PC Gaming Show E3 2017 - Conference Recap

Published: June 12, 2017 6:47 PM /

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The sponsors of this years PC Gaming Show, Intel, took to the stage before the main event with their own press conference. First, Senior Vice President and Head of Client Computing Gregory Bryant talked about the X series of Intel processors, focusing on the recently released I7 and I9 extreme core chips. Then, with the help of streamer Sonya Reid, Intel showed off twitch streaming with VR integration, and new VR title Seeking Dawn. The streamer was shown playing in front of a green screen, with her image then superimposed on the gameplay footage being broadcast via Twitch in real time, a feat which Intel claims is only possible with its processors.

The talk then moved on to Esports, with predictions expecting 500 million Esports viewers in 2018, Intel announced that they will be global technology partners of the esports league ESL going forward. This culminated in the announcement of the Intel grand slam series, which will comprise 10 CS: GO tournaments with a $1 million prize purse to the first team to win four tournaments.

To talk about VR in Esports, Bryant then introduced Ready at Dawn president Ru Weerasuriya. He began by briefly introducing Lone Echo, a single player VR game, before talking about its spin-off multiplayer component Echo Arena. A VR sports game, Echo Arena has shades of zero-g football or blitzball and features ten players on two teams trying to score by getting disks into the opponent's goal. The game will be a free title at launch, for a limited time, for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, releasing next month on July 20th. Echo Arena will feature at the VR challenger league Finals,  at Intel Xtreme Masters 2018.

Intel's talk ended with a lukewarm reception for the announcement of the Linkin Park VR experience launching next month only July 27th, a VR destination where fans can view music, enter competitions, and buy merchandise, they also teased "secret fan experiences."

For the main event, Shaun 'Day9' Plot introduced the show starting with the announcement of XCOM 2 expansion War of the Chosen and a 29th of August release date. War of The Chosen will be by far the largest expansion for XCOM 2, with new soldier classes, story, and three unique enemy champions. Each 'Chosen' will have their own personality and fighting styles and will develop as the game progresses similar to player soldiers. There will also be three new human resistance factions that the player can recruit, granting access to powerful new soldier classes. The expansion will release across PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Read our full article on the announcement here and check out the announcement trailer below.

Next, the presentation handed over to Sonya Reid to introduce Glumerland's upcoming game Ooblets. The game was described as a cross between Animal Crossing, Pokemon, and the developer's own Stardew Valley. Check out our article on the announcement here and watch the trailer for the game below.

The talk continued with a trailer for Battletech from Hairbrained studios, a new incarnation of the tabletop turn-based mech combat game. The developer then talked further about the single player component and multiplayer skirmishes. In single player, your command base between missions is known as the ARGO, the campaign will feature mercenary style missions from various factions and will allow for an open-ended campaign after the story ends. The developer then went into an in-depth demo of how combat works, with terrain and facing being important and describing how the 11 different damage points on mechs make combat a tactical affair. Read our full article on Battletech here and check out the footage below.

Next came a trailer for Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord, showing gameplay footage of large and chaotic battles. While this was new gameplay footage, the information actually provided was sparse. Watch the gameplay below and read our article on the game here.

Then, Al Bickman took to the stage to talk about Total War: Warhammer II. Creative Assembly showed off a 'Quest battle' from the game's campaign with two new factions, the Lizardmen against the High Elves. Bickman confirmed there will be four new races in TW:WII but remained tight-lipped on the mystery fourth race. The gameplay demo also announced a 28th September 2017 release date for the game. The developer also confirmed that races from Total War: Warhammer will be playable in the sequel when a free update releases after launch on a combined campaign map featuring the land mass from both games. Read our full article on the announcement here and watch the gameplay below.

The next trailer featured YouTuber Kripparian talking about the upcoming Shadowverse expansion Wonderland Dreams. The expansion for Cygames popular CCG was then showcased in a trailer featuring some nice animated CG scenes. Read our full article on the expansion here and check out the trailer below.

Intel continued their talk with information on the PC version of Destiny 2. Twitch streamer Tefty Teft joined the stage to talk about the PC specific features of Destiny 2, including 4K, 21:9 widescreen option, and multi-core support. The talk emphasized the ability of the game working with the I9 Extreme Core to take full advantage of the game and the processor's features. Read our article on the talk here.

The talk then moved on to the Indie developer contest 'level up' and Intel announced high-profile partners in the contest such as Green Man Gaming, Epic Games, and Razer. Intel talked again about the ESL & Intel partnership and the Intel grand slam. They also spoke a little more about Echo Arena, reiterating that the free offer mentioned in the Intel presentation would be for a limited time at launch.

Moving the show on, Felix Kramer spoke about Tunic, the game formerly known as Secret Legend, with a trailer for the top-down action adventure. The game comes from solo developer Andrew Shouldice and features a fox traveling a world in which it does not belong. Check out our article on the announcement here and watch the gameplay below.

