PC gaming is what we’re all about here at PixelJudge so naturally this is the show we’ve been waiting for. We’ve got no idea what to expect so it’s time to find out. The full stream is above and you can check out the individual games, minus fluff, below.

Naraka Bladepoint

The stylish martial arts battle royale Naraka Bladepoint got a new gameplay trailer and a release date of 12 August 2021. Additionally, a chainsaw weapon will be added at some point in the future because nothing says mystical martial arts battles like a power tool.

Dodgeball Academia

Dodgeball Academia is a sports RPG set in a school where dodgeball is life. Players can choose their team, learn new skills, level up, and of course play dodgeball.

Rawmen

Rawmen is a multiplayer PvP arena battle game where players battle it out for culinary supremacy not by cooking but by engaging in wacky hijinks like using various food based weapons to duke it out. Game modes include things like capture the flag but with clam chowder and a skate-park like arena where teams compete to score goals with a massive meatball.

They Always Run

They Always Run is a sci-fi side-scrolling platformer that looks to mix high mobility melee and ranged combat. What’s it about? Who knows! Something about running. We’re gonna be honest, it’s hard to write about some of these trailers because there’s just nothing of substance. Just enjoy the video.

Orcs Must Die 3

Recently announced Orcs Must Die 3 got a new trailer but it’s just more CG fluff. Don’t expect to see anything of value in the first thirty seconds. Thankfully, Lead Design Director Jerome Jones steps in for a brief interview where he succinctly explains what the game’s about. Orcs Must Die 3 is releasing on 23 July 2021.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong

Oof, that uncanny valley is rough. Ghost-mom’s face is the true horror in this game. Again, there’s barely any gameplay other than ghost-mom walking down a hallway and the CG informs us that ghost-mom just wants to be with her daughter but she’s hiding. And also living in a hospital or medical experimentation area or something. We’d go back and check but we never want to see that horrendous character model again.

GigaBash

GigaBash is a multiplayer arena brawler where you play kaiju and giant heroes in the vein of Ultraman. Maps are fully destructible and you can even pick up buildings to throw at other players.

Lemnis Gate

Just shy of three and a half minutes of Lemnis Gate gameplay and an explanation of the time looping shooter by Game Director James Anderson. Lemnis Gate is releasing on 3 August 2021.

Next Space Rebels

What do you get if if you take Kerbal Space Program but instead of interplanetary exploration you’re in your back yard taping fireworks to a bottle? Well, for one you’ve got a lot of research and building to go to end up in space but also you’ve got Next Space Rebels. The game looks to mix in social media aspects to your rocket building shenanigans.

Wartales

Wartales is a fantasy tactical RPG where you take command of a band of mercenaries in a world where the ruling empire has collapsed from plague. Wartales is coming later this year.

Ixion

Now this is how you do a CG trailer that shows nothing and makes you want more. Most of the trailer is a tech-bro CEO talking up his company’s advancements but culminates with a countdown to the test of a new type of engine only to see the moon explode. Ixion is coming in 2022.

Far: Changing Tides

The sequel to indie darling Far: Lone Sails puts players on another vehicle based journey of exploration in a flooded world. Players will have to captain their ship, dive into the watery depths, and explore forgotten ruins on a journey to build a better future.

Lakeburg Legacies

“Lakeburg Legacies is a social-based village management sim focused on pairing up your townsfolk to make the best, most effective families in order for your kingdom to grow and thrive.” Thanks Steam, because the trailer made it look like a dating simulator got lost in Crusader Kings’ menus.

Silt

Silt is an artsy 2D black and white adventure with things portrayed in silhouette. You know the kind. Except this one takes place underwater with players taking on the role of some kind of psychic diver that takes control of various fish to solve puzzles and make progress.

Secret Neighbor 2

Sneaky house invading game Secret Neighbor is getting a sequel, our keen investigative press senses told us this because of the 2 on the end of the title. Little trade secret for you there. The trailer shows a member of the press pulling up, with two police men in a neighbouring garden, and then cuts to him exploring the interior of the spooky house and playing semi-dangerous pranks on its understandably annoyed inhabitant.

Gloomwood

Indie FPS Gloomwood got a brief segment showing off its classic Thief inspired sneaking around and dank environments. We have no idea what Gloomwood is actually about from that brief bit of gameplay but as retro FPS fans we can safely say we really want to play it now.

Soulstice

Reply Game Studios’ action RPG spectacle fighter Soulstice got a new trailer that shows just shy of a minut eand a half of monsters getting their asses handed to them by a woman with a massive sword and her ghost buddy. Soulstice is coming in 2022.

Warhammer 40K: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters

Warhammer 40K: Chaos Gate is a turn based strategy RPG where players take command of the daemon hunting badasses of the Grey Knights. The trailer gives us a brief glimpse of some Nurgle brand abominations so it’s safe to assume you’re probably going to be giving Papa Nurgle a grimdark wedgie at some point.

Pioner

We love a bit of Russian weirdness in our games, just look at how engaging Stalker and Into the Radius can be. Pioner looks to be a first person shooter RPG set on an island undergoing some seriously weird goings-on with jellyfish flying through the air, a floating woman handing out lengthy dialogue, and a weird Xenomorph-meets-mantis monster. Though judging by the gameplay on offer we can only assume the main character breaks his wrists at some point because we’ve not seen that much recoil on a pistol since the last time someone gave a Desert Eagle to an arthritic grandma.

Tinykin

Tinykin is a cutesy game similar to Pikmin in which the player gathers a horde of colour coded little helpers and then throws them at problems until it’s solved. Unlike Pikmin, Tinykin takes place in and around a house, even inside objects and electronics. Tinykin is coming in 2022.

Chernobylite

Hope you like end-game spoilers because this segment is gameplay from the finale of survival horror RPG Chernobylite. We’d comment more but we’re avoiding the spoilers so we didn’t watch it. Sorry.

SacriFire

This one’s still on Kickstarter and how we feel about that can only be expressed with disappointed, muttered swearing so we’ll let the beautiful pixel graphics and almost Star Ocean looking combat speak for itself.

ICARUS

ICARUS is a first person solo and coop PvE survival crafting game where players have to explore an alien world after failed terraforming. Players have to gather exotic materials and return to orbit with those left behind gone for good. ICARUS is launching on 12 August 2021.

Mechajammer

For a game called Mechajammer the trailer has a disappointing zero mechs. On the other hand it does have a lot of isometric RPG footage showing a dark and grimy sci-fi world and vehicle combat to go along with the on-foot bits.

Songs of Conquest

This pixellated strategy RPG looks similar to games like Age of Wonders in its mix of genres; strategy, RPG, and kingdom management. The brief trailer doesn’t show much unfortunately and explains even less. Songs of Conquest is coming in 2022.

Citizen Sleeper

Citizen Sleeper from developers Jump Over The Age (In Other Waters) is a narrative role playing game where you take on the role of a digitized human consciousness in an artificial body that has escaped the corporation who owned it. The game takes place on a run-down space station inhabited by people trying to survive on the fringes of capitalist society.

Project Warlock 2

Yet another game that’s not even on Kickstarter yet. We almost skipped this faux-retro shooter until we heard the word “warlock” and realised what it was. The original is a masterpiece of Doom-like shooter design but the sequel looks to take after Quake and Quake 2 more, with 3D models instead of sprites.

That’s it for this year’s PC Gaming show. We’ve seen a few interesting trailers and a lot of schlock meant to pad out the time slot but two things have stuck with us to the end: that horrible character model from Vampire: the Masquerade – Swansong and the fun looking rocket building game Next Space Rebels. There’s more E3 still to come so check back later for more coverage.