“The ESA and our member companies have not received an invitation to meet with President Trump,” says ESA rep Dan Hewitt. Those members include the biggest publishers, like Capcom, EA, Activision Blizzard, Bethesda, Ubisoft, WB, Microsoft, Nintendo, Nexon, PlayStation, and more, which casts some confusion on who exactly President Trump is claiming to have invited, or whether anyone’s been invited at all. It’s also reignited a debate that sounds like it came straight out of 1993 regarding the rol

“It is a taste of the alternative, an experience that will make you question what it is to exist. I hope so, because I’ve thought of a description of my own. It’s $10 on Steam (just under $9 through Tuesday, March 6), and will take you three to four hours to finish by The Secret Experiment’s math. Beckett was chosen to be showcased in Dundee, Scotland’s new Victoria and Albert Museum as “an example of design excellence in storytelling and digital media.” The Secret Experiment says it’s only “the

Ransome the Clown is a foul-mouthed character in Thimbleweed Park, the retro-styled point-and-click adventure released last year by Terrible Toybox. But if you’d prefer to play the game uncensored—Ransome Raw, you might say—then the new “Ransome Unbeeped” DLC could be just what you’re looking for. “What you will get is the same great game with none of the *beeping* beeps drowning out my lines.” The Thimbleweed Park: Ransome Unbeeped DLC will cost you two bucks on Steam or GOG. The trailer below,

Deep Rock Galactic is a co-op horde shooter where you and your friends are all dwarves trying to shoot bugs and mine ore. When we first played it last November, it felt like a tense and innovative horde shooter. Which is timely enough, because Deep Rock Galactic recently hit Early Access. The current Early Access build is $25 and includes singleplayer mode, four-man multiplayer, and four dwarf classes. Developer Ghost Ship Games says they “plan to gradually raise the price” as more content is re

About the only way to score a mid-range or high-end GPU without paying through the nose is buying a prebuilt desktop or laptop. If you’re in the market for the latter, one option worth taking a look at is this 17.3-inch thin and light gaming laptop on Newegg. The Asus ROG Strix GL702VS-AH73 is on sale for $1,349 (down from $1,699), and if you use promo code EMCSPRRX4, the price drops even further, to $1,299. That’s not bad for a laptop with a GeForce GTX 1070 GPU inside, as this one has. This is

Despite rumors to the contrary, TomsHardware reports Nvidia is unlikely to roll out any new graphics cards at either event. The rumors gained traction when Reuters reported in early February that Turing, Nvidia’s “new GPU gaming chip,” was expected to be “unveiled next month.” The hope was that all would be made clear at GDC or GTC with some kind of product launch. Pascal GP100 was discussed at GTC in 2016, but the GTX 1070/1080 were unveiled at a separate Nvidia event. On one hand, it seems tha

Darwin Project, the Hunger Games-styled battle royale/survival romp through the Canadian north, will hit Steam Early Access on March 9, developer Scavengers Studio announced today. The Early Access launch marks “the next stage of development,” and all the features that were seen in the most recent beta test are now permanent elements of the game. As the video below makes clear (with some NSFW language), it’s a feature of the game that’s obviously open to abuse—but that’s also kind of the point.

The peripheral market is now flush with mechanical keyboards, but if you thought companies would stop producing new models, think again. Both of these are gaming keyboards with a choice between Cherry MX Red or Cherry MX Silver key switches. As noted in our guide to mechanical keyboard switches, Cherry MX Reds have a linear actuation, meaning smooth and fast key presses with no bump, and are quiet. The same traits apply to Cherry MX Silver switches, which are a newer breed, but with a shorter ac

#WarGames is a new interactive story by Her Story creator Sam Barlow. Barlow describes it as a modern-day reimagining of 1983’s WarGames, a movie about a young hacker nearly causing World War III. It’s slated to debut on March 14 on Eko, a platform built around series that invite viewers to participate in their stories. The newly released trailer for #WarGames’ first season—it’s going to be a six-part series—features protagonist Kelly and her merry band of hackers. A release date for Barlow’s ot

