piracy.

Indeed the THQ-owned studio takes an interesting approach when making PC titles: "Let's make a game that's worth stealing, and then we'll worry about making sure they don't."

That's according to Volition studio manager Eric Barker, who told Eurogamer that the PC versions of Red Faction and Saints Row look "beautiful".

"Some people say PC is dying. Some people say PC is the future," he said. "PC is the most variable, because it depends on what you've got under the hood.

"For us, the key thing was making sure the PC version was done in-house."

The PC ports of Saints Row 2 and Red: Faction: Guerrilla were both created by external studios - and suffered quality issues.

For their follow-ups, however, Volition decided to bring PC development duties home – and Barker reckons PC gamers will reap the rewards.

"You should see [the PC version of Red Faction: Armageddon], it looks absolutely beautiful. If you've got a great graphics card it looks fantastic. We definitely believe PC games are great and if they're done right and done well by a studio, they're phenomenal.

"There's a lot of debate and discussion. I can't predict the future, but I'm really happy with how Red Faction: Armageddon looks on PC. It's beautiful."

In recent months some high-profile games, including Crysis 2 and Dragon Age 2, have suffered leaks and popped up on torrent sites ahead of release.

THQ's own Homefront was also available to illegally download ahead of release.

But Volition isn't too bothered about piracy. "I don't think [piracy] is something at the forefront for us," he said. "First and foremost, we want to make sure we're making a game people would want to pirate. Let's make a game that's worth stealing, and then we'll worry about making sure they don't."

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (57) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Atropos #1 1 year ago

    I reckon there's more money in PC gaming than ever.
    Let's face it - piracy will always happen, and the culprits will mostly be in the 12-24-age-bracket. I was a pirate, I can readily admit. I also bought more games than probably the average consumer. Now I'm 30+, with a steady income, and if I want a game, I'll buy it. Demos have meant a lot; being able to try a game before I commit was a godsend. Ditto online stores. I'm a proud PSN+ member, and my Steam account is worth thousands.
    I reckon that piracy was worse for the industry when I was younger because back then, almost ALL the gamers were in the low-income-shifty-eyed-student category. But as all the data show, gamers don't die, they just multiply. I may have less time for games these days, but I'll never stop gaming. When I'm 80, I look forward to going into a pod to spend the last years of my life as Thorgar the Barbarian in a fully immersive MMO, while my slowly degenerating body is fed via IV. And I'll pay for it.

  • TheTingler #2 1 year ago

    Good on you guys, that's the exact right attitude to have.

    I'm also glad to hear that they're doing the PC version of Armageddon in-house now, as Guerrilla suffered from terrible bugs that made it unplayable for me. Should be fun at the very least!

  • TheTingler #3 1 year ago

    @Zangrief: So obviously Blizzard shouldn't bother anymore then, right?

  • WrongShui #4 1 year ago

    How about Freespace 3? Make that, I'll even pay for it.

  • IronCladChicken #5 1 year ago

    @Zangrief
    BLizzard says no.

  • Zephro #6 1 year ago

    Obligatory Freespace 3 plz comment.

  • uiruki #7 1 year ago

    Looking forward to seeing what Volition can do with the PC ports now they're doing them inhouse. Saint's Row 2 was almost (almost!) ruined, but luckily there was an unofficial patch to stop the game running at the wrong speed. Couldn't do much about the appalling performance though. They sorted the speed thing on Guerrilla eventually, but that took months and months.

    I suppose this means that my main issue remaining with the new SR and RF will be THQ UK being dicks about selling the game on Steam at release. Still annoying, but much easier to fix.

  • TheApologist #8 1 year ago

    @Zangrief

    Platform exclusives happen on console because a platform holder pays a developer to make a game exclusive, or owns that developer outright. Therefore, the only thing a lack of exclusives on PC could indicate is a lack of a platform holder.

  • Cosquae #9 1 year ago

    IF only Blizzard are doing PC exclusives then when did Blizzard take over the teams making Civ 5, Total War (series) and the Dawn of War (series) games? Since these are all AAA PC exclusive titles.

    Last I heard they were Firaxis, Creative Assembly and Relic respectivly...

