The week in PC gaming: 24th/30th September

Out this week

Steam Greenlight released its first game: McPixel!

More tanks in World of Tanks 8.0

XCOM’s demo finally hit Steam.

The week that was

Pandaria! Did it finally arrive, or has it always been, and we are the ones who have only now arrived at its mist-shrouded shores? Does Tim dream himself a giant elk, or does the giant elk dream himself Tim? And how the hell could these people have leveled so fast. We talked to the masters at Blizzard to see if they they could explain the Way to launch an MMO expansion.

We continue to learn lots about Call of Duty, including its kinder, more team-oriented approach to streaking and prestige levels.

Excitement for Dishonored is reaching a fever pitch. Cartoons in three parts! Everything we know about Dishonored! Arkane show us how it is done.

Introversion and Prison Architect have been in the news a bit. They created a tiered, paid-alpha to help finance development. Sales went crazy, and then we played it!

Big Reads

We sailed the seas of Assassin’s Creed 3 and still found time to assassinate some people. Also, the first AC3 level models.

You may not realize how much people love Minecraft until you look at all these references and tributes in other games.

We talked to David Ting, the head of the IGN Pro League, about the future he envisions for IPL and eSports as a whole.

eSports and MOBAs

DreamHack Valencia was rather good.

ShootMania Storm will be at IPL5 in Vegas with a hefty $100,000 prize pool.

Dota 2’s incredible trophy.

The finest GSL matches are now on YouTube, so enjoy some elite StarCraft 2.

Take a long, lingering look at Kha’zix, League of Legends’ new champion.

The MLG v. Proleague Invitational started this week.

And more...

Walking Dead Season 1 over by December 4th

No GFW Live in Steam release of Mark of the Ninja

I don’t know how I feel about this: Rome 2’s budget is 40% bigger than any other Total War’s. No wonder.

We’re getting Beneath a Steel Sky 2 thanks to the Broken Sword Kickstarter.

So long and safe landings, people of PopCap Dublin.

The Secret World gets a new director.

We learn more about Diablo 3 PvP

German consumer right advocates may take Valve to court over the latest Steam EULA.

3D Realms want to make another game, which makes sense. They clearly like making games. Finishing them is another matter.

The sound of inevitability: Gagnam Style Skyrim.

Far Cry 3 minimum specs and DRM.

System Shock 2 and Thief 2 receive massive patches! Hooray!

Zynga will buy you or clone you, apparently.

Notch is seriously not a Windows 8 fan, you guys.

Ubi Montreal concede that Far Cry 2 was a bit static.

Behold ArenaNet’s fury against bot accounts.

Dean “Rocket” Hall’s mother is disappointed in DayZ hacking.

Legendary drop rate in Diablo 3 increased. I will uncomfortably ponder how much this sounds like fine-tuning a slot machine.

Here is everything we know about Aliens: Colonial Marines.

We’re in the wrong line of work: Steam Workshop item creators making a mint.

We spent some time with the new SimCity.

CS:GO gets a big update tomorrow.

IsoChronus is a cool, indie tower defense game that involves mastering time itself.