Whatoplay presents 15 of the most anticipated PC exclusives coming out next year.
To see the full list of all upcoming PC releases, visit our page on All Upcoming PC games.
1. Humankind Developed by the same minds as the
impressive 4X fantasy strategies, Endless Legend and Endless Space, Amplitude studios is taking on
Human History. Instead of just sticking to one civilization, like Sid Meier’s Civ, Humankind
will allow players to go through six different eras from the pages of our own history. There’s
a lot of potential in this one, considering that Strategy titles have become a mainstay genre
for PC players. It’s nearly releasing its release this April 2021, and it’s not afraid
to go toe to toe with the biggest 4X games on the market, despite its shared similarities.
2.
New World
Amazon Studios isn’t just limited to delivering packages and giving us The Boys.
They’ve been making games recently. Their previous project, Crucible,
was unfortunately cancelled due to low player numbers. With that out of the way, the Studio
now has the focus to present their biggest project to date. It’s an MMORPG that could compete with
the big leagues in the genre such as Warcraft and even FFXIV if they did this right. It takes
players into an unforgiving high-fantasy world where the possibilities are endless. There’s not
a lot of info available so far, but expect more to come before the game comes out this Spring 2021.
3. Syberia: The World Before There seems to be no end to Kate Walker’s
adventures. The latest from Benoit Sokal’s spelunking series takes players to a steampunk
world with secrets awaiting to be discovered. The World Before takes the atmospheric gameplay
to new heights, with the third-person perspective even more immersive for the high-end computers.
Solving puzzles and exploring every nook and cranny in its vibrant settings has always been the
series’ standout moments and it’s a huge upgrade in this title. It’s still a PC exclusive, however,
judging from its previous entries, it might appear on consoles soon after its release next year.
4. Witchfire Combining Dark Fantasy and First Person Shooter,
Witchfire feels like they could be best friends with Id Software’s Doom and Miyazaki’s Dark Souls.
Developed by the team behind The Vanishing of Ethan Carter and the fast-paced Bulletstorm,
it’s a narrative-driven adventure with heavy shooter elements. The first trailer was revealed
back in 2017 and to this day, there’s only a small glimpse on what we know about the game so far,
except for its Souls-like mechanics. It’s looking pretty promising so far, despite
the minimal online attention, and according to reports, it’s slated for a 2021 release.
5. Darkest Dungeon II One of Steam’s celebrated Roguelike
titles comes from Red Hook Studios’ gritty take on Lovecraftian horrors. Darkest Dungeon 2 will
pave the way to even more terrifying forms of madness that plague these lowly adventurers.
This follow-up promises to remain true to the original’s core concepts. There’s still no
hand-holding involved and players will be kept in the dark from time to time. Their upcoming launch
will be an early access preview exclusively on the Epic Games Store next year. While they’re
keeping many details close to the chest for now, the Early Access is scheduled sometime in 2021.
6. Shadow Warrior 3 Return to the shoes of
Lo Wang in this latest installment of Devolver Digital’s over-the-top
shooter. As a legendary warrior, stop an overwhelming demon army from taking over
the world using a variety of free-running movements and some serious firepower.
The gameplay hasn’t changed much from its previous titles. Players still slice,
dice and shoot their way to victory, the only difference now is that slaying these
abominations comes with style. It’s coming to the PC sometime next year.
7. Phasmophobia One of the biggest hits on Steam this year and
surprisingly, it’s a horror game. Phasmophobia’s biggest strength is in its Early Access
experiment. The devs are continually supporting it by adding more content in the months to come,
this includes new maps and ghost types. The game is all about documenting the
paranormal with friends, but the catch is, these spectres aren’t exactly friendly.
Communicate with the entities and perform rituals to lure them out of their realm.
It’s a fun game to play with friends and it gets crazier in every passing moment.
Anyone can play this game on Steam right now, but its full release is coming out next year.
