Toxicity - Explanation in Demographics

This is by far the most in depth article for us a at the Chivalry times. In order to address such a complex issue as the toxic behavior in Chivalry and PC gaming in general, we had to spend a long time answering it.

Part 1 - The Rise Of PC Gaming

Since the death of the previous console generation, PC gaming has seen a large boost in sales and popularity, in large part due to young adults, who normally played video games on a console and television, migrated on mass to the PC platform. The reasons for this migration are obvious, PCmasterrace is a very real thing and its appeal and advantages over console are too obvious to ignore. So people smartened up and gave a middle finger to consoles and decided to buy a gaming PC instead. As life time PC gamers, we here at the chivalry times remember the change well, and we remember feeling excited and shocked when we began to witness the Rise of PC.

As you can see in the image above, the PC platform was beating out its console competitors back in 2012, the same year that Chivalry was released...Chiv released to a ripe and ready market of young adults, Fresh off the xbox and ready for the hardcore gaming experience PC had to offer, the one they had always read about on youtube comments. To the surprise of many, the games and community was the same experience they got on their old immature consoles, they where pc gamers now, they had elevated, but things did not feel different! so what happened?

Part 2: Demographic shift

The PC market, prior to 2012 had typically attracted a more mature audience. By comparison to consoles, the average age of a PC gamer was way older, around 30-35. Why so old? In a sentence - The barrier for entry for PC was much larger compared to a plug in and paly console...A player required some fundamental knowledge before they could take part in PC gaming.

1: PC gaming used to be expensive. Buying a mid range gaming Pc back in 2004 for example would cost double what it costs today. To own a PC way back when you needed to have money, and money is something young guys in school generally don't have. Today however, you can buy a very capable gaming PC for about 600-700$. We spoke to many and found hardly anyone built his/her own PC and infact, theybought thir PC premade. One barrier of entry down...

2: Building your own PC. This is what turned the majority of the people away, PCs required you to have a basic knowledge of its components and how they fit together. Knowing what parts complimented each other for the best performance was important. The option to buy a pre-made PC existed back then too but it would cost you around 1000$+ which was not worth it when you could always just buy a xbox - plus that is what everyone in school played anyways. Today this is no longer an issue and anyone can buy a excellent pre made PC for peanuts. Two barriers of entry down...

3: Complicated game library. PC games were designed with adults in mind.They were complex and required a lot of your time/attention and money. The more complex the game, the less its appeal to a younger audiences. PC gaming did not suite a younger audience, the game usually required a monthly sub and a lot of time to master. On the contrary, Pc Games today are being designed with children in mind and as a result, the games become less complex each year as game companies alter the games to suite their new market. Third barrier down.

Let's take a look at the PC gaming age demographic in 2015. As you can see in the above iamge, the vast majority of players are under 18 now. The days of the PC being made up of guys like your 35 year old uncle was over...The new kids had arrived.

<Replace with >

So what does that mean for the PC. We are sad to say that this shift in demographics did not benefit the PC market as much as we hoped it would.. The experience on the PC is now too similar to a console, overly simple games, filled with angst teenagers, spamming chat and voice comms. The reason why every game you play, dear reader, is full of toxic assholes is because the average age of that toxic asshole, behind the keyboard, is pobably only 15...A young guy, acting like a young guy is supposed to. So don't get too mad at him. Being hyper and calling your old ass "a homo" and "a reatard, autist, nig*er jew " over the mic and in the chat is what he is meant to do at that age. Spare your judgments on these guys. However when they are 20+ be less forgiving, these guys have no excuse.

Is PC better or worse for this fall in the average age? It depends on the game you are playing. If you want a older crowd, try a hardcore MMO, Chivalry, however, is a simplistic game and like we said earlier, simplicity = less barrier for entry = attract a younger audience, and from our experience, chiv is made up of a yonug audience. Out of there minds on energy drinks and snack food. Sure guys like najo and ky wild exist, playing chiv at the age of 25+ but they are rare. Most of the community is young, fresh off their console, where they learned calling everyone they meet a "retard " and “an autistic nigger" is normal for them and they will continue that console like behavior on PC,and thus the community on pick up and paly games like chiv, will always be toxic.