BenQ is adding to the growing mix of 4K monitors supporting HDR with its new EL2870U, a 28-inch display “designed specifically for home entertainment.” That includes gaming, even though BenQ isn’t billing this as solely a gaming display. The field of 4K monitors with HDR support is expanding, though still far outnumbered by 4K monitors without HDR. In this case, BenQ advertises HDR10 support and includes a premium high-speed HDMI cable that it recommends using for HDR content. At that level, it

To celebrate the game’s continued existence Ubisoft will hold four Global Events over the course of the month. These introduce modifiers to the game that “spice up your traditional gameplay experience,” and offer players rewards including Tokens that can be spent on in-game items and opportunities to pick up coveted Classified Gear. The first event, Outbreak, is live now and runs until March 5, with modifiers that affect all enemies, including “Contagious,” which drains player health when enemie

How does 2.4 million names go unaccounted for during an initial audit? Equifax says the newly identified names were not included in the original disclosure because their social security numbers were not compromised. A month later that number rose to 145.5 million people, and now an additional 2.4 million names are being thrown into the pile. You can do that by following this link, mashing the “Am I Impacted” button, and entering in your last name and last six digits of your social security numbe

If you’re looking for another chance to be a pirate-slash-guinea pig, the Sea of Thieves closed beta and server stress test is returning this weekend. From Friday, March 2 through Sunday, March 4, anyone who has already participated in the closed beta for Rare’s open world multiplayer pirate game will be able to climb aboard the servers again. A post on the Sea of Thieves site says:”With this added scale we expect – and plan – to see issues, that we can learn from and address. While the nature o

In December last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) listed “gaming disorder” as an addictive behaviour in a beta draft of its International Classification of Diseases for 2018. In January, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) refuted the proposal in a statement, saying it “trivializes real mental health issues”. Now, 36 “internationally renowned and respected” mental health professionals and academics have opposed the WHO’s proposal, the ESA has announced in a press release. “Worl

In the same week Pure Farming announced mod support at launch, Soedesco’s Real Farm is getting two slices of DLC. And while I can’t tell my Doble TTs from my Bizons and Straras, those who can might be interested in the complimentary DLC heading Real Farm’s way on Friday. “The Grünes Tal Map is free for everyone who owns the game prior to March 2nd,” explains the developer. “For everyone who buys the game after the DLC launch, it’ll be €9,99/$9.99.” Real Farm’s Potato Pack, on the other hand, is

Biomutant is open world action RPG with loot, in which you play a sort of violent raccoon that can alter its genetic material to gain super powers. The playable demo at the PC Gamer Weekender offered about 20 minutes of hacking set in some slightly dank, boxy interiors. The playable demo included randomised weapons and armour, which all have a charming hacked-together quality. The open world also looks much richer than the playable demo suggests. I still have questions about what the open world

This is, until a last minute design issue saw Fornite’s newest item pushed in favour of Hunting Rifles. The battle royale ’em up’s latest update 3.1.0 is now live, bringing with it new guns, a new location, and tweaks to weapon drop rates, among other things. Located on the southern edge of the map, Lucky Landing is a new Battle Royale location. Elsewhere, update 3.1.0 adjusts the “inconsistent” drop rates of Burst Assault Rifles, Revolvers and Tactical Shotguns—increasing the likelihood of Rare

Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is due next week and has big plans. It aims to fix its forerunners loot system, it’s getting Overwatch-style supers, and it will embrace official mod support. This extract about Chaos Spawn, combat, and smashing multiple baddies in one fell swoop is exciting:The Chaos Spawn is one of Vermintide 2’s new bosses. The sequel is building on that with more environments, enemies, class options and a revamped loot system. Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is due one week from today on Marc

My money’s on steel braided cables being the next big trend. I bumped into the above steel braided USB-C cable and thought there must be more like it. I want steel braided SATA and power supply cables cables, for metallic custom PC builds. And I want steel braided cables for accessories, which would be a classy new aesthetic for mice and keyboards. The one caveat around steel braided cables is the ability for steel to conduct signals, electricity, etc.

We launched the PC Gamer Indie channel last year to redouble our focus on the vibrant, valuable, and varied world of indie games. There are more games being made than ever, and while we can’t possibly look at them all, we can damn sure try. The 2018 PC Gaming Show —our fourth time showcasing PC games at E3, as it happens—is coming up fast, and we want to make sure indie games have a prominent spot on the stage. If you’re making a game—announced or unannounced, but it needs to be unreleased at th