PC Gamer is a magazine and website started in the UK in 1993. It focuses on PC gaming and is published every month by Future plc. The magazine has different editions for different areas, and the UK and US editions are the top-selling PC games magazines in their countries. It covers news about changes in the video game industry, shows what new games are coming, and gives opinions on the newest and most popular PC games. It also includes sections about computer equipment, game modifications, older games, and other subjects. PC Gamer and its parent company, Future, started a digital PC Gaming Show at E3 in 2015.
Review system
PC Gamer reviews are written by the magazine's editors and freelance writers, and games are rated using a percentage scale. In August 2023, Baldur's Gate 3 became the first game to receive a 97% rating in the UK edition. Before this, no game in the UK edition received a score higher than 96%, including Kerbal Space Program, Civilization II, Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Minecraft, Spelunky, and Quake II. In the US edition, no game has received a rating higher than 98%, including Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, Half-Life 2, and Crysis.
In the UK edition, the lowest score was 2%, given to Big Brother: The Game. Its sequel, Big Brother 2, received a score of N/A%, with the review stating, "We'll put the same effort into giving it a mark as they've made creating the game." In issue 255, August 2013, the score of 2% was matched by the review of the re-released Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, which originally received a 3% rating when it first launched. In the US edition, the lowest score was 4%, given to Mad Dog McCree, replacing Skydive!, which had previously received the lowest score of 5%.
Editions
There are two main editions of PC Gamer: a British version and an American version. Both are published by Future plc. The British edition was founded in the United Kingdom in November 1993. The American edition was launched a few months later in June 1994.
There are also many local editions that mostly use content from one of the two main editions, usually the British one. These include a Malaysian edition (discontinued in December 2011) and a Russian edition (discontinued in December 2008). The Swedish edition, which originally used content from the UK version, has become more independent over time. This is because PC games are very popular in Sweden compared to console games, and the Swedish edition now creates most of its own content. An Australian edition was published monthly by Perth-based Conspiracy Publishing starting in August 1998. It seems to have stopped being published in mid- to late 2004. A Spanish edition titled PC Juegos y Jugadores also existed but closed in 2007.
Both the American and British editions of PC Gamer are published thirteen times each year, with two issues released in December. However, there are sometimes small changes to this schedule.
In 2018, Future plc purchased the Australian video game magazine and website PC PowerPlay from nextmedia. Articles from PC PowerPlay were added to the online version of PC Gamer.
PC GamerUK
The British version of PC Gamer magazine has been published every month since 1993. Subscribers receive a special version of the magazine without headlines on the cover, only the masthead and BBFC rating.
The magazine focuses almost entirely on PC games and is known for detailed reviews. It originally came with a 3.5-inch (89 mm) floppy disc. A CD demo disc, labeled CD Gamer, was added to the floppy disc edition starting with issue 11. The first CD Gamer included all content from the previous 10 floppy disc issues. Later, the single CD was expanded to two CDs.
For a few years, a 9 GB DVD version called DVD Gamer was released alongside the 2CD edition. This ended when the CD Gamer edition stopped being produced in issue 162. After that, the UK edition only included a single double-sided DVD. In August 2011, the magazine announced it would stop including discs starting with issue 232, replacing them with more pages and exclusive free gifts.
Each edition includes regular features such as "Eyewitness," "Previews," and "Send," which displays reader letters over two pages. At least one special feature discusses gaming-related topics, like the environmental impact of PC gaming. A review section covers new PC games and re-reviews budget titles. "Extra Life" reports on modding games, gaming culture, and revisiting older games. The "Systems" section reviews hardware like video cards and monitors. The back page, titled "It's All Over," usually includes game-related artwork, such as a version of Dalí's The Persistence of Memory with items from Portal. A feature called "Gamer Snap," which printed reader-submitted funny pictures, was later replaced with "Guess the Game," where readers drew memorable scenes from video games using Microsoft Paint.
The PC Gamer blog was created when the UK site joined the Computer and Video Games network, which includes all Future plc gaming magazines. This change caused controversy, as some forum members left due to new forum issues like slow loading times. The blog was seen as a positive change and has been regularly updated with contributions from magazine staff, covering topics such as violent video games and the benefits of buying a PC over a console.
In 2010, the magazine’s website and blog were re-launched by combining the online communities of the US and UK editions. Now, the blog includes contributions from both magazines, hosted on the new website along with their forums.
The PC Gamer UK podcast began on May 4, 2007, and ran for 93 episodes until its final episode on July 5, 2013. It featured rotating staff members, including Chris Thursten, Tom Senior, Graham Smith, Tom Francis, and Marsh Davies. Ross Atherton hosted until June 2009, and Tim Edwards hosted until 2012. Chris Thursten and Graham Smith took turns hosting weekly. Originally monthly, the podcast was recorded every two weeks. Participants discussed games, industry news, and answered questions from Twitter.
The podcast restarted in March 2016, with new episodes released weekly.
PC GamerUS
The American version of PC Gamer started in 1994.
In 1999, Future US, which was then called Imagine Media, bought the competing magazine PC Games and combined its staff with PC Gamer.
Like the British version, the American magazine included a demo disk with each issue, but some versions did not include disks. Over time, the CDs used in the American edition were replaced by DVDs each month.
During the mid-to-late 1990s, when PC games with full motion video (FMV) sequences were popular, PC Gamer’s CD-ROM included detailed FMV clips featuring one of their editors. To use the CD’s features, such as demos, patches, and reviews, users had to navigate a section called the "basement," which resembled classic games like Myst. This section introduced the magazine’s mascot, Coconut Monkey, shortly before the editor left the magazine, signaling a shift from FMV demo CDs to more modern menu-driven CDs.
The July 1998 cover discs of the Slovenian, Swedish, and UK editions of PC Gamer were infected with the Marburg virus, which CNN Money reported made the malware a "widespread threat."
In the September 2011 edition of PC Gamer, it was announced that the magazine would stop including demo disks and instead focus on improving the magazine’s quality. The usual demo content would be made available online.