  • JayG #10 1 year ago

    There's more money in PC. On steam every sale get's the developer 70 % of the profits, without even having to worry about any materials for DVD, manual, etc. And this site makes the mistake of thinking that every market is the same as the UK one, which is console based. There does seem to be a hell of lot of PC exclusives that ain't MMO, Shogan 2, heroes of might and magic, Witcher 2, Spore, Diablo 3, dawn of war, and also got The Old Republic out this year. Can't think of a xbox exclusive that interests me, though LA Noir looks like it will be amazing.

  • Raiten #11 1 year ago

    Let's face it, Zangrief has no clue what so ever of what he's talking about.

  • ic4ruz #12 1 year ago

    Zangrief:

    ALOT of indie and medium sized publishers and developers make PC exclusives. Not that a console boy like you would know of. You problably only play games that are supposed to be "AAA".

    And lets not forget just as this article states Saints Row: The third and Red Faction: Armageddon will be better on PC, like all multiplatform games.

    I mean Battlefield 3 is a multiplatfrom game but your just kidding yourself if you thing your'e getting the real game by buying the console version.
    Edited by ic4ruz at 17/03/11 @ 17:23

  • Cosquae #13 1 year ago

    "Nobody is gonna be stupid enough to make a first person shooter JUST for PC these days as you'd basically be making sure you didn't make much money."

    Stalker (any of the series), Metro 2033, ARMA 2... all high rated, FPS, PC exclusive games that, like the original Crysis, all made money and none of which could fit within the technical confines of current gen consoles.

  • infernox1 #14 1 year ago

    they dont need to sell as well. theres also the case that pc games have a longer lifespan. i just bought the original deus ex last year, civ 4, mass effect 1+2 and crysis a few months ago and mount & blade last week for example.

  • adamantium #15 1 year ago

    @JayG

    Developers keep 70% of their profits on steam? Are you sure of this? That seems really high considering in retail its like 15%. I understand the dramatic decrease in costs (shipping, disc, manuals) but assumed Valve captured the majority of that percentage. If you could provide link to where you saw this it be a good read.


  • Mister-Wario #16 1 year ago

    "Let's make a game that's worth stealing, and then we'll worry about making sure they don't".

    An interesting perspective to have. I like it.

    Of course PC games are still worth investing in. Why should it be neglected? I imagine you can do great things with that platform.

  • CamoChris #17 1 year ago

    @Cosquae Metro 2033 is on the 360, which kind of destroys your "none of which could fit within the technical confines of current gen consoles" claim.

  • Bleemo #18 1 year ago

    A list of games for Zangrief with confirmed sales from publishers

    Stalker series over 4 million copies sold (according to GSC games cost $10m to make each)
    Dawn of War series 6 million copies plus sold
    Total war series - Rome was said to have sold over 1 million copies and Empire was confirmed as the best selling title in the series so go figure
    Witcher - 1.5 million copies sold
    Left 4 dead - 2 million copies on PC and 1 million-ish on Xbox 360 (rumored to have cost less than $10 million to make)
    Guild Wars - 4-5 million copies
    Crysis - 3 million copies
    Far Cry 2 - 2 million copies


    The point is that these games can sell 1-5 million copies per game yet not one of them cost more than $10 million to make barring maybe Crysis and Guild Wars. Unlike the $20-100m dev costs of console games. Not to mention that PC games don't have a $12 platform holder fee to pay out.

    Finally whilst it is true that COD and GTA sell in and around the 20 million mark, very few other games do. Even AC probably hasn't quite made double figures and beyond that you have a few other franchises that can sell in and around the 5-8 million copy mark (Halo, Fallout, Resident Evil) and then everything else is 1-3 million copies sold same as PC. I actually saw a piece that stated 1.1 million copies sold for a multi platform title is the norm in fact. So if two barely known European companies in GSC and CD projekt can sell 1.5-2.2 million copies per game maybe if companies like Epic, Gearbox, ID etc went back to their roots and made a AAA PC exclusives they may do quite well.

  • WJF #19 1 year ago

    Thank god it's them working on Saints Row 3.

    Saints Row 2 was probably the worst PC port I've ever played. It was just utterly, indescribably awful.

  • bad09 #20 1 year ago

    Well said Volition. Too many devs/publishers are getting too hung up on the piracy plain and simple. The sales you THINK you've lost to piracy are not as important as the sales and customer good will you do lose through DRM, snubbing the platform or shoddy ports. Make an awesome game without incredibly stupid DRM, treat customers with respect and people WILL buy it.

