The PC Gaming Show at E3 – What to Expect

The PC Gaming Show is coming to E3 again! Their event will take place on Sunday, June 13th at 10:30 p.m. BST. They’ll be streaming live from LA over the weekend of E3 events and the line-up is both extensive and impressive. The event will be available to watchers worldwide. You can tune in on June 13th on the official E3 channels:

As with many of the other partnered and connected events, E3 shows will be available to watch live or catch-up on their individual and associated channels.

The PC Gaming Show is somewhat of a highlight of the conference because of the breadth of content it will cover. PC Gamer Global Editor-in-Chief, Evan Lahti, commented that “PC gaming retains its position as the world’s most vibrant gaming platform. The PC’s library of weird, innovative, and genre-pushing games grows every week. The PC Gaming Show is about shining a bright light on as many of these new projects as we can.”

PC Gamer’s recent press release invites viewers to prepare for an imaginative showcase during their 90-minute showcase. They’ll be focusing on a series of games that embrace the outer space theme. The press release continues with some slightly more confusing description of what to expect as “for the first time, PC Gaming Show hosts will ‘beam’ video content and interviews straight from the cosmos, in a custom spaceship built just for this year’s E3.”

We can only imagine this might be a hint toward the backdrop of the show and a nod to a slightly informal and fun tone.

The actual schedule for the show is still evolving, but there is a huge list of announcements confirmed so far. These include:

• The reveal of Project Warlock 2
• New content from New Blood Interactive
• Techland will be showing Dying Light 2 Stay Human and giving the first in-depth look at its main character Aiden and his internal motivation, alongside revealing more about the Dying Light 2 Stay Human universe
• The first reveal of a new game from Kasedo Games & Bulwark Studios
• Big news for the Orcs Must Die! franchise
• New gameplay for Hello Neighbor 2, new modes revealed for Rawmen, and a world premiere of a new title from tinyBuild
• A new announcement from Pixelated Milk
• Exclusive content, along with beta and launch information for Naraka Bladepoint
• A reveal of the next game from Shiro Games
• SEGA and Amplitude Studios will have a major announcement and reveal for the highly anticipated strategy game, Humankind
• Exclusive content from All In! Games and a significant announcement about Chernobylite
• An announcement from EVE Online
• A new Chivalry 2 announcement from Torn Banner Studios
• NACON and Big Bad Wolf are showing a brand new trailer for Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong
• A new unannounced title from Modus Games
• A special offer from GeForce NOW, NVIDIA’s cloud gaming service
• Other exciting unrevealed games
• And a message from Valve regarding Steam

One of the most intriguing pieces of information that were revealed about the PC Gaming Show E3 slot is the appearance of Valve. PC Gamer has confirmed that Valve will be a part of the showcase at E3 2021, noting that they’ll bet there with an update “regarding Steam”.

Hearing directly from Valve at E3 events isn’t a common occurrence. This gives us pause for thought on what exactly their Steam message might be. Gabe Newell has hinted in the past weeks that Steam may be coming to console or that a Steam console called the ‘SteamPal’ may come into existence. It’s exciting to consider something that big could be coming to the PC Gaming Show event at E3, but it could also simply be a chance for Valve to squash the inaccurate rumours.

However, it was recently reported that Valve was working on a Switch-like portable console, and confirmation for this came from trusted data-miner, Ars Technica. The discovery was made in a new client beta that referred to something named ‘SteamPal’. This is something that has apparently been in the works for Valve for many years and is currently in its prototype format.

Reports confirm the prototype has a familiar layout with typical controls on a gamepad, one small touchpad, and a touchscreen. The SteamPal may have an AMD or Intel processor and docking feature that mimics the original Nintendo Switch, allowing you to project to a TV screen.

Further data-mined information refers to the usual restart, shut down, suspend, and quick access functions. This is along with WiFi and Bluetooth settings. The development of a Steam branded console won’t come as a surprise to many gamers, as it makes sense for the PC gaming giant to venture into the now-booming market for consoles.

Previously Valve has created Steam Link, a Steam controller, and the notable Valve Index VR headset. It’s clear that Valve has the capability and intention to make a console that will drum up a fair amount of interest in the gaming industry. The question is whether it will be a console fit to compete with its current next-gen competitors.

With Nintendo baiting fans with a new Switch Pro—console made to compete with high-quality graphics and features—Valve might be going for a similar under-the-radar release.

Gabe Newell has in fact spoken publicly and claimed that a steam console would be announced before the end of 2021, and jumping in on the E3 2021 event seems like a great opportunity for Gabe and the team to make their official announcement.