We remember that back in the mid 2000s, when consoles like the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 came out with things like hard drives and internet connections, people were saying that PC games were dead. Now, in 2023, PC games are not only very much alive, but thriving. Indeed, Activision Blizzard recently reported that the publisher made more money from PC games than console games in the second half of 2022, and in the first quarter of 2023.
The rise of digital stores like Steam, GoG.com, and more recently the Epic Games Store has contributed to allowing PC games of all types to be sold nearly everywhere. A few weeks ago, we posted our list of the most anticipated Xbox Series X/S games of 2023, so we decided to do the same for PC games as well.
We will mention that all of our games on the Xbox 2023 list will also be released on the PC as well. We didn't want to duplicate our Xbox list for our most anticipated PC game, so we picked some more upcoming titles, many of which will be released either exclusively for PC or first on that platform (although some games may show up on other platforms as well).
Update: September 4: We have added Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin and Ghostrunner 2 and removed a game on the list that's been officially delayed until 2024.
Counter-Strike 2 - Summer 2023
- Developer: Valve
- Publisher: Valve
- What's it about: You team up with your online friends and shoot other online friends in matches of terrorists and counter-terrorists.
- Why we want to play it: It's the long-awaited Source Engine 2 remake of Counter-Strike. Who wouldn't want to play it? And best of all, it's going to be free to play.
Payday 3 - September 21, 2023
- Developer: Starbreeze Studios
- Publisher: Prime Matter
- What's it about: It's time to come out of retirement and start robbing banks again, and take care of anyone who gets in our way.
- Why we want to play it: Starbreeze has had its problems, but it appears that the studio is finally going to bring the popular Payday co-op shooter series out of mothballs and into an all-new version, and we can't wait to see it.
Pre-order Payday 3 console versions on Amazon
Witchfire - September 20
- Developer: The Astronauts
- Publisher: The Astronauts
- What's it about: Fight a demon invasion of your land with a combination of firearms and witch spells in fast combat.
- Why we want to play it: It's rare when we see a first-person shooter that looks like it will actually offer a different experience. Mixing guns with magic in a dark fantasy environment is right up our alley.
Pre-order Witchfire at the Epic Games Store
The Lamplighters League - October 3
- Developer: Harebrained Schemes
- Publisher: Paradox Interactive
- What's it about: Set in the 1930s, this pulp action-themed tactical action game has you controlling a series of characters as a team that's fighting to stop a group from dominating the world.
- Why we want to play it: This turn-based game looks like it will be a cool mix of strategy and action, plus its 1930s time period of over-the-top pulp magazine storylines is very different.
Pre-order The Lamplighters League for PC on Xbox.com
Lords of the Fallen - October 13
- Developer: Hexworks
- Publisher: CI Games
- What's it about: Fight your way through both the land of the living and the land of the dead in this Souls-like dark fantasy RPG.
- Why we want to play it: Not only do the Unreal Engine 5-based graphics and art style look spectacular, but we love that the gameplay will let us explore two parallel worlds instead of just one.
Pre-order Lords of the Fallen on Steam
Pre-order Lords of the Fallen console versions on Amazon
Cities: Skylines II - October 24, 2023
- Developer: Colossal Order
- Publisher: Paradox Interactive
- What's it about: It's time to create your dream city, with all sorts of cool buildings, highways, and other infrastructure
- Why we want to play it: Colossal Order picked up the ball and developed a true spiritual sequel to the Sim City franchise with the original Cities: Skylines. This sequel looks like it will have more of what we liked in that game.
Pre-order Cities Skylines II on Steam
Pre order the console versions on Amazon
Ghostrunner 2 - October 26, 2023
- Developer: One More Level
- Publisher: 505 Games
- What's it about: It's time to run and slash and shoot your way against tons of enemies in this post-apocalyptic cyberpunk future.
- Why we want to play it: The original Ghostrunner game was a surprisingly fun and different take on the first-person shooter genre and we think the sequel looks even more impressive.
Pre-order Ghostrunner 2 on Steam
Pre-order the console versions on Amazon
Total War: Pharaoh - October 2023
- Developer: Creative Assembly
- Publisher: Sega
- What's it about: You control the fate of ancient Egypt and rise to power as Pharaoh. Lead the fight to take out your enemies in massive battles.
- Why we want to play it: Creative Assembly is the master of historic RTS strategy games, and this new entry in the long-running franchise promises to be one of its best yet, with huge armies fighting against each other, and a new Campaign Customization feature that should add lots of replayability.
Pre-order Total War: Pharoah at the game's official website
Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin - November 17, 2023
- Developer: Frontier Developments
- Publisher: Frontier Developments
- What's it about: Battle in the classic Warhammer fantasy universe against four factions who want to run this world.
- Why we want to play it: Frontier Developments looks like they have created a fun real-time strategy game with all of the brutal features of the Warhammer universe combined with some deep single-player and multiplayer action
Pre-order Warhammer Age of Sigmar Realms of Ruin on Steam
The Finals - TBD 2023
- Developer: Embark Studios
- Publisher: Embark Studios
- What's it about: In a future version of a reality show, you compete with friends in a virtual battleground for money and fame.
- Why we want to play it: Embark's recent beta test of this game generated a lot of buzz, mostly because nearly everything on the game's maps could be destroyed. We think the developer will use the beta feedback to give us a multiplayer shooter with some unique twists.
Hades II - TBD 2023
- Developer: Supergiant Games
- Publisher: Supergiant Games
- What's it about: The Princess of the Underworld is going to try to defeat the Titan of Time with some help from the Olympian gods.
- Why we want to play it: The original Hades was a refreshing new take on a dungeon crawler title, and we think the experience from that game will help make the sequel an even deeper and more entertaining experience.
Helldivers 2 - TBA 2023
- Developer: Arrowhead Games Studios
- Publisher: Arrowhead Games Studios
- What's it about: It's time go to back and kill some aliens in order to protect the future of Super Earth
- Why we want to play it: The first Helldivers game was a fun and action-packed sci-fi top-down shooter. The sequel will switch perspectives and put players on the ground fighting alien bugs in a third-person viewpoint. That should make it an even more frantic game experience.
The Talos Principle II - TBD 2023
- Developer: Croteam
- Publisher: Devolver Digital
- What's it about: In an abandoned world, you play a robot who tries to solve puzzles of various levels to discover what happened to this land
- Why we want to play it: The first game in this series was a surprise, coming from the same team that made the Serious Sam FPS games. This sequel looks like it will continue to offer gamers some mind-bending puzzles in a beautiful gameplay world.
Pre-order The Talos Principle II on Steam
That's our list of our most anticipated PC games of 2023. Again, we will be updating this list every so often as more games are announced, and other games get release dates.
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