    Some of my fav devs pretty much obselete or hated now I'm on PC and that's sad but I sure as hell 'ain't going back to expensive console gaming.

    Oh and what a load of arse from Zangrief!

    "PC versions of games are still "worth investing in" I agree. However PC exclusive games AREN'T! "

    Quite a few would disagree with that, Creative Assembly, CD projekt, Sports Interactive, Valve, Blizzard, not to mention countless inde devs.

  • bad09 #21 1 year ago

    @adamantium

    JayG might be able to give the link as I can't remember where I read it but he is right Valve take something like 30%, so yeah they get a bigger slice of the pie over on Steam.
    Edited by bad09 at 17/03/11 @ 18:39

  • dsmx #22 1 year ago

    Yeah we all saw the "investment" saints row 2 on the PC got, one of the worse ports in the history of gaming.

  • Goodfella #23 1 year ago

    @Zangrief

    Weren't you spouting exactly the same shit a few weeks back under another user name? Yeah, pretty sure it's you.

    Edit: Dr_Doom, if my memory serves me well.
    Edited by Goodfella at 17/03/11 @ 18:58

  • Hunam #24 1 year ago

    Says the developer of some of the worst pc ports of recent memory...

  • uknortherner2000 #25 1 year ago

    @Goodfella

    He's got a post count of 20. Goodbye Dr_Doom or whatever the fuck you are this week.
    Edited by uknortherner2000 at 17/03/11 @ 19:01

  • Dangerous_Dan #26 1 year ago

    "AAA" games, ah yeah. A triple A game is not a good game or a bad game it's just about production values. So yes, a triple A game has to be made for consoles, preferably multiplatform (xbox 360, ps3, pc) due to the bigger audience on consoles.
    So far so valid points.

    Now what i was thinking, (and this is not meant as a counter argument to you, sir, Zangrief)
    And. So. What???

    If you don't make a AAA game but let's say a good game then PC exclusives are still viable. Especially for smaller developers. There will also always be room for more than COD and COD clone game and Game that plays like COD in different setting and Game that is like COD with RPG elements and....

  • Goodfella #27 1 year ago

    Yep, definitely Dr_Doom.

  • Bleemo #28 1 year ago

    For the record Zangrief I'm not a PC fanboy I suppose I prefer PC more than the others but own a Wii, DS and PS3 and like all to varying degrees. My personal point was that whenever game companies have actually gone for it on the PC they have actually done quite well. This might be because of a lack of competition but it can also be argued that the reason there is less AAA exclusives on PC is because less people make them out of fear.

    Also there are countless cases of companies trying to jump aboard the AAA multi-plat big budget bandwagon and ended up going out of business. To my reckoning Pandemic, Free Radical, Bizzare to name but a few were all console centric game companies.

  • ico #29 1 year ago

    Sorry Bleemo, but that just idiotic, Bizzare was always a console company: Meaning they didn't go out of business for that reason.
    Edited by ico at 17/03/11 @ 20:03

  • DrStrangelove #30 1 year ago

    A lot of games are best played on console, and/or don't really need more power than the consoles provide. But there's also a lot of games that could be so much better, FPS games in particular. It saddens me to think of what would be possible with today's PCs' abilities, but most of the time you get only lazy console ports, or even no PC version at all. Developers go to great lengths to get a tiny performance improvement in console games, but don't care about the platform which gives them everything they want.

    I know that's how the market works, but it's a shame nonetheless.
    Edited by DrStrangelove at 17/03/11 @ 20:21

  • c0Zm1c #31 1 year ago

    "Guild Wars - 4-5 million copies"

    Guild Wars reached over 5 million copies sold in 2008. I think the last figure I read was 7 million copies sold. (EDIT: aah, it was over 6.5 million copies sold, so probably is around 7 million now.)

    As for Volition, put your money where your mouth is and give us Freespace 3. And none of this dumbed-down console crap, a full on space combat simulator like you used to make! (please)
    Edited by c0Zm1c at 17/03/11 @ 20:38

  • Bleemo #32 1 year ago

    maybe not ICO but it does suggest that consoles aren't a guarentee for success whilst a PC exclusive is not a guarantee for rampant piracy and poor sales. Plus I do feel that them going multi plat as opposed to staying with the XBOX probably did hurt them a little. Don't forget exclusives no matter what type theoretically should be cheaper, I know GoW and MGS4 weren't but that was a choice of the publishers to actively spend more money.