Brendan Greene, PlayerUnknown himself, then took to the stage to talk about his game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, talking full release features including 3D replays, vaulting, additional weather effects, and a new gun, as well as stability and performance fixes. Greene also spoke on the possibility of adding mod support in the future. Check out our full article on the talk here and watch the trailer showcasing some of the new additions below.

Following that, Bill Munk, creative director at Tripwire touched briefly on additional content for Rising Storm 2 and the upcoming Killing Floor Incursion for VR, before moving on to a trailer for Killing Floor 2's first seasonal event, Summer Sideshow, a circus themed event with new cosmetic items, new enemies, weapons, and carnival games. Munk told us that Summer Sideshow will be a one-month timed event. Weekly breakout challenges will also be introduced with 8 weeks of content planned. The surprise announcement was that the event will be playable from tomorrow via Steam. Read our full article on the announcement here and check out the trailer for Summer Sideshow below.

Then, Bill Giese, Creative Director of Forza Motorsport 7, took the stage to talk more about yesterday's Forza Motorsport 7 announcement and it's PC specific features. He talked about mouse and keyboard support and USB device compatibility. As part of this showing of Xbox on PC, Ted Timmons, design lead at Rare talked more about Sea of Thieves and it's PC version, confirming 4k resolution, an unlocked frame rate, 21:9 widescreen option, and telling us of the simultaneous development of the game for PC and console. This part of the show concluded with Tim Soret revealing The Last Night, a cinematic platformer set in a future where machines have surpassed humanity, with adventure game elements including real-time puzzle solving while the world happens around you. Check out our full article on Xbox on PC here and watch the trailer for The Last Night below.

The show continued with an exclusive trailer for Bohemia Interactive's Ylands, a creative open world game. Creative Director Ales Ulm then took the stage to speak about the game. Despite its different tone and art style when compared to the developer's previous game's, the ARMA series and Day Z, the sandbox survival game still features a focus on crafting and gathering. Players will be able to create their own games and scenarios. The alpha version of the game is available to play through Bohemia Interactives Incubator program and will be coming to Steam early access. You can find more on the game at the official website. Read our full article on the announcement here and watch the trailer below.

We were then treated to a trailer for upcoming Klei Entertainment RPG, Griftlands. The game showed a colorful cartoon art style, party battles, and a sci-fi setting as well as announcing that Griftlands will be coming in late 2017/early 2018. Check out our article on the game here and watch the trailer below.

Ru Weerasuriya then came back to tell us more about Lone Echo, a single player VR game, where players take the role of a mining engineer on the rings of Saturn. Lone Echo features a simulated Zero Gravity environment and showed the character pulling themselves around with their virtual arms. The developer then showed more gameplay and announced that Troy Baker will be voicing the main character. That was followed by a trailer for the separate multiplayer mode Echo Arena, reiterating the limited time free release mentioned in the Intel conference. Check out both trailers in the order they came below.

Cliff Bleszinski then joined Day9 on stage to reveal the release date for Lawbreakers. The developer also announced a closed beta on the 28th of June and an open beta starting on the 30th. The release date was revealed as August 8th for PC and PS4. This was followed by a trailer featuring players talking about their experiences and showing off the twitch shooter's fast paced zero-gravity gameplay. Check out our full article here and watch the trailer below.

Then came a new trailer for Wargroove from Chucklefish games, showing off the map editor. Jay Bayliss and Doris Carracosa from the developer then spoke more on content creation in the game and told us that players will be able to design their own campaigns with branching paths. They also spoke more about units, buildings, and the ability to add scripted events in battle. The artist Carracosa created a mission and shared it in the time the presentation took, highlighting the easy map creation and sharing. Read our full article on the game here and check out the trailer below.

Michael de Plater, Vice president at Monolith then came on stage to talk about Middle Earth: Shadow of War, it's expanded nemesis system and the E3 show floor demo. De Plater then introduced a new story trailer featuring new character Alterra meeting Talion. Read our full article here and watch the cinematic trailer below.

The PC Gaming Show concluded with Microsoft Creative Director Adam Isgreen announcing Age of Empires Definitive Edition. The game is a complete overhaul of the original Age of Empires with new and improved gameplay, Xbox live multiplayer features, a remastered soundtrack, and UI updates. Forgotten Empire is developing the game in partnership with Microsoft Studios and players can sign up for the upcoming closed beta now at ageofempires.com. Read our full article on the announcement here and check out the announcement trailer below.

If you want to know more about this and other announcements happening at E3 then be sure to check out our E3 2017 Coverage Hub.

Did the PC Gaming Show live up to your expectations? Are you excited for The War of the Chosen, or the upcoming Age of Empires remake? What announcements caught your eye? Let us know down in the comments. 

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


Dom Oleary Writer
| Former Staff Writer

I'm a dyed in the wool gamer of the now irrelevant (I'm told) generation-X. If I'm not gaming, you'll find me writing about games, writing my wonderful… More about Dom