Why an E3 event that celebrates the PC is long overdue
For the past few Junes, right before one of the busiest gaming weeks of the year, we’ve taken a moment to imagine the E3 press conference that PC Gamers deserve. It’s become one of our tiny traditions (along with Chris’ questionable behavior in survival games). Mostly it’s an excuse for us to publish something entirely detached from reality before we fly to Los Angeles and publish every scrap of gaming news and opinion that our bodies will allow. It’s therapeutic to daydream about Gabe Newell materializing atop a unicorn through a fog of theater-grade dry ice to announce Half-Life 3
We get valuable stories, videos, and interviews out of E3—you can imagine how handy it is to have almost every game-maker gathered under one roof for a few days. But it’s no secret that the PC doesn’t have a formal, organized presence during E3. Generally speaking it’s the time of year when Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo jostle for position about who can create the most buzz. Despite being a mostly exciting few days of announcements, E3 has never given the biggest gaming platform in the world an equal place at the table.
That’s our collective fault, not E3’s. One of our hobby’s greatest strengths is the fact that there isn’t a single owner. The PC has no marketing arm, no legal department, no CEO to dictate what should be announced or advertised. And thank Zeus for that. The fundamentally open nature of our hobby is what allows for GOG, Origin, Steam, and others to compete for our benefit, for the variety of technologies and experiences we have access to—everything from netbook gaming to 8K flight simulation to VR.
Everyone involved in PC gaming has shared ownership over its identity. One of the few downsides of that, though, is that there isn’t really a single time and place for PC gaming to get together and hang out. We love BlizzCon, QuakeCon, DreamHack, Extra Life, The International, and the ever-increasing number of PAXes. But there’s something special about the pageantry of E3 week, its over-the-top showmanship, its surprises, its proximity to Hollywood. And each June, even as we’ve jokingly painted a picture of PC game developers locking arms in a musical number, we’ve wanted something wholly by, for, and about PC gaming.
Well, hell, let’s do it.
For the past few months we’ve been organizing the first ever live event for PC gaming during E3, The PC Gaming Show. Tune into our Twitch channel on Tuesday, June 16 on 5 PM and you’ll see a spectrum of PC gaming represented on stage: a showcase of conversations, announcements, hardware, trailers, and other stuff that makes PC gaming great. We’ve been talking to everyone we know, big and small—if there’s a game or developer you want to see—tell us! So far, Blizzard, AMD, Bohemia Interactive, Boss Key Productions, Paradox, Dean Hall, Tripwire, and more have signed up to be a part of this inaugural PC gaming potluck (Paradox has promised to bring nachos), and we’ll be announcing more participants as we lead up to June 16. And hey, the endlessly friendly Day is hosting. We love that guy.
We’re sincerely, stupidly excited about this. The PC gaming renaissance we’re all living in deserves a moment of recognition during the biggest gaming expo of the year—it’s about time! Listen in onTwitter and on our Facebook page as we share more details leading up to June.
AMD and PC Gamer bring the PC Gaming Show to E3
There’s never been a better time to play games on PC. Gaming-capable hardware is inexpensive, digital distribution has given us unprecedented access to a huge range of games, and publishers have finally recognized that reports of its demise as a viable platform were ludicrously exaggerated. And soon the PC will have its own celebratory event during E3 week, with the first-ever PC Gaming Show, presented by AMD and put together by, well, us.
“The PC Gaming Show embodies the spirit of innovation, openness and community that’s part of our DNA—delivered by gamers, for gamers,” AMD Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Computing and Graphics Matt Skynner said. “The time is right for a PC-focused event in the week of E3 and we’re honored to be part of bringing the industry together.”
Hosted by Sean “Day” Plott, the PC Gaming Show at E3 will feature appearances by Dean Hall of DayZ fame, Cliff Bleszinski of Boss Key Productions, and developers from studios including Blizzard, Bohemia Interactive, Cloud Imperium Games, Tripwire Interactive, Square Enix, Obsidian, Paradox, Devolver Digital and the Humble Bundlers, with more to be announced.
“We’re living in a golden age of PC gaming, but unlike other platforms the PC has no format holder, no marketing department, and—until now—no event during E3 week purely devoted to it,” added Tim Clark, global editor-in-chief at PC Gamer. “We think a show like this, which brings together people from every corner of PC gaming to celebrate the exciting things happening, is long overdue. We hope you’ll join us, in person or on stream, to be part of it.”
The PC Gaming Show will take place on June 16 at the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles, and will of course be livestreamed on Twitch. Find out more at PCGamingShow.com.
