IDC Research has released its figures regarding worldwide PC shipments in the third quarter of 2026, and would you believe it, they've dropped considerably. Looking at the year-over-year numbers, the shipped units dropped from 78.5 million in Q3 2025, to 62.7 million in Q3 of this year. That's a 20.1% plummet, for percentage fans.But why, I hear you asking. Actually, I don't. The memory and supply chain crisis, driven by...
Have you ever clicked on a Steam Deck Verified game, attempted to boot it up, and realised it probably shouldn't have been verified? Well, Steam's new system should help developers give a more accurate understanding of how their games run on the Steam Deck. As of October 1 (via TechPowerUp), Valve has given developers access to frame rate data as reported by Steam Deck users. A developer can see the...
The 2007 season finale of TV phenom Lost ended with an all-timer twist: What had seemed like the show's routine flashback storyline, filling in the events that preceded its characters ending up in island purgatory, was actually a flash forward. Protagonists Jack and Kate were somehow safe in Los Angeles after three seasons of being stuck on the mysterious island. Escaping had been the whole point of the show—or so...
Deadlock is one of the most delightful things happening in videogame art direction. It's a festival of phenomenal vibes: a striking setting, an all-timer aesthetic that bleeds into every scrap of environmental art and UI element, and—crucially—a roster of instantly charming occult character designs.That roster, however, is missing something—a few somethings, in fact. While Deadlock's heroes cover a broad spectrum of the spooky and supernatural, it's got some glaring gaps...
In recent years, triple-A games have often been criticised for overly excessive handholding, overcompensating for a dread fear that the player might become stuck. This has manifested in numerous ways like Atreus' heavy-handed puzzle hints in God of War: Ragnarok, yellow paint splashed on every other ledge of Stellar Blade, and most recently, Marvel's Wolverine essentially playing itself for entire portions of the game.I'm not here to weigh in on...
Silent Hill's resurrection is one of the happier stories to emerge from the games industry in recent years. After spending roughly a decade locked in a Konami cupboard, Silent Hill has received three new entries published by Konami in as many years, all of which arrived to positive reviews and, seemingly, healthy sales. But if Silent Hill 2 Remake, Silent Hill f, and Silent Hill: Townfall still haven't satisfied your...
Certain ideas that crop up every so often in games will always grab my attention. One of them is letting players defeat enemies with bits of other enemies. As such, my interest in Heathen—an upcoming indie dungeon crawler—went from 'mildly curious' to 'smashing the wishlist button' when its most recent trailer revealed you can beat your foes by volleying other enemy heads at them.Developed by solo developer Christoper Yabsley, Heathen...
Just as Star Wars Zero Company was set to launch earlier this year, developer Bit Reactor furloughed over 80% of its staff over sales uncertainty. In other words, much of its staff were receiving no pay, despite technically being employees, right when players were getting their hands on the game. Earlier this week on Bluesky, the studio announced it had begun undoing this "difficult decision" (via gamesindustry.biz).Bit Reactor CEO Greg...
Terminally Online(Image credit: Future)This is Terminally Online: PC Gamer's very own MMO column. Every other week, I'll be sharing my thoughts on the genre, interviewing fellow MMO-heads like me, taking a deep-dive into mechanics we've all taken for granted, and, occasionally, bringing in guest writers to talk about their MMO of choice.World of Warcraft: Forever seems, at first blush, like an antidote to the idea of a modern MMO. I...
World of Warcraft: Forever has me in a chokehold, and it's partially because—well, it's relaxing. As my colleague at PC Gamer so succinctly put it: "Sometimes it's fun to hit a scorpion with a club for 38 seconds." Despite aping an era seen as more 'hardcore' to some players, Forever's lack of blaring and annoying seasonal grist is honestly refreshing.Speaking with associate production director Clay Stone about why I'm certainly...