The 25 Most Wanted games, as revealed in PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted

Features
By Lauren Morton
published

For our very first PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted edition on November 30th, we counted down the 25 games our panel of experts, The Council, is eager to play.

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The season of wishlist-making has arrived and we're ringing it in with our own lengthy lineup of games we're dying to play. During today's first-ever PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted showcase, we counted down the 25 most-anticipated games right now as decided by The Council.

Our group of 70 experts includes PC Gamer writers, gaming content creators, and industry professionals—we got votes from developers like Brenda Romero, Dean Hall, Tim Schafer, and prominent content creators to forge our "nice" list of upcoming games.

We unfurled the big list with shoutouts from our voting council members, messages from developers, and some new trailers and information that developers have allowed us to share with you first. You can watch the entire showcase on YouTube or get the short version here in our countdown roundup.

But most of us have wishlists even longer than just the 25 biggest games on the horizon, so we packed the showcase with dozens of other games that we're looking forward to. Catch all the new trailers and announcements here: first up are the big 25, and below that you'll find our wishlist of other upcoming games (and some surprise launches) that also joined the show.

The 25 Most Wanted Countdown

#25: Still Wakes The Deep

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The Chinese Room | Release date TBA
This spooky oil-rig psychological horror game announced that it's working with composer Jason Graves who's known for a number of games, including Dead Space and the Dark Pictures Anthology. They also introduced a ridiculously spooky-looking metal sculpture that created terrifying noises for the soundtrack.

Read more: Composer Jason Graves tells us "nothing beats the real thing" (the wacky sculpture instrument)

#24: Sword of the Sea

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Giant Squid | Release date TBA
Even without anything new to share, we're absolutely anticipating the next game from the studio behind Abzu and The Pathless. The original reveal trailer showed that we're going back to sand surfing with a string soundtrack in this one and it looks just as lovely as when studio director Matt Nava was art director on Journey.

#23: Holstin

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Sonka | Release date TBA
We've been intrigued by Sonka's survival horror game ever since we first saw clips of its wild overhead-view-to-third-person-shooter transitions. Sonka shared a new trailer with us featuring molotovs and stealth kills. 

Read more: Game director Rafał Sankowski tells us about setting a game in the rural Poland of 1992 that the team remembers

#22: Persona 3 Reload

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Atlus | February 2, 2024
After getting treated to a ton of Persona on PC in the last could years, there's no way we aren't looking forward to a remake of one of the weirdest games in the series. Producer Ryota Niitsuma had a message for us at the show with a character trailer featuring schoolboy party member Ken Amada.

#21: Harold Halibut

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Slow Bros. | Early 2024
Slow Bros. shared a new trailer for its upcoming hand-crafted adventure about an undersea society. We've been looking forward to Harold for a while and it's now coming in early 2024.

Read more: Art director Ole Tillman tells us about the "stop motion aesthetic" that isn't actually stop motion

#20: Star Wars Outlaws

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Massive Entertainment | 2024
There's something romantic about riding a speeder across a big open map, which is exactly what Ubisoft is promising in this upcoming Star Wars adventure. It's saying all the right things to keep us at the edge of our seats for a scoundrel story.

#19: Skate Story

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Sam Eng | 2024
Has there ever been a cooler pitch for a game than "You are a demon made of glass and pain?" We've been enamored with the look of this escape-the-underworld skate adventure for over three years. Skate Story is looking like a genuinely excellent skating game, and one that could even draw in folks who don't normally go for kickflip trick games.

#18: Menace

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Overhype Studios | 2024
The developers of Battle Brothers are going sci-fi and we dan't deny that we're in the mood for mechs post-Armored Core 6. Each operation in Menace is going to be procedurally generated, which only has us more psyched about what surprises we'll get in its tactical battles.

Read more: Menace looks like a departure from Battle Brothers, but its tactical battles are just as deadly

#17: Avowed

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Obsidian Entertainment | Release date TBA
Announced years ago, we're still hotly anticipating Obsidian's new fantasy RPG. It's returning to the world of Pillars of Eternity, but this time in a full action RPG. It's impossible not to anticipate the next game from the studio that just won't stop experimenting.

#16: Dragon's Dogma 2

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Capcom | March 21, 2024
That other fantasy universe with dragons and humanoid cats is getting a sequel and it's one we're very much looking forward to. We've just found out this week that it's launching in March, so our anticipation won't have to hold too much longer.

#15: Frostpunk 2

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11 Bit Studios | 2024
Especially after it slid from a 2023 to 2024 launch window, Frostpunk 2 is our most-anticipated city builder. 11 Bit Studios has brought us a new trailer showing off the scale of the city we'll be building in the sequel and it's going to be a lot to manage—sweet.

Read more: Frostpunk 2 teaser shows just how big your city can get, and wow

#14: Gloomwood

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Dillon Rogers, David Szymanski | Early Access
Though it's currently in early access, the full launch of retro immersive stealth FPS Gloomwood is one we're looking forward to. Its developers tipped us off to an upcoming update with a new trailer showing off the sewer-like Underport area.

Read more: Gloomwood's next big update delves into the city's dank sewers

#13: Grand Theft Auto 6

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Rockstar | Release date TBA
Is there anybody not looking forward to GTA 6? This may have even landed higher on our anticipated list if we'd found out earlier about the official reveal coming in December. There's a lot to look forward to in Rockstar's next crime spree if it is indeed returning to Vice City as rumored.

