I share Ars Technica’s concerns about this group.  Made up of hardware manufacturers and resellers with two huge, borg like gaming companies and Microsoft, who treats their gaming division as a hobby; praising Walmart and Best Buy for their contributions to PC gaming.

Does anyone besides me remember the locally owned gaming store, or play games from more obscure companies that don’t get shelf space in the electronics chain stores?

Head to the PC Gaming Alliance website to see the full PR, but make sure to read Ars’ take on it as well.


SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Feb. 19, 2008 — Global leaders of the PC gaming industry announced today the formation of the PC Gaming Alliance, a non-profit organization that unites hardware and software creators, game developers and publishers, and others committed to the PC gaming market with the common purpose of advancing the PC as a worldwide gaming platform.

Together, PCGA and its member companies will work to accelerate innovation, improve the gaming experience for consumers and serve as a collective source of market information and expertise on PC gaming. Members of PCGA are Acer Inc./Gateway Inc., Activision Publishing Inc., AMD, Dell/Alienware, Epic Games, Intel Corp., Microsoft Corp., NVIDIA Corp. and Razer USA Ltd.

The PC gaming market is a multi-billion dollar industry with hundreds of millions of gamers worldwide. Leading research firm DFC Intelligence calls PC gaming “one of the fastest-growing segments of the interactive entertainment market” and projects that the PC game business will grow more than 80 percent over the next five years, with major increases in the number of PC gamers, revenue from digital distribution, and PC hardware sales.

PCGA is the first and only industry organization devoted to the PC gaming industry. It will focus on driving coordinated marketing and promotion of PC gaming, consistent and accurate reporting of PC gaming market sizing and research, and creating forums for member companies to cooperate on solutions to challenges facing the PC gaming industry, such as hardware requirements, anti-piracy, and more. PCGA will develop and promote guidelines and recommendations and foster information sharing between members to accelerate the PC gaming industry.