The PC Gamer Weekender returned for its third year from 17 to 18 February 2018 at Olympia London. Promising ‘exclusive access to new PC titles before they’re released, developer talks on the most exciting games of the year and a series of tournaments for players to battle against each other’, it was billed as an event which would attract ‘thousands of dedicated gamers to London’.
Except that wasn’t the experience I had when my other-half and I attended at the first one back in 2016. While I like an expo which has plenty of open space to move about in, this one felt empty and there just weren’t enough games to fill the room. There were a couple of highlights including Mainlining (which I went on to play in full) and Shadowhand (which we’d first discovered at EGX the year before) but we ended up leaving after a few hours.
It was therefore with trepidation that I booked our tickets for the 2018 event. But with the stepson being old enough to go to his first ‘real’ expo last March and absolutely loving it, we’d been trying to find more for him to attend with us so he can see that games aren’t just about explosions and guns. We’d checked out the games line-up the week before and still weren’t entirely convinced; but with a ‘it’s a day out’ mindset, we made our way to London.
I’m afraid to say that not much had changed. The venue still felt empty and it was disappointing to see several rows of stands left empty or occupied by ten copies of Battlefield 1942 (released in 2002). It also seemed as though few developers had attended and publishers or promotions people had instead been sent in their place, so it was difficult finding people to talk to who had real in-depth knowledge of how a title was made (one even told us the game she was representing ‘wasn’t her cup of tea’).
Saying that though, Ethan enjoyed himself and came away from the event with a few titles he wants to now purchase with his pocket-money. There was Deep Rock Galactic by Ghost Ship Games, a sci-fi FPS featuring ‘badass space dwarves’; Guns of Icarus Alliance by Muse Games, where you own the skies in steam-powered airships; and Cat Quest by The Gentlebros, an open-world RPG set in the ‘pawsome world of cats’. Personally, I rather liked the look of STAY by Appnormals Team; more about that later this week.
So would we attend the PC Gamer Weekender again next year? Yes, because it kept the stepson entertained for the day but it’s still not a patch on EGX or Rezzed. Speaking of the latter, if you’re going this year let us know – and we’ll see you from 13 to 15 April 2018 at the Tobacco Dock in London.
PC Gamer Weekender 2018 photo gallery
It’s a shame your experience hasn’t improved, but I’m glad Ethan had fun and has seen some games he likes the look of.
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He purchased Cat Quest and Guns of Icarus Alliance yesterday (Deep Rock Galactic isn’t available until the end of the month); and he’s already said he wants to go back to the event next year. So it couldn’t have been all bad. 😉
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That’s great! It’s nice that he already wants to go again next year.
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Great post. I was there and I really enjoyed the tournaments. And I made some few friends there. Anyway great post and I love your blog.
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I didn’t get to see any of the tournaments unfortunately – the stepkid wouldn’t be able to stay still long enough to be able to let us watch them ha ha ha! Did you manage to find any games you like the look of?
Thank you for the kind words! 🙂
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Yeah. Extinction and PC building simulator. And I also enjoyed building PCs with the latest kit
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I didn’t get a chance to try Extinction sadly, but I watched a few people play PC Building Simulator and it looks good!
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I was tempted to go this year, but with Rezzed coming soon, I figured I’d just wait for that + it’s another cost of a trip to London. But there are some games that were there that I really hope make it to Rezzed – I’d like to think they will as I’d consider it the bigger show.
Maybe next year.
Also Deep Rock Galactic is great!
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If you’re going to do one event in London, I’d say stick to Rezzed. The PC Gamer Weekender is only in its third year so there’s a good chance it will improve with time, but at the moment there just isn’t enough there to be able to really compete.
Looks like we might see you on Deep Rock Galactic in the future then! 😉
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One of our group won tickets and offered them up, but no one took them. I’m saving myself (and my £) for Rezzed!
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STREETS OF RAGE! STREETS OF RAGE!
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It was the stepkid’s first time playing it. Afterwards, he asked: “Why is it so difficult?” 😂
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Retro microtransactions!
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Cool!
That Battlefield 1942 set up was under Retro gaming? Ooof that hurts.
How was Biomutant? I’m kind of excited for it, seems weird as hell!
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Admittedly Battlefield was in the retro area, but sadly most of the section was taken up by that, Command & Conquer, Theme Park and a company trying to sell arcade machines. I don’t recall even seeing Sonic! 😲
Biomutant looks so pretty. I wasn’t particularly bothered previously but now that I’ve seen it and had a quick go…
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