While E3 has typically been a spectacle its shine had seemed to fade. Over the past few years I’d argued that E3 contained few noteworthy announcements, even if one were to look at it through the lens and perspective of a console gamer — the demographic the convention has historically focused on.
The convention seemed destined for decreasing relevancy with each passing year when it came to consoles and never had much to begin with as far as PC gaming was concerned. 2015 proved at least part of that theory wrong, though that pattern did exist this year was different; both in that it had multiple announcements of note and it seemed as though many of those announcements related to the PC gaming audience.
In fact, I feel one can argue with some degree of comfort that Microsoft won E3 but not because of Xbox One, distinctly because of Windows.
Why? Well for the first time ever there was a PC conference at E3 but it actually wasn’t the highlight of the show, more on that later. In another first, Bethesda held an E3 press conference, which may as well have been a PC gaming conference. Bethesda used their conference to show some heavy hitters from PC centric franchises like Fallout 4 and DOOM, as well as games like Dishonored 2 and two F2P games, Elder Scrolls Legends (Bethesda’s apparent response to Blizzard’s Hearthstone) and BattleCry. The entire presentation was based around PC.
Bethesda’s announcements, though phenomenal, weren’t what made me think about writing this article. It’s not particularly surprising that Bethesda, publisher of Fallout 3, Skyrim and Wolfenstein: The New Order might be working on games that appeal to the PC audience.
No, my inspiration is Sony and Microsoft’s presence at E3. Sony’s presentation was phenomenal, with a strong line-up for PS4, titles like The Last Guardian, Uncharted 4, Shenmue III, Street Fighter V, Final Fantasy VII and No Man’s Sky. I guess a lot of people liked Horizon too but having played most of the Killzone games, I don’t think Guerilla Games can deliver, so I don’t really care about it…
Regardless you might have noticed, with the exception of The Last Guardian and Uncharted 4, those games are coming to PC and in some cases not Xbox One. Over half of the major games at Sony’s press conference are on their way to Windows.
While Square Enix’s press conference lacked official announcements for PC releases of titles like Kingdom Hearts 3 and Final Fantasy XV it also included games popular on PC like Just Cause 3, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and timed exclusive, Rise of the Tomb Raider.
Microsoft’s press conference was a lot less exciting for me than Sony’s but at this point it seems like every game they announce they are publishing for Xbox One has the potential to come out on PC, eventually. It’s worth looking at some of what happened on their stage: Halo 5, ReCore (from Keiji Inafune and Armature Studio), Forza 5, Sea of Thieves (from Rare), Gears of War 4 and Gears of War: Ultimate Edition (a remake of the first game), as well as Cuphead and Fable Legends (both already announced for PC).
Come time for the PC conference featuring the likes of Creative Assembly’s Total War: Warhammer, Pillars of Eternity: The White March, new AMD hardware and the announcement that No Man’s Sky will release day and date on PC with the PS4 launch. Microsoft’s Phil Spencer proceeds to take the stage and continues to demonstrate my point by announcing that Killer Instinct is coming to Windows and so is Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, furthermore, they drop hints regarding Gears of War 4 and on twitter, Master Chief Collection.
It seems PC is no longer the ideal home for multi-platform titles solely because they play and look better on a gaming rig but also because if things keep going the way they are going, PC will be the only platform which has all of these titles in one place. Namco’s Tales of Zestiria is coming to PS4 and PC, Ninja Theory’s HellBlade is coming to PS4 and PC, etc. etc. etc.
In some cases it’s market forces, the developer doesn’t suspect there’s demand on X1 vs. PS4 and PC. However, in others it’s deals cut with first party platform holders. Those particularly interest me.
In Sony and Microsoft’s attempts at 1-upping each other in the console war they don’t seem to care whether a game ends up on PC as well as their own gaming platform. They just don’t want it on the competitor’s platform or in the case of Sony, specifically one of two of their competitor’s platforms. In the war of console exclusives, PC gamers win.
See you next E3.
