PC gaming… it’s freakin’ brilliant isn’t it?! And PC Gamer magazine has been in lockstep with its rise and evolution at every point over the last 30 years. We’ve been there for the dizzying highs as well as the terrible lows, the radical industry shifts and the gradual cultural changes.
Here, we look back on 30 glorious years of PC gaming, from its biggest game releases and most impactful events, through its iconic game changing hardware and software, and onto its most legendary characters.
December 1993
Doom
DEVELOPER ID SOFTWARE PUBLISHER IN-HOUSE
Strictly speaking, PC gaming didn’t start with Doom. Spiritually though, it absolutely did. Doom embodies so much of what would define PC gaming across the next three decades. Its cutting-edge tech established the PC’s reputation as a premium gaming platform. Its immersive, satisfying gunplay made first-person shooters the PC’s mascot genre. Its emphasis on violence and horror expanded the medium’s reputation beyond a pastime for children. It even took the first steps toward online multiplayer.
Doom’s influence on PC gaming cannot be overstated. Yet what’s most remarkable about id Software’s landmark shooter is its sheer sticking power. Far from being a fondly remembered relic, Doom is one of the most widely playable games in existence, having been ported not just to every gaming platform, but every piece of technology with a screen. Its engine, made open source in a truly visionary move by John Carmack, birthed the PC’s unique, endlessly creative modding scene. Doom mods are still making waves today. There are even whole new games being made in Doom’s engine, like ambitious shooter Selaco, due out next year.
While Doom’s cultural omnipresence is remarkable, it can make it easy to lose sight of the game at the center of it all, which remains a fantastic experience today. Although visually primitive by modern standards, mechanically it retains its delicate balance of weight, flow, and reactivity. Its weapon roster is still the blueprint for most single-player shooters, while its shotgun remains the baseline for all videogame firearms, and its 3D mazes still have much to teach about level design.
Moreover, for all the games that have imitated it, Doom’s distinctive atmosphere and pacing have proved oddly hard to replicate. Even its own follow-ups fell to either side of the original’s distinctive blend of action and horror. Thirty years on, there is still something elusive at the heart of Doom, which more than anything else is what defines it as a masterwork.
June 1995
E3 begins
LOCATION LA CONVENTION CENTER ORGANISER ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE ASSOCIATION
To understand the significance of E3’s arrival, you need to know how games were treated before E3, at other technology trade shows like CES. “In 1991, they put us in a tent,” said Sega America’s then CEO Tom Kalinske. “You had to walk past all the porn vendors to find us. That particular year it was pouring rain, and the rain leaked right over our new Genesis system. I felt we were a more important industry than they were giving us credit for.”
The first E3 was born as a response to this kind of treatment, a trade show designed to promote gaming’s growing commercial and cultural significance, rather than obscure it. Held from May 11-13 at the Los Angeles Convention Centre, the first E3 saw exhibitions by the likes of Sega, Nintendo, Sony, Activision, EA, Capcom, Microsoft, and LucasArts. Showcased PC games included Descent, Discworld, Wing Commander 3, and Syndicate Wars.
Although technically a trade show meant for industry professionals, E3’s cultural significance gradually broadened, gaining global public attention after the turn of the millennium. Simple game and console showcases morphed into extravagant stage presentations by big publishers. E3 could even affect how games were made, with huge amounts of developer resources being funneled into making an E3 demo that would wow people. Having the public’s eyes on E3 was something its organizers were dubious about, and between 2008 and 2010 the show was closed to all but handful of professionals, with attendance dropping by 90 percent.
Although largely dominated by console manufacturers, E3 has witnessed some explosive PC gaming moments, like the positively futuristic demo of Doom 3 in 2002, and the hugely anticipated showing of Half-Life 2 the following year. In 2015, the PC Gaming Show was launched in association with PC Gamer, bringing attention to all the fantastic PC games that don’t have a massive publisher behind them.
In 2020, E3 was canceled for the first time due to the Covid pandemic, and with the exception of an online event the following year, the show hasn’t returned since. While there have been events in its place like Summer Games Fest,