  • TR421 #33 1 year ago

    Has anyone metioned Freespace 3 yet?

  • bf #34 1 year ago

    It's an interesting stance but shouldn't the really be making games worth buying? If they do that they won't have to worry about people stealing them.

  • HotshotLemming #35 1 year ago

    PC gaming is dead!

    Now that's said I'm off to play minecraft...

  • c0Zm1c #36 1 year ago

    Why would they give you a free copy of the PC version with a console version of said game? Is it perhaps to show you how greener the grass is on the other side? :p

    This is Valve, first and foremost a PC developer.

  • FooAtari #37 1 year ago

    @Znagrief
    Most games from now on will be developed with consoles in mind first then ported onto PC second.

    "from now on" is a long time to make predictions for. Volition is one of several devs to have made the same claims recently, including EA (no idea why EG didn't report in it...). There must be something in that.

    Anyway, you can keep your "AAA" games. Most of them play the same and bore me to tears anyway.

  • c0Zm1c #38 1 year ago

    @Zangrief/Dr_Doom, your own comments are exposing how big a grudge you hold against anything positive happening on the PC platform, especially as most of what you're saying is completely false. Let's face it, only a "blind console fanboy" would even dream of making claims that Blizzard is the only developer making games exclusive to the PC.

  • munki83 #39 1 year ago

    @zangrief how about valve are giving away a free verion with the psx3 because it adds more steam accounts and a chance for them to sell to more people.

  • munki83 #40 1 year ago

    @zangrief how about valve are giving away a free verion with the psx3 because it adds more steam accounts and a chance for them to sell to more people.

  • UncleLou #41 1 year ago

    LOL. It's not a competition mate. I'm not at war against the PC, flying a big console banner a

    Heh. Dude, you're blatantly, amusingly desperate. :D

  • WJF #42 1 year ago

    Can you all stop feeding the troll?

    It was funny in that other PC thread, but he's getting kinda fat now. Fat and lazy, going by his last couple of posts.

  • Andeus #43 1 year ago

    Just want to add another obligatory FreeSpace 3 comment:

    Gief FreeSpace 3, you know you want to.

  • c0Zm1c #44 1 year ago

    "Or maybe how Esso will just give awy brand new cars so people have to put fuel in them."

    Good analogy actually. Games are the "fuel" of console gaming, that's where the money is made back on selling the consoles at a loss. They pretty much can't afford to give away console games for free, at least not on as regularly a basis as, say, Valve can with their PC games. Portal 1 has been given away free on Steam, what, on two occasions now?

  • Lusterpurge #45 1 year ago

    I just want to say that Volition is from my hometown, Champaign Illinois. I'm proud of them even though I've unfortunately never played their games or even seen their offices.

  • XBoxDragon #46 1 year ago

    @Zangrief, incase you hadn't gathered, Valves official policy is they want to give you a license to the game on any platform you own/they support, but with way console licensing works, they can only do this for pc/mac if you buy it there, or ps3/pc/mac if you buy ps3, due to sony allowing them a level of steam integration, but still requiring you to buy on ps3 to use it there in first place.

  • subedii #47 1 year ago

    I can't take you seriously because all of your 21 posts in your posting history are bites back at what you consider "anti-PC" comments.

    I'm not quoting the entire post, but it's interesting you resort to ad-hominems instead of addressing a fairly valid comment directly. Particularly when you accuse others of doing this.

    The comment he posted had a good point and was flame free. So either you're interested in having a decent discussion, or you're simply interested in trying to incite flame wars.


    Me, well it's pretty obvious to most people here by now that you're still the same person that keeps getting banned for trying to cause flame wars in the 360 and PC threads.

    If not, then by all means, feel free to drop the ad-hominems and try to actually debate points for a change, instead of being deliberately inflammatory. It's not hard.
    Edited by subedii at 18/03/11 @ 09:04

  • Psihomodo #48 1 year ago

    "developer Volition is convinced making Console versions of its multiplatform games is still worth the time and money required – despite the threat of piracy."

    That is how it should read :p

  • Inmediasress #49 1 year ago

    No matter what they say the big dollars are in the console market otherwise we wouldn't get release dates seperated from consoles and half assed ports and the list could fill a book.Most of the time companies just throw us a bone when the consoles are milked dry and hope they will make a few extra dollars of the pc version. I'm not saying the Volition guys think this way but the majority does.Pc gaming is in trouble if not else you can see it from articles like this one where we as pc gamers look with gleaming eyes like love starved puppies to the few games that come with pc focus.