Spencer joined us in early 2015, previously a console centric gamer he switched to PC a few years ago. He later helped push for an increase in Japanese content on PC with the #SEGAPCPorts campaign. Previously he ran a SEGA fansite as well as co-hosted a gaming podcast. He thinks Duke Nukem 3D is the best FPS of all time, his text message alert on his phone is literally Duke Nukem saying “Let God sort ’em out.”
Contact: Email
i agree about Guerilla Games making good games
they’re sony’s Crytek , they make games with amazing graphics but sh**ty gameplaystory
PC Gamers always win. This E3 shows more than ever the complete dominance of PC gaming with every major new technology like VR being PC focused on top of every game worth a d*mn being on PC.
Also please tell me someone submitted this to N4G. I need the peasant tears.
But the biggest fear is that half of yhe games might suffer from decent PC optimization, for example, recent batman already gimped out on pc
That is ridiculous. Yes, the new Batman game isn’t quite “ready for primetime” (on PC anyways) but this problem will ALWAYS be resolved by patches. Is it really SOOO important to own the game on day one? ANyway issues like thew Batman release are few and far between. Very few. It’s people like you screaming “the sky is falling! The sky is falling!” that I have never been able to understand. Use your brain.
What if devs never fixes their games, unity never fixed, battlefield is still broken?
Well there is always that possibility. But in today’s world of immediate action via social media and websites like this one, game developers have too much to lose not to fix their games. I find Assassin’s Creed Unity very playable now and besides the PS4 version was worse then the PC version ever was anyway so I don’t quite know what you mean there. Yes my rig can’t quite handle Unity at 4K and 60fps with all settings at max (dual GTX980’s, 4790k@4.8GHz, 16GB@2400MHz) but thete are no more issues that make it “uplayable”. And Battlefield has never been an issue. So if what you mean there. Anyway.
“never fixed”? wtf are you talking about? Bf4 has been fixed for over a year and ACU ran perfectly fine for me earlier this year.
Using your brain doesn’t mean fabricating lies for your off-base arguments.
Actually Unity runs better on an entry level PC than consoles as an i3 CPU paired with a 750ti is able to run the game at closer to a locked 30fps with PC specific enhancements like HBAO+ while the console versions frequently drop to 18fps.
Also if you look at since the PS4 and XB1 launched there has been just as many poorly performing games on console as PC. Assassins Creed Unity, Sleeping Dogs, Dead Rising3, Saints Row4, Resident Evil Revelations2, Lords of The Fallen, The Evil Within, Street Fighter4, HaloMCC, Drive Club have all had poor performance or online issues in the case of DC and HaloMCC.
Then you have all those games that don’t run as well as you would hope for like the 30fps Payday2 with no texture filtering that happens to run @ 60fps with all the bells and whistles on an entry level PC. There is around another 4-5 games like this running @ 30fps missing texture filtering despite running really well on modest ( cheap) PC hardware.
So all platforms have issues with games needing patches from time to time but most of the time PC versions of games are great even if the odd title needs a patch because an issue has shown it’s self due to various hardware.
Also I mentioned the i3 CPU paired with 750ti, this is a PC that can be built for £350 yet week in and week out it performs as good as if not usually marginally better than the PS4. I think that’s great news as it points to well optimised games as it consists of PC hardware similar in performance to PS4 in the GPU department and CPU department.
While it’s nice to see more and more AAA exclusives on the xbox come to the pc. Most first party exclusives on the playstation will never come to the PC. And that’s a lot since my goty, bloodborne, will never come onto my preferred place to play. Not to mention Nintendo games as well, though those games don’t quite interest me as much. Though in defense of Horizon, they do have some devs from CD Project Red helping them out, and I honestly enjoyed killzone 1 single player, and the second’s multiplayer.
“Thats a lot”
You can keep your five games. Ill be modding Fallout 4 and playing Rising Storm 2 long after youve beaten all of those and KH3, if a port isnt announced till then.
Quality over quantity, plus I’m a pc gamer too 🙂
Im not into buying a console for only one game.
The only console worth buying is a Wii U right now.
