Everything that grinds our gears about PC gaming in 2025

A hand attempting to install a graphics card that's too big for the PC case.

(Image credit: Future/z1b)

You know that Family Guy bit where Peter does a local news segment called "What Really Grinds My Gears?" This is basically that, but for computers and videogames.

I'll give you one example up front: when you go to click a button, but the UI finishes loading just before your input registers and the button moves 20 pixels south so you end up hitting a different button that probably does the opposite of what you wanted. I'm getting angry just thinking about it.

We've got more substantial gripes, too. The tech industry keeps telling us that it's on the verge of inventing artificial super intelligence, and yet it can't invent a business model that doesn't involve periods of reckless growth followed by staff cuts. I'm sure they'll do it again whenever their irresponsible promises about AI finally get bodied by reality.

There's so much to gripe about here in 2025, we ended up planning a week-long airing of grievances. Some of our gripes are smaller than others, some you might even call petty, but sometimes you've just got to get it all out, big and small.

This hub will be updated with links to new articles throughout the week. See what's grinding our gears below...

Monday

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Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!). Tyler joined PC Gamer in 2011, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.

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