#12: Tekken 8

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Bandai Namco | Jan 25, 2024
Fighting games are finally warming to PC more than ever before. Building on Street Fighter 6's success this year, Tekken 8 is poised for an exciting moment next year. It's coming in January, so 2024 in fighting games is really going to be starting off strong.

#11: Hollow Knight: Silksong

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Team Cherry | Release date TBA
The anticipation around Hollow Knight's sequel is almost as frantic as it was for Elden Ring. We still don't know any more than anyone else, but the long wait has definitely not cooled our enthusiasm.

#10: Marathon

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Bungie | Release date TBA
Bungie is bringing back Marathon and it's going to be a PvP-focused extraction shooter. We've still only seen a teaser trailer so far, but seeing Bungie return to this old series is enough to get psyched about.

#9: Path of Exile 2

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Grinding Gear Games | Release date TBA
Now that everyone has caught a new case of ARPG fever, we're eagerly awaiting PoE 2. Ahead of the show, we got the opportunity to sit down with Grinding Gear Games to talk about many of the gameplay changes in the sequel ahead of closed beta next summer.

Read more: Path of Exile 2 is building on a decade of action RPG depth

#8: Homeworld 3

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Blackbird Interactive | March 8, 2024
We absolutely want another space game from the developers of Hardspace Shipbreaker, especially the long-awaited next Homeworld RTS. We visited Blackbird in Vancouver to talk about making a sequel after all these years, and we now know the final release date, too.

Read more: Homeworld 3 is Blackbird's ambitious vision for a cinematic sci-fi RTS that was 'utterly impossible to make' 20 years ago

#7: Haunted Chocolatier

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ConcernedApe | Release date TBA
While Stardew Valley continues to dominate the cozy farm sim space, Eric Barone's next game is already one of our most anticipated. We've got no clue when it might launch, but it already has us thrilled about a new village and the crafting potential of chocolate.

#6: Pacific Drive

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Ironwood Studios | February 22, 2024
Run-based station wagon survival game Pacific Drive has had our attention since its reveal purely on killer concept, though it does also look pretty cool. Ironwood Studios brought us a new trailer to show off a bit more of its spooky setting and announce a February launch date.

Read more: Surrealist ‘driving survival game’ Pacific Drive has a new February release date

#5: Helldivers 2

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Arrowhead Game Studios | February 8, 2024
We finally got a true reveal for this co-op FPS sequel and what's more thrilling is that the PC release is coming simultaneously with console. We're quite excited to see how Arrowhead transitions away from its old top-down style into this slick, full 3D action.

#4: Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth

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Rya Ga Gotoku Studio | January 25, 2024
The next game in the Yakuza saga launches in January and it's very high up on our list of most anticipated. Ryu Ga Gotoku brought us a new English voice over trailer to show off performances by Daniel Dae Kim and Danny Trejo. Yeah, machete-wielding Danny Trejo.

Read more: Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth debuts Daniel Dae Kim's voice work and Danny Trejo's unforgettable face

#3: Hades 2

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Supergiant Games | Release date TBA
Supergiant Games never misses but it also never does sequels. Until now, that is. For its first double-feature, the developers of Bastion and Transistor are following up their charismatic Greek god roguelike with a sequel featuring another protagonist. We've a little while to wait yet as it's expected in Early Access in the middle of 2024.

#2: Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

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FromSoftware | Release date TBA
It may be just a DLC, but any new piece of Elden Ring is more than "just a DLC." Even without a release date or any update as of the show, going back to our 2022 game of the year qualifies as the second most-anticipated game right now. We're still just happy to speculate on what we want from Elden Ring's DLC until we learn more.

#1: Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl 

Our #1 PC Gamer Most Wanted game is Stalker 2, as chosen by our full illustrious council of voters. According to our panel of over 70 experts, this is the big one. The upcoming survival horror FPS from GSC Game World is the follow-up to a classic PC experience that fans have been waiting to play for over a decade. At Gamescom this year, Phil Savage got to play a 15-minute demo and walked away feeling that "the Zone is as hostile as ever" but even darker and moodier than the original with its graphics and lighting. 

The journey to see Stalker 2 into the world has been met with increasing challenge in the past two years, as GSC Game World continued development from its local office in Kyiv during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. GSC developers shared a message for Stalker fans at the end of the PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted, thanking them for their passion and trust.

Stalker 2 is currently expected to launch in the first quarter of 2024, and we're all eagerly awaiting its time to shine.

Read more: As Stalker 2 is awarded "Most Wanted" game, Ukrainian CEO says the game aims to "convey Ukraine's unbreakable spirit to the world"

The PC Gamer Wishlist

In between the Most Wanted countdown, we also got to show off new trailers and announcements for 36 other games that we're looking forward to. Click through to hear more about each game, including interviews with developers and hands-on with demos.

Lauren Morton
Lauren Morton
Associate Editor

Lauren started writing for PC Gamer as a freelancer in 2017 while chasing the Dark Souls fashion police and accepted her role as Associate Editor in 2021, now serving as the self-appointed chief cozy games enjoyer. She originally started her career in game development and is still fascinated by how games tick in the modding and speedrunning scenes. She likes long books, longer RPGs, has strong feelings about farmlife sims, and can't stop playing co-op crafting games.

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