“Suddenly I’m invested in politics”

WELCOME

ROBERT JONES Twitter @rnicholasj This month Got lost

Doom

December 1993

E3 begins

June 1995

Quake

June 1996

Ultima Online

September 1997

Voodoo2

March 1998

Fallout

October 1997

StarCraft

March 1998

Thief: The Dark Project

December 1998

Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings

September 1999

GameMaker releases

November 1999

Deus Ex

June 2000

Windows XP

August 2001

Battlefield 1942

September 2002

EVE Online

May 2003

Call of Duty

October 2003

Valve releases Steam

September 2003

Half-Life 2

November 2004

World of Warcraft

November 2004

Oblivion’s horse armour

April 2006 STABLE BETHESDA SOFTWORKS PROTECTION LEVEL PURELY

Dwarf Fortress

August 2006

The Orange Box

October 2007

Plants vs Zombies

May 2009

Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale

September 2010

Minecraft

November 2011

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

November 2011

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

October 2012

Steam Early Access Starts

March 2013

Oculus Rift DK1

March 28, 2013

Steam Link, Steam Controller, Steam Machines

November 2015

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

May 2015

PUBG: Battlegrounds

December 2017

Geforce RTX 2080

September 2018

Disco Elysium

October 2019

The Covid-19 pandemic

January 2020

Valheim

February 2021

Baldur’s Gate 3

August 2023

Steam Deck

March 2022

Cyberpunk 2077 2.0

September 2023

PC Gamer

Future Publishing Ltd Quay House, The Ambury, Bath

STEAMED UP

VALVE adds new security check after attackers compromise game devs’ Steam accounts

The Spy

BUT WHO WATCHES THE SPY? THE SPY The

ALL CHROMED UP

PCG INVESTIGATES

COMPOSE YOURSELF

THE UNSUNG HEROES OF DEVELOPMENT

Incoming

THE BIGGEST GAMES ON THE WAY

CALL OF DUT Y: MODERN WARFARE 3

This year, Call of Duty asks: is nostalgia worth £70?

EVE VANGUARD

From the stars… all the way down to the salvage

CAPES

Edna Mode would not approve

DRAGON’S DOGMA 2

If strapping a bomb to a troll is wrong, I don’t want to be right

LAST TRAIN HOME

Historical strategy hybrid is on the right track

THANK GOODNESS YOU’RE HERE!

This Yorkshire-inspired indie has me chuffed by its potential

JEDI REMASTERS

NIGHTDIVE STUDIOS is uniting the past and present of PC gaming like no other developer

System Shock

PC Gamer hosts a star-studded industry roundtable to discuss the seminal sci-fi series’ impact on PC gaming

CELEBRATING THREE DECADES OF PC GAMING

WE CELEBRATE THE PEOPLE WHO MADE PC GAMER MAGAZINE THE CULTURAL TOUCHSTONE IT IS TODAY

Bright future

On PC Gamer magazine’s 30th anniversary I’m well

SILENT BUT DEADLY

ASSASSIN’S CREED MIRAGE is a fun stepping stone back towards the series’ roots

RIDERS ON THE WORM

Arrakis proves an apt, if overly familiar, 4X setting in DUNE: SPICE WARS

GROOVY

WARGROOVE 2 is a familiar but filling all-you-can-eat strategy buffet

BAD COMPANY

THE LAMPLIGHTERS LEAGUE is tactically sound, but doesn’t always perform

CONSERVATIVE STRATEGY

FORZA MOTORSPORT takes few risks, but snatches simcade supremacy anyway

DEATH ON THE NILE

TOTAL WAR: PHARAOH is the first historical Total War in ages

OLD HORIZONS

MINEKO’S NIGHT MARKET struggles to innovate on well-trodden ground

NO WHAMMIES

ASTREA: SIX-SIDED ORACLES raises the deckbuilder stakes with gambling tension

FREE GAMES REVIEWS

LOOKING BACK AT THE BEST FREE GAMES I’VE

SLIDES RULE

Revisiting BABBDI to find a city generous with exploration

DIGITAL MONSTERS

Dusting off the cute digital pets of CYBERPET GRAVEYARD

DRIZZLE KICKS

RAINDROP is still an innovative indie arcade game

SPECTACULAR

Another look at the ambitious, freeform SPECTACLE

THEY’RE BACK

OLD GAMES REVISITED by Matthew Elliott

PHOBOS BABY

The timeless perfection of DOOM

STAUF THIS

The never-ending childhood horror of THE 7TH GUEST

VOODOO CHILD

GABRIEL KNIGHT: SINS OF THE FATHERS is a family affair

THE GRAPHICS CARD GREATS

From the Voodoo Graphics to the RTX 4090, less than 30 years separates the first ever graphics cards from the best yet

ANTIQUE CODE SHOW

What did gaming PCs look like when PCG issue 1 hit the shelves in ’93?

SMASHING PINS

Despite all the rage, hardware upgrades were possible in ’93

BUYER’S GUIDE

Build the best PC for your budget

“I took on the role of DPS while my friend lured Radahn around his arena”

Surviving ELDEN RING with a buddy in co-op

“I just beat a satanic monk to death with a lavatory seat, and it felt good”

Embracing pixellation and inanimate objects in retro-inspired CULTIC

“The narrative should obscure these systems, but Bethesda drops this ball”

Houston, we have lots of problems, in STARFIELD

BALDUR’S GATE III

Larian has made one of the best RPGs ever even better

STARFIELD

Bethesda’s RPG has lots of mods

GET STARTED IN STARFIELD

Take to the skies with these galaxy brain tips.

BALDUR’S GATE III

In which Pillius Flenk learns the art of killing with minimal conflict

TR ANQUILIT Y L ANE

The best quest in Fallout 3 (not counting DLC).

SYNDICATE

Playing Bullfrog’s tactical masterpiece after 30 years out of the boardroom

MUST PLAY

A PERSONAL LIST OF THE BEST GAMES YOU CAN PLAY RIGHT NOW

“HERE WE LOOK BACK AT 30 GLORIOUS YEARS OF PC GAMING ”

ROBERT JONES Twitter @rnicholasj This month Recalled the