8. Baldur's Gate III Larian Studios’ acclaimed RPG is gearing
for its full release very soon. III is turning out to be their biggest release so far. Old and
new fans will find its magical world alluring as this new installment will stay faithful to their
roots. As usual, Baldur’s Gate is a game that came from Dungeons and Dragons, new players might
find the mechanics a tad bit intimidating. It’s still on Steam’s Early Access and the
reviews are looking good so far, which is a good sign now that the game is nearing its launch.
9. Postal 4: No Regerts There’s nothing more outrageous than
this comedic first person shooter from Running With Scissors. Anyone who has ever tried to go
deep into the weird games on the PC knows what Postal is. Postal 4 returns to its series’ roots
and will explore Postal Dude’s story, even if no one asked. No Regerts is trying to turn up
the notch by adding a handful of new weapons, quests and surprisingly, a co-op multiplayer.
The consistency of its raunchiness is what makes the series great. No definite release date yet
as the game is still in its Alpha Stage, but it’s expected to come out next year.
10. Corepunk This fresh MMORPG from Artificial
Core borrows concepts from known top-down MMOs such as Diablo and Path of Exile but introduces
their own strength, which is the satisfaction of exploration using fog-of-war mechanics. In
Corepunk, players are encouraged to scrounge every nook and cranny within its post-apocalyptic world.
Like many MMOs, player progression is defined by their own choice such as engaging in trading with
other players or dungeon crawling. PvP is also present, but like the rest of their content,
there’s not much info yet as the game is still in its Alpha stage.
However, they’re aiming for a release late next year, if everything’s according to plan.
11. Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord We have now reached uncharted territory. First
on the list is the elusive Bannerlord. After a series of untimely delays and murky announcements,
Bannerlord is finally in Early Access, but its release date is yet to be revealed.
With this Early Access, players will now see fruits of what seems to be a decade-long labor.
They can finally drop into their medieval playground, but they have to make do with
a few bugs along the way. It’s the ultimate medieval sandbox RPG where players can enjoy
seamless warfare with a boatload of possibilities. It is Bannerlord, and it’s getting great reviews
so far on its Steam page, but like Early Access titles, it’s too early to celebrate.
12. Star Citizen This never-ending space
combat and trading game from Cloud Imperium is the perfect example of development hell.
It has suffered numerous production issues since its expected release date back in 2014.
Its full release was delayed to oblivion, causing most of their fanbase to criticize the development
team and request for refunds. The good news now is that they found their footing. Just recently,
their team shared a massive roadmap that showcased their promises and plans for the future of their
project. The game is still in its Early Access stage. It’s playable and it's hailed as one of
the most immersive space sims in the market… as for its FULL release, maybe next year?
13. Teardown
Another Early Access title that just recently arrived on Steam.
Teardown is the ultimate destructible game where anything can be blown up to pieces. The
main objective is to plan a heist using the game’s voxel environments and steal prized possessions,
be it elaborate or downright primitive. A campaign is available to play in its Early Access phase
and players can enjoy an escalating story with its interesting set of characters.
However, there’s more content dropping before the game is going for a full release very soon.
14.Among Trees Exclusive to the
Epic Game store, this beautiful and cozy title demands little busywork
compared to most games right now. Be one with nature and escape from the woes of the urban
jungle and into a vibrant forest awaiting to be explored. The goal in this game is simple:
enjoy the day-to-day activities by cooking food, crafting and making the cabin extra chill for some
introspective moments. It’s available now on the Epic Game store and it’s still in its Early Access
stage. There’s a ton of content coming before this game gets its major release hopefully next year.
15. The Outlast Trials Red Barrels’ next chapter to their
frightening survival horror enters the multiplayer realm. No longer will players suffer alone with
its terrifying creatures, now they can bring their friends in a series of challenging gauntlets…
all in an effort to escape from this sadistic playground. Use every survival instinct possible
and strategize the most efficient way to take down the lingering threat. Puzzle solving is
also around, and it will test friendships. There’s not much details available yet,
but it will definitely make players shit their pants once it comes out next year.