BioWare: Development on PC "less restrictive" than consoles

BioWare believes developing games on PC is "less restrictive" than consoles, and according to Daniel Erickson, it will remain the firm's "lead" development platform.

Speaking with CVG during E3, SWTOR's writing director said PC was "made for gaming" due to a less restrictive interface.

"Every two or three years we hear the announcement of fantasy being dead, PC gaming being dead and RPGs being dead," he said. "And yet, all of the biggest games that ever come out - that set the records - are nearly always PC games, and a lot of them are fantasy games.

"The biggest game in the world is a fantasy, PC, RPG MMO. We all know the drawbacks of PC. We all scream at our boxes and try to make stuff work. But at the same time, the interface is made for games. The mouse/keyboard interface allows so much less restriction [than console].

"There was not a question when we started Old Republic - or any of our games, for that matter - [what the lead format would be]. There's a reason the lead SKU for Dragon age was [PC] as well.

"When we're developing an RPG, it's a natural place to be."

BioWare's latest venture, Star Wars: The Old Republic, is slated for a PC-only release next spring, and you can find out more on it through our two-part E3 interview with Erickson here and here.