Despite all the doom and gloom reports over the last few years that developers were abandoning the PC as a gaming platform, and focussing their efforts more on the console, 2010 still saw a modest growth in the PC gaming industry. Despite the recent impact of the global financial crisis, the sales of PC games managed to increase by around 3%
Call of Duty: Black Ops set a new record for first day sales with a staggering 5.6 million copies being sold. Other incredibly successful titles such as Starcraft 2 and WoW: Cataclysm achieved sales figures estimated to be in excess of 4 million copies in the first few months of release.
2011 is shaping to be a bumper year for PC gaming with a huge range of highly anticipated titles set to be released. Here are a few upcoming games for PC that I am personally looking forward to.

Duke Nukem Forever
“it’s time to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and I’m all out of gum”
I must admit, there was always a tiny voice of hope in the back of my head that we would once again set off with Duke Nukem to save the earth from alien invasion, and incredibly, 14 years since it was first announced, Gearbox software have taken over the project and It is set for release in Q2 this year. “Nobody steals our chicks – and lives!”

Diablo 3
For me, the Diablo series has been one of the most addictive over the years. Staying awake until the wee hours of the morning, dungeon bashing in the hope of finding some exceptional piece of loot, or just until I level up one more time…..The replayability of the Diablo games has always been a great feature with the ability to create so many different variations of each player class. Ahh Bowazons, Hammerdins and Poisonmancers. I can’t wait to do it all again! No official release date from Blizzard software, as always, it will be released “when it is finished” however rumour has it that a late 2011 release is on the cards.
Portal 2
Valve software came up with an unexpected hit with the original Portal game, which was bundled with the Orange Box game collection. Portal was an innovative puzzle game, where the protagonist, armed with a special gadget called the portal gun, had to try and escape from the Science Facility, by creating portal holes in walls and ceilings and overcoming many difficult obstacles. I really enjoyed the mental challenge of Portal and am definitely looking forward to Portal 2. Due to be released on April 18 this year, and don’t forget – “The cake is a lie!”
There are quite a few other titles also due to be released this year and time permitting I may have a bit of a look at some of the following. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrm, Mass Effect 3, Max Payne 3, Rage, F.E.A.R 3, Brink, Bulletstorm and Crysis 2 just to name a few. Hopefully there will be something in there that you like as well. It could even be a good reason for that graphics card upgrade you’ve been putting off!