The season of wishlist-making has arrived and we're ringing it in with our own lengthy lineup of games we're dying to play. During today's first-ever PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted showcase, we counted down the 25 most-anticipated games right now as decided by The Council.
Our group of 70 experts includes PC Gamer writers, gaming content creators, and industry professionals—we got votes from developers like Brenda Romero, Dean Hall, Tim Schafer, and prominent content creators to forge our "nice" list of upcoming games.
We unfurled the big list with shoutouts from our voting council members, messages from developers, and some new trailers and information that developers have allowed us to share with you first. You can watch the entire showcase on YouTube or get the short version here in our countdown roundup.
But most of us have wishlists even longer than just the 25 biggest games on the horizon, so we packed the showcase with dozens of other games that we're looking forward to. Catch all the new trailers and announcements here: first up are the big 25, and below that you'll find our wishlist of other upcoming games (and some surprise launches) that also joined the show.
The 25 Most Wanted Countdown
#25: Still Wakes The Deep
#24: Sword of the Sea
#23: Holstin
#22: Persona 3 Reload
#21: Harold Halibut
#20: Star Wars Outlaws
#19: Skate Story
#18: Menace
#17: Avowed
#16: Dragon's Dogma 2
#15: Frostpunk 2
#14: Gloomwood
#13: Grand Theft Auto 6
#12: Tekken 8
#11: Hollow Knight: Silksong
#10: Marathon
#9: Path of Exile 2
#8: Homeworld 3
#7: Haunted Chocolatier
#6: Pacific Drive
#5: Helldivers 2
#4: Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth
#3: Hades 2
#2: Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
#1: Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl
Our #1 PC Gamer Most Wanted game is Stalker 2, as chosen by our full illustrious council of voters. According to our panel of over 70 experts, this is the big one. The upcoming survival horror FPS from GSC Game World is the follow-up to a classic PC experience that fans have been waiting to play for over a decade. At Gamescom this year, Phil Savage got to play a 15-minute demo and walked away feeling that "the Zone is as hostile as ever" but even darker and moodier than the original with its graphics and lighting.
The journey to see Stalker 2 into the world has been met with increasing challenge in the past two years, as GSC Game World continued development from its local office in Kyiv during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. GSC developers shared a message for Stalker fans at the end of the PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted, thanking them for their passion and trust.
Stalker 2 is currently expected to launch in the first quarter of 2024, and we're all eagerly awaiting its time to shine.
The PC Gamer Wishlist
In between the Most Wanted countdown, we also got to show off new trailers and announcements for 36 other games that we're looking forward to. Click through to hear more about each game, including interviews with developers and hands-on with demos.
- Dwarf Fortress is getting a new adventure mode in April.
- Under A Rock is a co-op survival game with very large critters.
- Unrailed 2 is a party game sequel coming to early access in 2024.
- Sands of Aura is a recently-released soulslike dungeon crawler.
- Lost Isle is an upcoming open-world survival MMO.
- G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra is a retro beat-em-up coming in 2024.
- Echos of the Plum Grove is a Paper Mario-inspired farm sim with a demo.
- Unforetold: Witchstone is a sandbox cRPG coming in January.
- Wild Bastards is a wild west Void Bastards sequel.
- Republic of Pirates is a nautical city-builder and strategy game coming in 2024.
- DataJack 2020 is a stealthy cyberpunk immersive sim with its first gameplay trailer.
- Tchia is coming to Steam with a free update in March 2024.
- Ironhive is a newly-revealed strategy deck-builder.
- Indika is a psychological adventure about a nun in alt-history Russia.
- Hawked is an extraction shooter that's free to play in early access right now.
- Demonschool is a tactical RPG with a new combat trailer.
- darkwebSTREAMER is a horror simulation story with a new trailer.
- SteamWorld Build is a spinoff city builder that's launching December 1.
- Bellwright is a medieval survival and management game coming to early access in 2024.
- Drowned Lake is a newly revealed found-footage style horror adventure.
- Gray Zone Warfare is a tactical FPS with a new gameplay trailer.
- Spine is a stylish action film-inspired brawler with a new gameplay trailer.
- Cryptical Path is a newly revealed roguelite dungeon crawler.
- Crashlands 2 is an open world survival crafting game coming in 2024.
- Deathgrip is a podracing-inspired game with a new demo.
- Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is a soulslike action game coming in summer 2024.
- Islands of Insight is a multiplayer puzzler with a demo.
- Ultros is a psychedelic metroidvania coming in February.
- Ambulance Life is a job sim coming in 2024.
- Songs of Silence is an narrative-driven RTS coming in spring 2024.
- Mortal Crux is a 2000s-inspired action RPG announcing its 4-player co-op.
- Solium Infernum is a grand strategy game launching in early 2024.
- Crown Wars is a medieval turn-based strategy game coming in March.
- Everywhere is a sandbox game made for players to create in online.
- Penny's Big Breakaway is a mascot 3D platformer coming in 2024.
- Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 has announced another vampire clan.
