Hi everyone! Chrispy99 here and I wanted to just write some observations I have seen comparing the communities between PC and Consoles and how that affects the overall market, mentality, and views of the gaming industry. To note, these are just my opinions and there is no real data or research done to back up any claims to this piece. This is just simply stating and starting a conversation within the gaming community. Hope you enjoy!![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmanhJCsEwLvLnYfBVvfWWN115LjSSKWPGYR6K5EhR8CHX/image.png)

As someone who is an avid gamer who grew up on consoles and has transitioned over to PC gaming, I found some differences in community camaraderie. Within the console community, I sense a much more intimate community really revolved around the console itself. It can be assumed that console communities are smaller in comparison to the general mass of the PC community but it still achieves a level of community that branches away from sub communities focused on specific games. A simple example would be the announcement of The Last of Us Part 2 or any console exclusive in general. The excitement of new games at conventions like E3 for consoles generates buzz and appeal to the entire community rather than a specific niche and generally drives sales through the roof for a game. That is why console exclusives like The Last of Us, the Legend of Zelda, and Halo are able to thrive in the gaming industry. It is the appeal to the entire console community because they feel connected as a community member to the console through the exclusive. This idea could also be supported by the limited number of games (in comparison to PC gamers) they have access to as well as the price points they charge for these games. PC gamers have huge variations in the amount of prices for games while console gamers generally have 3 tiers of prices for games. That sense of tier system would affect the mentality of console gamers, further cementing and validating their purchases towards a game and the console. However, this game exclusivity and mentality doesn’t really apply to the PC community.![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWxUocCZkxUdbcEmvcDtnSHk2jFvJqut3dN7NkonMAt7N/image.png)

Within the last 3 years, I built a gaming pc for video game streaming and video editing. Within that time frame, I have had a chance to experience the PC gaming community which I would describe as very massive but disjointed. The PC gaming community is massive due to its appeal of free and cheaper alternative games, games sold at cheaper prices, and its increased accessibility for customization. PC gamers enjoy decking out their PC towers in various forms from size to lighting grids to custom watercooling. Or they just love saving a couple of dollars from one game in order to put it towards another game. But when it comes to the PC gaming community as a whole, it is difficult really to notice the rally of the entire community. There could be multiple causes for this sense of separation. One idea is that sheer size of the sub communities within the PC gaming community. Massively popular games on PC such as World of Warcraft, League of Legends, and CS:GO have huge communities that probably rival console communities in number that it is difficult to fully comprehend the massive scale of an entire PC gaming community. Another possible idea stemming from those examples would be the sheer number of available games in each genre. Look at Call of Duty as an example for this idea. Normally, Call of Duty would have a huge number of players in the millions online and participating while in the PC community, a fraction of that number would be playing the same Call of Duty. It is not simply because of popularity. It is because of the accessibility to alternative titles in that genre that are either more appealing to specific types of gamers. ![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmeRRo9cHTf6DqEAZ4VaL3Wke85tQjt55aYcDYz1krdRsR/image.png)

I want to end this post with a caveat regarding my perceptions of these differences. Looking back, it is important to note how gaming and the perceptions of gaming have changed over time in society which could contribute to the overall general sense of community. With more and more generations embracing the platform and access to gaming on mobile platforms now, the definition of communities could be naturally shifting away from what platforms games are on and redirecting towards communities built around specific games.
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Thanks for reading my post! Let me know what you think in the comments down below! Have an awesome day!

TL;DR: PC gaming community is too massive to comprehend and rally as a whole with sub communities large enough to rival console communities.  Console communities feel more intimate with game pricing justification and exclusivity rallying the communities.