PC Gamer is celebrating a major milestone today. It's the culmination of months worth of debates, arguments, maths, and refinement. If you are a subscriber to our illustrious magazine, you will have already seen our Top 100. For everyone else, today is the big day.
It's also a momentous one because there has been a major shake-up at the top. Disco Elysium, which dominated the Top 100 for years, has fallen from its throne. Baldur's Gate 3 is the new leader, as we've written about it so much over the past year and a half.
Swen Vincke, Larian's CEO and a man in a lot of armor, says that Baldur's Gate 3 pays tribute to tabletop role-playing games. "We were inspired by the many nights we spent with friends, sharing stories, and adventuring around a table," Swen Vincke said. "But bringing the world of Baldur's Gate from tabletops to PCs and consoles wouldn't have been possible without the foundations set by the RPG giants who came before us - videogames that many members of our team grew-up playing and cherishing. It is a great honour to be included amongst so many of these games. This will touch the hearts of even the coldest Lolth-sworn Drow. Thank you PC Gamer and to all of your readers for allowing us the opportunity to add our chapter to this legacy.
The Infinity Engine games, while excellent, never attempted to embrace D&D or the pillars that make up tabletop roleplaying.
In an age of live service gaming, games that are primarily singleplayer and offline have a tough time maintaining their relevance. They eventually tend to fade out of the news cycle, and stop being discussed as much on social media. This is due to a constantly changing industry and a dwindling audience. But not BG3. We're just as obsessed as we were back in August '23.
The frequent and often beefy upgrades have certainly helped, but BG3 has also been the kind of game you can't shake. Characters, story beats, and roleplaying options that stay with you. It's a 150-hour epic you can finish and immediately restart, swapping your half-drow bard with a dragonborn killer or any of the other countless configurations. This will dramatically change the course of your journey.
We also love a good RPG. Our Top 100 lists show the diversity of PC gaming but this one genre seems more popular than any other. Prior to Disco's dominance it was Divinity Original Sin 2 and The Witcher 3. Half-Life 2 made a comeback in our 2015 list but before that it had been Mass Effect 2 or Skyrim. RPGs have dominated the gaming industry for over a decade. Baldur's Gate 3 will have to wait for another year before we can see if it manages to retain its crown.
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