  • Dangerous_Dan #50 1 year ago

    May i offer you some advice, Mr. Zangrief/Dr_Doom.
    You clearly put in a lot of effort and energy in your rather long and charged posts. Into a very important and emotional subject for you. Sometimes some self reflection can help, to find out about yourself, why you waste all of your energy to convince these zealous PC fanboys. An impossible task, zealous people can not be convinced.

  • c0Zm1c #51 1 year ago

    @Zangrief, you can't take me serious because in doing so you'd have to admit that much of what you claim is rubbish. I notice you even contradicted yourself in one instance in this comment section, with relation to what you've previously claimed elsewhere on this site in the recent past.

    I do agree with a few of the things you say, but how can you honestly expect people to take you serious when 1) you make a lot of bold claims that are obviously not true or need backing up with evidence that you always fail to provide and 2) whenever anyone posts a reasonable comment directed at you, you just ignore it. You call everyone who opposes your so-called "facts" fanboys regardless of the manner its addressed towards you. That would make you the fanboy actually. But I'm guessing you're not prepared to admit that. The people who throw that term around the most usually are fanboys themselves.

    I have a preference for PC gaming, yes. If that makes me a PC fanboy, then okay. So what? Would you deny that you have a preference? Am I an "over-zealous PC fanboy mentalist"? Only when people like you are rubbishing the platform with baseless claims. Your above post has some good examples of that (aswell as more abuse of the term "fanboy.";)

    And for the record, even though I spend most of my gaming time on my PC (mostly Guild Wars, much to my fellow forumite's disapproval *looks at Goodfella*), my favourite game from last year was actually a console game...

  • c0Zm1c #52 1 year ago

    @Zangrief
    "Oh if Valve are happy to give away the PC for free with PS3 version purchased, can you honestly imagine them giving away a PS3 version with a bought copy of the PC version? No you can't. Because it would never happen."

    I guess I'm wasting my time here, but regardless... you do realise that every copy of a console game has a license fee attached? It would also require said console game to be shipped on a disc which would add to the cost of distribution.

    There is no license fee attached to PC games. And I don't know how they intend to distribute the PC version of Portal 2 along with the PS3 version, but since it will require the Steam service anyway, to install and run the game, then they could easily include it in the form of a printed code, which would cost hardly anything.

  • c0Zm1c #53 1 year ago

    "Ok C0Zm1c list your points that i've failed to address an i will address them. I have not intentionally ignored these points. I have probably taken more notice of the insults and sarcasm aimed at me. I want to be reasonable so if you list the points people have put towards me that i've ignored i will address them. "

    I'm not picking through the whole thread (and the previous thread where you posted under the name Dr_Doom) and listing them all, you can go back and read them yourself if you're that bothered about commenting on them.

    But I will ask, why do you constantly claim Blizzard is the only company that makes games exclusively for the PC, AAA or otherwise? You know this isn't true so why say it?

  • orangpelupa #54 1 year ago

    also developer / publisher need to make more Distributor.

    in my country its hard to get original game. There only EA distributor official here.
    and Steam is useless because our debit card is not comptible with steam.

    also maybe reduce the game price by putting a-lot-of advertisement in-game or in game cover?
    DVD Video, CD Audio, and VCD in my country already doing that. Advertisement on the disc print, on the cover, on the movie itself (on VCD).
    and it bring the price good down :D


    even maybe with Advertisement, publisher can sell games for Ultra cheap or even FREE :D
    in Indonesia TV station is free, all payed by Advertisement.
    watch soccer is free, tennis is free, movie is free, all tv show is free :D
    Edited by orangpelupa at 18/03/11 @ 15:04

  • c0Zm1c #55 1 year ago

    Define "mainstream AAA developer". Do you just mean a developer that pours a lot of money/effort into its games?

    I don't believe the PC is at the "forefront of the industry." I believe the developers are. Perhaps you meant to word that differently? It's safe to say that the consoles are at the forefront of marketing though.

  • Goodfella #56 1 year ago

    Dr_Doom, this is for you...

    http://i.imgur.com/Awwxa.gif

  • c0Zm1c #57 1 year ago

    I didn't win? Nooooooooo!

    I shall try harder in the next generation of consoles.