2015 saw an excellent lineup, in both terms of the future and current releases. With E3 being the year of closures, we saw The Last Guardian, Fallout 4, and surprisingly Shenmue III all hit the main stage with release dates in mind. We saw two Indie games, Undertale and Rocket League rightfully take their place on several game of the year lists, alongside Fallout 4, The Witcher 3, and Bloodborne.

For PC gamers, the largest exclusive market is currently run by Indie. Unfortunately, unless you’re playing more of the main stream Indie games, you aren’t going to find a huge amount to play. The Indie market is being over run by clones, poorly coded games, and free element created Unity games.

Although the exclusive market may not be as big as the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or Nintendo’s, 2016 is still a promising year for the PC. With a (hopefully) more promising Indie market, and AAA titles still being tended too, it’s time to see what PC gamers can sink their teeth into.

Fortnite

Genre: Survival crafting
Release Date: 2016
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, OS X

For fans of Minecraft, Fortnite may feel like it’s still just a dream. The hybrid of the survival and crafting genre was announced over 5 years ago, and promised to be like a mix of Left 4 Dead and Minecraft.

Although a lot has changed in development since then, Fortnite still looks as cool as ever. Developed by Epic Games, Fortnite is a co-operative sandbox survival, geared around building your own structures, scavenging items, and fighting off hoards of the enemy monsters.

Even though building is guaranteed to be a main mechanic, don’t think that this game is only geared towards fans of Minecraft. Fortnite’s structure pieces appear to be pre-constructed, and reading for placing. Although this puts a certain limitation on those who would like to spend more time building, limitations are a harbor for the imagination.

Total War: Warhammer

Genre: Turn-based strategy, real time tactics
Release Date: April 28, 2016
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux

Another great hybrid can be added to your list of games to pick up. Total War: Warhammer promises to cater to fans of both Warhammer Fantasy and the Total War franchise. Although Warhammer 40,000 tends to have a strong focus in the video game industry, games like Total War and Vermintide are shining a light on the lesser known Warhammer Fantasy.

With each faction having access to unique units, Total War: Warhammer will be unlike any other Total War game in the fact that their may be more other races then their are Humans. Greenskins(Orcs & Goblins), The Empire, Dwarves, and The Undead are all in the initial release of the game.

Looking to play as Elves? Skaven? Lizardmen? The Chaos army? Well, they haven’t been entirely ruled out for DLC yet. The unique races in Warhammer Fantasy will help to keep the content fresh.

Star Citizen

Genre: Space trading and combat simulator, first-person shooter
Release Date: TBA 2016
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Linux

So far it doesn’t look like Star Citizen will be delayed past 2016, choosing to break the trend that Kickstarted games are beginning to set. Instead, they’ll be putting their 2.1 million raised to get the game out on time. Or as on time as you can be when developing such a massive project.

Star Citizen was successfully kickstarted for an exact amount of $2,134,374 in October of 2012, almost 4 years ago. Since then the game has continued to crowd fund, and promises to be one of the biggest space exploration games we have ever seen.

Besides some incredible graphics, Star Citizen should pull you in for nothing more then being a major Indie title. This is history in the making, and we are here to witness it. If this is a successful game, it just proves that anyone can do what the AAA companies are. It just takes a bit more time. (and way less money)

World of Warcraft: Legion

Genre: MMORPG
Release Date: Q2/Q3 2016
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, OS X

Two Words: Illidan Stormrage.

Oh, wait, no, that should be Artifact Weapons.

Legion has several significant changes coming to universe of World of Warcraft, with the one that effects the majority of players being Artifact Weapons. Each different specialization, for each class, will have a weapon that has been deemed legendary.

Elemental Shaman’s have an unfair advantage, however, with Thrall’s Doomhammer representing the class. By unlocking your Artifact Weapon via a quest line, you continue to upgrade the stats by leveling up, completing dungeons, and beating raid bosses.

Among Artifact Weapons, Legion is also introducing a new class, changing existing classes, and introducing Transmogify 2.0. Besides that, Lore fans should be excited to see the re-introduction of Illidan Stormrage. (And the possible death of Sylvanas or King Varian Wrynn, but we will leave that up to speculation for now.)

What are you looking forward to in 2016? Did we forget a title? Let us know in the comments below!