According to the Entertainment Software Association’s 2016 study titled Essential Facts about the Computer and Video Game Industry Report, 56% of polled players say they play PC games, making PC the most frequently played gaming device. If you are a PC gamer, you are part of an audience serious game developers cannot afford to ignore, making your access to great exclusives a top priority. Here’s a list of upcoming PC exclusives that prove it.
Star Citizen
Even if it promises to be one of the best PC exclusives, most people are familiar with/sick of hearing about Star Citizen’s convoluted path from Kickstarter to Development Hell. The game has been in development since 2012 and there’s currently no reason to believe the full product will meet its 2017 release estimate.
Though the project is in rough shape at the moment, if the promised experience ever sees the light of day, you owe it to yourself to try it. A well-executed persistent universe featuring dogfighting, first-person shooter action, and MMO features could still make a giant impact. Most competitors in the space genre have stepped up and taken their shot, it will be interesting to see if Star Citizen brings the goods.
Frozen Synapse 2
PC only games go heavy on turn-based strategy (even in this list) so the Frozen Synapse series really had its work cut out if it wanted to turn heads. After its 2011 release, the game won numerous awards and climbed to a Metacritic score of 85 out of 100. The sequel, Frozen Synapse 2, will bring back more turn-based strategy gameplay at some point in 2017, as of current reports.
Frozen Synapse 2’s clever procedural generation and support for various strategies to progress through missions look promising in the categories of fun and replayability.
No Truce with the Furies
There’s a lot of great information available about the PC exclusive No Truce with the Furies, but probably none of it is as important as the tagline “RPG meets cop-show.” Development studio Fortress Occident of Tallinn, Estonia describes the title as an isometric roleplaying game with a heavy focus on narrative. Screenshots and videos show off a unique art style, and promotional copy places heavy emphasis on options and consequences.
SpellForce 3
SpellForce 3 will allow players to experience real-time strategy and roleplaying hybrid action in a fantasy setting. Strategy games of this type tend to be a PC specialty, and SpellForce is known for its unique approach.
The SpellForce series has been around for 14 years, giving it ample time to learn from little points of imperfection over time. Though the first game was praised and awarded, some players took issue with voice over, plot choices, and enemy AI. If the growth shown between the first two titles stays consistent between installments 2 and 3, players are right to be enthusiastic about THQ Nordic and Grimlore Games’ upcoming title, currently scheduled for a December release.
BattleTech
Continuing in the direction of strategy is BattleTech, being developed by Harebrained Schemes and published by strategy giant Paradox Interactive. The 2018 game will extend a universe explored in board games, earlier video games, card games, a TV series, and more than 100 books, going back as far as 1984.
The new BattleTech will feature player-controlled commanders each leading a squadron of large combat mechs, and will require players to manage equipment, soldiers, skills, and even small mechanical parts that dictate a mech’s performance in battle. Developers have confirmed that the turn-based strategy engine will deviate from the rules of the original board game.
Overall, PC gaming is in great shape. Exclusive PC games are released in mind-boggling quantities, meaning the hardest part is usually just identifying the best game to try. When in doubt, Steam puts out great stats on what it’s roughly 10 million concurrent users are up to, so you’ll never need to figure it out by yourself. This doesn’t mean the crowd always gets it right, what upcoming PC exclusive will you track down next?
