Last year PC gaming website and magazine PC Gamer hosted a PC-centric show during E3. The PC Gaming Show had a much different format than the big publisher press conferences. ESports commentator and expert Sean Plott (Day9) returned this year as the host to the talk show format. Tom Marks, Assistant Editor at PC Gamer also hosted an hour-long post-show filled with one-on-one interviews, announcements, and trailers.
It was a much improved show over last year’s growing pains. The show focused on many PC-only titles, both upcoming and those receiving new mods or official expansions and DLC. There was a parade of trailers, developer interviews, and announcements. Here’s a rundown of all the news.
- Relic Entertainment showed off the first gameplay footage for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III.
- Oxygen Not Included was announced with a short teaser trailer. It’s being developed by Klei (Mark of the Ninja, Don’t Starve) and is described as a Colony Simulation Game. It’s coming late 2016.
- Studio Wildcard showed the new Redwood biome with giant trees that let you build treehouses in ARK: Survival Evolved. ARK is also adding its biggest dinosaur, the Titanosaurus. You can build an entire fortress on top of it, creating a mobile command palace. On a dinosaur. They also discussed the extensive mod making community, including a giant mod that lets you play as any of ARK’s many creatures.
- People management game (or god simulator) Giant Cop was announced with a humorous trailer. It’s being developed by Other Ocean and coming to Oculus Touch this Fall.
- We got the first gameplay footage for upcoming sequel Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord. It’s developed by TaleWorlds Entertainment and due later this year.
- Cliff Bleszinski (Gears of War) was on stage to promote his studio’s upcoming hero shooter LawBreakers. We got a new trailer that shows off new map Promenade. Bleszinski discussed the unique aspect of creating an online multiplayer game in the public eye using live streamers for feedback. LawBreakers is hosting a public Alpha for testing that launches June 18, you can sign up on the official website. LawBreakers is due to hit Steam Early Access around August.
- AMD showed off its new hardware lineup of VR-ready video cards (AMD sponsored the PC Gamer Show). They also showed off a nifty backpack PC designed specifically for VR gameplay. Finally there was a teaser trailer for a new Serious Sam VR game.
- First gameplay footage of Vampyr, an action-adventure game from Life is Strange developer Dontnod Entertainment.
- Tripwire Interactive discussed the just-now-released Bullseye content pack for Killing Floor 2. There’s also a trailer. Killing Floor 2 will be free on Steam this weekend.
- Killing Floor Incursion, a new VR game set in the Killing Floor world, was announced with a new trailer. It’s currently in development for Oculus Touch.
- Superhot VR was announced for the Oculus Touch. It’s based on the popular time-bending shooter that was released earlier this year. Superhot VR is due later this year. Here’s the trailer.
- Tyranny, the newest RPG from Obsidian Entertainment (Pillars of Eternity) was just announced a few months ago. The PC Gaming Show offered our first official trailer. There was some more information revealed during the PC Gamer Post-Show.
- Cyberpunk sci-fi horror Observer was announced by developer Bloober Team (Layers of Fear). We got a trailer as well as some gameplay footage. Developer Rafael Basaj gave the world an intriguing premise – you’re an investigator that can hack into other people’s minds and memories.
- Arma III announced the release date for first expansion Apex – July 11. Apex includes a massive new map of swamps and jungles – here’s the trailer.
- Bulkhead Interactive announced sci-fi first person puzzle game The Turing Test, which is also coming to Xbox One. Watch the uplifting trailer.
- Finji presented a new trailer for survival game Overland (which looks similar in style and tone to The Flame in the Flood). You can purchase First Access to Overland on the main website.
- PC Gamer Show presented the first look at Dual Universe. It looks a bit like an off brand No Man’s Sky, which is to say it looks amazing. French developer Novaquark describes it as “a sandbox first-person MMORPG set within a seamless Sci-Fi universe made of millions of planets.” It’s got Minecraft-style building, spaceships, and a real-market economy. It could be huge, though we won’t see Early Access until 2017.
- 343 Industries stopped by to discuss upcoming sequel Halo Wars 2 and its release on Windows 10 PC. We got some additional gameplay footage and a lengthy interview with studio head Dan Ayoub as well.
- A total conversion mod of first person shooter Insurgency changed the game into a World War II shooter. The mod is now given a stand-alone release called Day of Infamy, coming in July. Watch the trailer.
- Mirage: Arcane Warfare was announced from the makers of Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. It’s basically Chivalry’s first person melee combat plus magic. There’s a trailer and some gameplay footage.
- The brightly colored Mages of Mystralia received a lovely new trailer. It features the ability to make your own spells, and a story by famed Dungeons & Dragons writer Ed Greenwood.
- Free to play first person shooter Warframe got some surprising news at the PC Gaming Show. New mode Warframe: Lunaro turns the shooter into an arena sports game. The sci-fi sport looks like a crazy cross between soccer and jai alai.
- The show ended with a lengthy interview with Deus Ex: Mankind Divided developers Eidos-Montreal. They showed off opening level Dubai, and detailed the sequel’s many improvements and features.
The PC Gaming Show also featured one final surprise – a closing keynote speech from legendary game designer Warren Spector (Deus Ex, Thief). The excellent speech covered PC gaming history, development, and social networking. You can find it buried in the full PC Gaming Show archive (starts around 2:11:15).
The Post-Game Show provided additional interviews and information on many of the games above, such as Tyranny, Killing Floor VR, and Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord. You can watch the entire Post-Game Show on PC Gamer’s twitch.tv archive.
