The most exciting PC games still to come in 2019
As Groundhog Day indicates six more weeks of winter, so does Madden release day indicate three months of video games ahead. We’ve officially passed that threshold for 2019, ending the annual summer drought. Rejoice!
So what does the fall have in store? Not that much actually. With a year until the new console launches, we seem to be in sort-of a mopping up phase—and most of the remaining titles of note are slated for next spring, if we’re honest. Looking at you, Dying Light II and Cyberpunk 2077.
Still, there are a few noteworthy games to look forward to in the coming months. We’ve listed nine of our most anticipated below
Control – August 27
Having recently read the Southern Reach Trilogy, I’m starting to realize how much of Remedy’s Control is an homage. Hell, even the title comes from the name of a character in Jeff VanderMeer’s series.
And I’m totally fine with that. Control’s brutalist Oldest House, headquarters of the titular Federal Bureau of Control, looks like a warren of weird—a boring government office where you might accidentally stumble into a never-ending labyrinth, or a lab being slowly devoured by wildlife. It’s peak Remedy and a perfect (albeit unofficial) adaptation of New Weird hallmarks. The most exciting PC games still to come in 2019
Blair Witch – August 30
This Blair Witch adaptation (two decades after the fact) makes the list based on pedigree, not anything I’ve seen of the game itself—because truth be told, I haven’t seen much. Just the E3 trailer.
It’s being developed by Bloober Team though, the studio behind Layers of Fear and Observer. Bloober’s one of the most interesting teams working in horror these days, and that alone is enough to pique my interest. Then again, I mostly love Bloober’s work because it’s strange and innovative, breaking established horror rules. Can that spirit survive when shackled to a known quantity like Blair Witch? We’ll find out soon, I guess.
Spyro Reignited Trilogy – September 3
Like the Crash Bandicoot remasters, Activision’s Spyro remakes are coming to PC a year after they initially debuted on consoles, and I am excited. Crash Bandicoot was an excellent nostalgia trip, but I don’t think the games have aged very well. Spyro is some top-tier ‘90s mascot platforming though, and I’m thrilled to get to play them again with the cruft scraped away.
Modernized controls are an especially welcome touch, and should make those flying sections less of a pain.
This might be Destiny 2’s moment—two years after its initial release, and a divorce between Bungie and Activision. The road here’s been messy, to say the least the most exciting
But the upcoming Shadowkeep expansion is stet to turn Destiny 2 into the game fans wanted from the start. A new armor slot, a new raid, Eververse changes, and a long-awaited return to the Moon—it’s good news, all the way down. Plus Bungie’s moving Destiny 2 from Battle.net to Steam and making the base game free-to-play to drum up new players. Best of all? You’ll be able to transfer characters between platforms, so everyone who originally bought Destiny 2 on PlayStation 4 and has felt trapped there these last two years can finally move to PC. (Or vice versa, I suppose.)The most exciting
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare – October 25
Call of Duty’s been in a weird place the past few years. First Sledgehammer tried to resurrect the World War II glory days. Then we got a Black Ops sequel that…had very little to do with Black Ops, and scuttled its campaign to capitalize on the battle royale trend.
For 2019, it’s a Modern Warfare reboot. Infinity Ward is hoping to bring back the ripped-from-the-headlines vibe of the original Modern Warfare trilogy, hoping to figure out what a nuclear explosion or a “No Russian” looks like in 2019. Will it succeed? I’m not sure. It’s easy to feel tacky or exploitative with such loaded subject matter. That said, it’s a lot more interesting than what we’ve seen from Call of Duty for the last decade or so, and that’s promising in itself.
