Why the PC Gamer Weekender 2017 will kick ass

In March of this year, we launched the PC Gamer Weekender to a warm reception from a devoted PC-playing audience. The atmosphere at London's Old Truman Brewery was so positive, and not just because the chicken wings stand outside the venue served the best blue cheese sauce I've had in my life (I've been back there five times since). It was because it felt like a new kind of event, one so specifically about celebrating PC gaming culture that had its own enthusiastic vibe.

I got to meet readers of the website and magazine all weekend, and as such I'm delighted we're bringing it back on 18-19 February 2017, to the Olympia in London. For the 2016 show, we brought to London a mixture of hands-ons with amazing new games, including Dark Souls III and Total War: Warhammer, along with stage presentations of Star Citizen, Stellaris, Killing Floor 2 and loads more. There were tons of hardware vendors on hand, too, and VR stations for guests to try out, as well a host of indie stands, showing off the likes of Stardew Valley, Shadowhand and many more. Everyone got a free Sega Steam key, too. I won Crazy Taxi.

This year we're going to create an even bigger and better show. We've announced the first of the games you can play at 2017's Weekender, including Dawn of War III and Halo Wars and there'll be many more announcements the closer we get to the time—including our developer-led stage presentations, too, which I'm arranging now. Expect a great mix of big developers and indies presenting, as well as a few exclusives too. We've got a lot more news to come.

You'll also get to meet the PC Gamer team (yay!) and ask us your burning questions about PC gaming. This was one of my favourite parts of 2016's show, where our readers threw a few friendly questions at me and the rest of the UK team on Saturday evening. It was an incredibly warm session that encapsulated the very specific, intimate nature of the show—and we'll be bringing that back in 2017, too. We'd love you to come meet us if you're a fan of the site, the magazine or just PC gaming generally.

It's going to be fantastic. Until the end of this weekend, too, you can get still get Early Bird ticket prices—grab tickets from as little as £9.99. I'd love to see you there. Like the title of this piece says, with no bias whatsoever from a man who is literally the UK editor of PC Gamer, it'll kick ass.

Former PC Gamer EIC Samuel has been writing about games since he was 18. He's a generalist, because life is surely about playing as many games as possible before you're put in the cold ground.