I just dont get why people who know how to handle a gaming computer would buy a console for mostly multiplatforms and some ok exclusives.
460$ dude, if you have the money, go for of it.
I still think its an awful decision thought.
Pc is best platform for gaming until that moments, when come out terrible ports like MKX and B:AK
In my country an xbox one cost 300eur and this time when all these good games was shown on e3 tell me what 300eur pc can handle all of them ? i think its time to put behind me this pc life style that sucks me dry every year with the necessary upgrades to be able to run a game at a decent frame rate
>run a game at a decent frame rate
>xbox one
You are contradicting yourself.
PC isn’t a console. PC is much more and it has never been about being cheap. Better and more powerful is never as cost effective. But the point is, you can get as good of an experience as you want on a PC. The console experience is the minimun, what if I want a good experience? PC. What if I want the best experience possible? PC.
Would you buy bad tasting candy because it’s cheap? I wouldn’t get a console for primary use even if it was free, because I don’t want a bad experience.
Wondering how consoles provide a bad experience? That’s because you are used to it. I’m used to much higher resolutions, framerates etc.
are yoy typing this from your xbox? so you have a PC. what much to that cost? i don’t think less than 400€.
so, here you go. instead of a 300 € xbox and a 400€ PC, just go for 700 € PC and let the steam sales do the rest. 😉
Maybe he’s on a phone? But yeah, every adult needs a PC and add the price of an console to a basic PC and you got an gaming PC.
Then don’t upgrade every year.
I run the same hardware for 3 years now, I can still simply install new games and play them.
Necessary upgrades, my butt.
Intel i3, 750 Ti matches and beats both the XB1 and PS4.
no offense, but it seems to me that you dont know a thing about PC and dont own one too
yearly updates?
low framerate? (look at witcher 3 on PS4 vs a 750ti)ps- my 860m oc can do high @ 30fps
i dont know about europe but
450$ pc with a 750ti /i3 4130can be built
i agree with you the prices in Romania at PC parts cost to much but i will still upgrade my PC man i am pcgamer and i will die for PC i don’t really care 🙂
You’ll die for PC? Get you head checked out man
Well to be honest its my life pcgaming!
i am starving just for PC components and who sain PCgamer dosen’t do that!
Why act like there’s no middle ground to create a false equivalency? It’s simple: don’t upgrade every year.
Well I don’t think PC gaming is expensive, PC gaming can be as cheap or as expensive as you want to make it. A budget PC costing £350 is enough to consistently outperform the PS4 as shown by Eurogamer many times. It’s entirely possible for PC gaming to cost less than console gaming as PS4 costs around £300 now but if you want to enjoy gaming online that’s another £400 added to the cost of the PS4 while PC gaming has free online gaming. Then you have the fact that PS4 games almost always cost around £10 or £15 more than the PC versions at launch because of the license fees that Sony charge third party developers.
Also who needs to upgrade their hardware every year?. My I7 2600 CPU is now over 4 years old and it still tears through games delivering over 60fps so it’s entirely possible that this CPU could last 6 years gaming @ 60fps. Hell I may even decide to replace this CPU even though I don’t need to just because I want a change and a new motherboard.
Sorry but I don’t believe you game on PC or buy hardware every year as no one buys hardware every year, hell new GPU’s don’t even launch every year, it’s every 2 years for new architecture and when they do launch they never make the older GPU’s obsolete. If you can use the same , weak console hardware for 8 long years why then would you need to upgrade a PC every year?.
I don’t believe you , you are spreading ignorance.
350$ PC beats yours PS4(24fps):
RIG( (35FPS + more NPC and addional fx):
CPU: AMD FX-6300 OR Intel Pentium G3258
MB: ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS AM3+ OR MSI H81M-P33
RAM: 4GB Crucial Ballistix OR
GPU: GTX 750ti OR Gigabyte R7 260X
HD: WD Caviar Blue 1TB
Power Supply: EVGA 430 W 80 PLUS
DONE. plus STEAM deals as consoles like to pay 45$ in a 6 months old game!
