The biggest PC gaming stories of the week

A glimpse of Obsidian's first-person RPG. (Image credit: Obsidian Entertainment)

E3 2020 never happened, but it kind of did, and so it kind of ended this week. Microsoft was the last big player we expected a livestream from, and it put on the Xbox Games Showcase on Thursday. Geoff Keighley has more Summer Game Fest stuff planned, but at this point we're moving into Gamescom territory. Goodbye E3 that didn't happen, hello other conventions that are kind of happening, but digitally.

Here's the big news from the final week in a very prolonged not-E3:

Avowed is Obsidian's new Skyrim-like RPG, check out the first trailer

We don't know much about it, but a new Obsidian game is exciting. We call it 'Skyrim-like' because of its first-person view, and because it looks like it'll span a large chuck of land—some of the same land the Pillars of Eternity games are set on.

Minecraft players may have found the world of the title screen

In the Minecraft 1.8 beta, a blurry background image was added to the title screen. It shows a lovely lake in a Minecraft world that I never thought much about. Some players thought about it a lot, however, and made it their mission to find the sequence of digits that forms that world. It's the digital version of finding Windows XP wallpaper look-a-like hills in real life, basically, except they can now generate the iconic scene forever.

Star Wars: Squadrons hands-on: the flight sim we've been waiting for

Wes got a chance to play and capture video from EA's next Star Wars game, and the space combat sim is looking good so far. You can read his thoughts at the link above, and watch the video below.

What we thought of the Halo Infinite reveal

Microsoft's not-E3 event brought us the first campaign gamplay reveal for Halo Infinite, which is scheduled to release before the end of the year. We had mixed reactions. In certain screens and stills, some of the textures looked a bit mushy, although Microsoft says it's still a 'work in progress' even as the holidays loom. As for how it plays, it looks like classic Halo, but with a lot more space.

New report claims Assassin's Creed developers were pressured into minimising female protagonists

Ubisoft's management and culture has been under heavy scrutiny these past several weeks, which has resulted in multiple resignations and statements of apology amid a variety of allegations. New this week were claims is that former chief creative officer Serge Hascoët, who was one of those who resigned, along with others repeatedly intervened to reduce the prominence of women protagonists in the Assassin's Creed series.

Gabe Newell has been a 'COVID refugee' in New Zealand since March

He's throwing a free concert as a thank you to the country.

More things that happened this week

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.