A show of their own
In all the years of E3, there has never been a dedicated PC Gaming show. But this year, E3's first ever PC gaming press conference happened, giving PC gamers the chance to see the future of the most versatile gaming platform all on one stage. The lengthy presser featured guests like PC hardware manufacturer AMD and announcements from developers like Blizzard, Microsoft, and Bohemia Interactive. Not bad for the first go.
Did you miss out on the show? Well, no need to worry. We watched the whole thing and summarized all of the most important news items, game announcements, and guest appearances in this handy recap. Check out the following slides for everything from E3 2015's PC Gaming Show.
Killing Floor 2 to get enhanced gut physics, free content pack
First up is Killing Floor 2, a zombie-filled shooter currently in early access. As with any early access game, you can expect a stream of updates and new features, and Killing Floor 2 will get an enhanced physics system which increased the blood spray and intestine count immensely. When zombies blow up, guts will go flying everywhere and flop around realistically - you know, as guts do. All players will get a free content pack as well, with new weapons and maps.
Tripwire Games reveals Rising Storm 2: Vietnam
It's a Vietnam-era shooter, filled with helicopters, rocket launchers, and lots and lots of explosions.
Star Citizen still looks great, but still a long way off
Chris Roberts showed off some behind the scenes footage from the story-based Squadron 42. It's still a long way off, but it's making progress.
Phil Spencer affirms Microsoft's new commitment to PC, announces Killer Instinct to come
Phil Spencer didn't want to make promises, but he wanted to assure PC gamers who have felt like they've been left in the lurch that Microsoft is going to make a bigger push to support the PC as a gaming platform. And they plan to start by bringing the Killer Instinct reboot to PC.
PC version of Gears of War: Ultimate Edition comes with 4K display support
While the Xbox One version of the Gears of War remaster won't be a graphical slouch, the PC version will get a few extra bells and whistles, like 4K display support and Direct X 12 support.
American Truck Simulator will be a thing that exists
From the creators of Euro Truck Simulator comes American Truck Simulator. It's trucking, but in America.
EVE Valkyrie won't be connected in any way with EVE Online
EVE Valkyrie might be filled with interstellar first-person spaceship combat, but you won't be doing any political maneuvering here, as both games connected in name only.
Ion will feature a Diablo-style camera
DayZ creator Dean Hall described his newly-announced space game Ion by saying it has an isometric camera, similar to Diablo, and it's more about what happens on space stations than ship-to-ship combat. He likened it to the sci-fi multiplayer SpaceStation 13.
Gameplay demo of Strafe shows off what a procedurally generated version of '90s Doom looks like
Strafe looks like the raddest game from the '90s that never got made. Levels are procedurally generated, and they're filled with chunky pixels, rock monsters, loads of ludicrous gibs.
Pillars of Eternity gets a new expansion
Computer RPG throwback Pillars of Eternity is getting an expansion, called The White March. Expect a higher level cap, new abilities, and new companions.
Planet Coaster coming from Elite: Dangerous devs
From the makers of Thrillville, Screamride, and uh, Elite: Dangerous, comes Planet Coaster. It'll launch in 2016.
Guild Wars 2 reveals guild halls in Heart of Thorns expansion
Guild halls are a huge part of the new Guild Wars expansion. It's a place where your guild can gather, take part in PvP arena combat, complete guild quests and solve puzzles with your teammates. The War Room is a place you can build in your guild hall that will let you craft new tools to help you on quests, like airships that you can summon to perform aerial bombardments. You can pre-purchase the expansion now, and get access to all of the upcoming beta.
Hitman levels are "six to seven times bigger" than previous Hitman games
The new Hitman game (called Hitman) is going to take the open-ended sandbox assassination playground and blow it out even bigger than ever. Six to seven times bigger, in fact. Hitman will be launching on December 8th.
Island of Tanoa coming to Arma 3
Arma 3 takes a trip to the South Pacific with the island of Tanoa, coming in 2016. It looks real purdy.
Beyond Eyes still looks gorgeous
Beyond Eyes is a game where you play as a blind girl feeling for her surroundings and interpreting them as she goes. This inventive indie is coming summer 2015.
Tacoma takes Gone Home's exploration and investigation and adds spatial puzzle solving
Because it's set on a space station (and the gravity's a bit more configurable), puzzles will be solved in a three-dimensional space. While head of Fullbright Steve Gaynor wouldn't specify how much bigger it is, he did mention that it takes place on a small waystation that can comfortably accommodate six people.
Soma coming September 22nd, 2015
From the team behind Amnesia, Soma looks appropriately creepy. And it's coming in September.
DayZ to get single-player, offline mode and mod support
Development continues on DayZ, and it's going to get a single-player mode, Steam Workshop support, private server support.
First pre-alpha videos of Bosskey's Project Bluestreak
There's still not a lot known about Cliff Bleszinski's latest project, but it's looking like a realistic-yet-stylized first person shooter with a sci-fi flair.
Enter the Gungeon reveals co-op mode
As fans of shmups like Ikaruga, the devs of Enter the Gungeon want to take that thrill of the bullet hell and apply it to a dungeon-crawling rogue-lite. And two players can work together dodge, duck, dip, dive, dodge and shoot together. Along the way, you'll unlock new items (like one that wipes all of the bullets off the screen) and weapons (like one that is basically a giant electric arc beam that plays happy music when you use it).
First expansion for Heroes of the Storm is called Eternal Conflict
The new Heroes of the Storm expansion will add new maps and heroes to Blizzard's new MOBA. One new hero is the Skeleton King Leoric, and he's is all about haunting players, absorbing damage, and using that damage to get back in the game faster. The expansion will launch on June 30th.
StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void gets a beta in July
The wait for the final chapter of Starcraft 2 is almost over. A beta is coming in July that offers three prologue missions. All players will have a chance to play them for free, whether you own StarCraft 2 or not, but players who pre-purchase the expansion will get first access.
No Man's Sky launching simultaneously on PS4 and PC
No Man's Sky has been a long time coming, and it's been largely been associated with Sony. While lead designer Sean Murray didn't have a release date for us yet, he did confirm that both the PC and PS4 versions will launch simultaneously - whenever that is.