Youtube: 750ti vs ps4…beating the a$$ up of that $hitty console
It remains a thorn in the side that Uncharted 4 and The Last Guardian are not bound for PC. I know I will have to buy a PS4 and it’s really maddening. Suppose I could always sell it afterwards.
the Last Guardian i can understand but Uncharted really? it’s not like Naughty Dog is known for revolutionary gameplay it’s mostly hype by Console Critics. if it was a multi platform they wouldn’t shower it with this much praise. so if you like their stories you can just basically watch a Youtube Let’s play or something.
personally if i buy a PS4 uncharted wouldn’t be on the top of my list (even games like Persona look more appealing imo but that’s just me)
my brother had a ps3 and i was so hyped to play uncharted 2. I ended up being dissapointed, it was just a third person shooter with a good story, not a master piece. God of war and journey were more insteresting than uncharted in my opinion =/
yeah i said it, journey. Thats the only game that i truly envy now.
yea Journey sounds great (i don’t anything about it though). personally i loved to have Metal Gear Solid IV on PC but even that is mostly a cinematic experience so that’s why i just watched a youtube video and let it go.
i played God of War 1 and 2. i enjoyed Prince of Persia more to be honest and funny enough, it felt like Sony were copying them cause i remember some mechanics in the new Prince game that appeared in God of Wars afterwards but doubt that’s the case. the only thing the first God of War mostly had for it’s going was the story imo and they ruined it in the second game with turning Zeus into the main villain and a noob.
speaking of Journey, glad their new game is coming to PC i forgot it’s name though.
ps2 ? good old times
Having played Uncharted 2 & 3 I feel they are unmatched in the PC sphere. The last Tomb Raider came close. The Uncharted 4 E3 private demo has been blowing a few minds. More than any other game I would say it will be a system seller for Sony, not that they really need to sell any more PS4’s. I just don’t want to have to buy one myself.
they are unmatched cause not many are interested to make similar games. still doesn’t mean their gameplay is really something exceptional. i love it when games have great stories but i usually only play games a lot that have great gameplay. otherwise if they have a good story and a bad gameplay i will just watch a youtube video or something specially when they are not available or expensive.
the fact that the new Tomb Raider turned into a rival with just one game just goes to show how easy it is to become it’s rival. the only reason it doesn’t has as much buzz around it is because it is not an exclusive (we all know the new Tomb Raider is gonna come to PC/PS4 too eventually)
Imitated but not bettered. IMHO it provides a special experience akin to playing a blockbuster action movie that no other series has nailed in the same way. It would be amazing if it came to PC. Never will though.
I get that the game-play doesn’t impress you. No need to tell me any more.
Guys did you see the payday2 fps on PS4/X1?
LMAO
in that game i have 135 FPS constant on Ultra settings 1440p
Horizon Zero Dawn would be a fine addition to any PC Gaming Library…. Is the fact that it’s designed by the team at Guerilla Games a problem since they are a studio essentially under Sony’s thumb?
No batman arkham coverage? Traitors! When that is what you should be discussing.
For fun.
Fixed.
Yes, we PC gamers always win, that’s why we get a consolized port of Doom 4, and don’t even get me started on Fallout 4 (and 3), one of the greatest PC RPG franchises turned into an FPS.
And a horrendously optimized Batman AK (for both AMD and Nvidia users), and a severely downgraded The Division.
We always win, right.
We don’t always win but very rarely do we lose.
Its a beginning of a new era. PC + Mobile being mainstream of games! deal with it!
confirmed PC games in E3 2015:
– Fallout 4
– Doom
– Mass Effect Andromeda
– Dishonored 2
– Just Cause 3
– Dark Souls 3
– Star Wars Battlefront
– Star Wars: The Old Republic’s ‘Knights of a Fallen Empire’ expansion
– Cuphead
– Ghost Recon Wildlands
– No Man’s Sky
– Call of Duty: Black Ops III
– Mirror’s Edge Catalyst
– Anno 2205
– Rainbow Six Siege
– South Park: The Fractured but Whole
– Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
– Firewatch
– Warhammer Total War
– The Division
– MGS 5
– XCOM 2
– Shenmue III
and more: Hitman, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Need for Speed, For Honor, Fable Legends, Unrave, Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate and (probably) FF VII Remake.
