Wow! As of this June, the PC Gaming Show, our not-so-little summer showcase, is nine years old. Which means—because numbers are confusing—2024 actually marks ourPC Gaming Show. I keep pinching myself, but the number isn't changing. We've carried on through the death of E3 , a global pandemic, and the constantly changing makeup of PC gaming and somehow put on 10 livestreams highlighting everything we love about this wild, untameable platform.
"Spector and Klepacki absorb the applause, take a bow, then clear the stage for the conference's host: StarCraft evangelist Sean 'Day' Plott. Plott plays the crowd, charming and relatable as always, then breaks down the structure of the conference. To avoid favoritism, all presenters are given equal time, Plott explains, and the order of the presentations was determined by the results of a Minesweeper tournament that preceded the press conference.
"A unicorn clomps onto the stage, saddled by Gabe Newell. 'Hello, everyone,' Gabe says in his genial tone, 'I still can't show you Half-Life 3, but if you follow me, I'll show you something even better.' The room stands and empties, all attendees trailing behind Gabe Newell's unicorn." The history was: Overall, it went well! We survived putting on a 2+ hour show, and Day handled the hiccups so well that his easygoing hosting ended up becoming the defining characteristic of the show. To me the standout moment of 2015 was this one, when Hitman developer Hakan Abrak's microphone crapped out, and Day leaned in to share his lapel mic, quipping"Whisper the hits sweetly into my ear.