What really stood out to me in your list, was how many sequels we’re getting.
where is homefront the revolution?
and the most important to me
Killer Instinct
Gears Of War
Things that I liked at E3; XCom 2, Doom, Shadow Warrior 2, Total War Warhammer, Star Citizen, Deus Ex Mankind Divided, Dishonored 2, Mass Effect Andromeda (wasn’t sure but after watching the trailer,,, I am interested… Need to see more), Hitman (Was worried by after reading their interview that it’ll be a full game and DLCs will be free,,, I am excited), Whispers of Oblivion, Shenmue 3, Anno 2205, Planet Coaster, Tomb Raider (Sh*t M$ demo but still excited for the game itself… Haven’t seen other gameplay video yet), Mirror’s Edge, Horizon and Uncharted 4 (for graphics and waiting to see how Squadron 42 will beat it).
Not interested in Fallout 4 just yet. They have a lot to live up to after Obsidian’s New Vegas. Other than these games,,, Zero interest in games from EA , Ubisoft, Sony, M$ and Activision shown at E3. Didn’t watch Nintendo’s show… Ubisoft’s show was the sh*ttiest. Over hyped garbage games as usual.
Game of the Show: Deus Ex Mankind Divided.
agreed. Deus Ex was just magical, loved it. but i delete mass effect from my list, because of DAI/EA//Denuvo/Useless CGI Trailer/Online Crap and Microtansactions that they will force into single player
they are cancer!
Actually without consoles do you really think the Video Game genre would be ANYWHERE as big as it is now? The answer is NO WAY! Let’s call a spade a spade here. We need consoles (to keep interest and dollars in the market) as much as they need PC (to keep innovation going forward on the hardware front). It’s really that simple. So don’t say “there are cancer”… They are necessary.
Spencer, I’ve missed you!
Wait… I mean… I miss your good articles!
😛
<3
I didn’t either :0 Though I’ll probably pick one up later next year when there is a couple more exclusives I want.
lol just look at the new batman looks like a big win for pc gamers..lulz
HAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
PC gamers suck because a publisher & developer proved incompetent. LOOLLOOOOLLLLOLLOOOOOLLLL.
How am I winning when Sony and MS are holding a dozen of games exclusive *ahem* hostage to their plastic boxes? On top of that they are also hoarding dlc and other game content to make it “exclusive”.
Wtf do I win from this?
I suggest re-reading the article, games that are “exclusive” are still hitting PC. That’s how you’re winning. PC isn’t getting caught in the crossfire between Sony & MS.
Expecting Sony’s first party content is not what the article is about.
Not all exclusives come to PC, but I stopped buying consoles after PS2 due to PS and Xbox having exclusives, I will never buy a console to play any exclusive games, these games just don’t matter to me at all. They don’t exist to me, if not on PC
No one pays devs to make PC only games, they choose to do so, usually because consoles, charges are to much.
As for this Batman, Joker below, if I ever buy it it will be for under £5 in a sale with all the DLC included and patched, just like I got the first two, chances are though I won’t get 3 and 4, tired of that game now. I’m not a super hero fan.
Plenty of cheap games to play on GOG or Steam with all content patched. Loads have mods as well.
Long War for XCOM is much better than the base game, for example.
Few games get me to buy at full price, AAA are the least likely to do so.
nope.. i don’t think so. there’s alot of PS4 fanboys who consistently tweet Sony and the devs to not release the games on PC. this goes the same with Microsoft as well. Sony has alot of strong first-party exclusives and they will never bring it to PC. it suxs i know but there’s nothing much PC gamers can do. imagine these games on PC at 1440p or even 4K 60FPS.
and also the PC community tarnished by Rocksteady & WB on latest Batman fiasco.