The PC Gamer Weekender 2018 kicks off this Saturday at the London Olympia, and we've got two stages of developer talks running all weekend. The mix of genres and creators this year is huge, with something for everyone. Check out the complete schedule across both stages below, with session descriptions from the guests, and don't forget you can save 20% on tickets with the code PCG. Just head here, and we'll see you in a few days.
If you're curious about what you can play at the Weekender, check this big list out.
PC Gamer Stage
Saturday 17 February
10.30. Tales from the helm of Civilization VI: Rise & Fall (Firaxis Games)
Designing an expansion to a game as robust as Civilization VI was no easy undertaking. Join Lead Designer Anton Strenger and Lead Producer Andrew Frederiksen for Civilization VI: Rise & Fall as they discuss the behind the scenes of this new expansion, including the creative challenges and exciting opportunities that they faced during development.
11.30. Kingdom Come Deliverance: From Kickstarter to global hit (Warhorse Studios)
Kingdom Come: Deliverance is groundbreaking in many ways; realistic combat, dynamic quests and a storyline based around an ordinary person. But how do you turn a concept like that into reality and what challenges do you need to overcome? Tobias Stolz-Zwilling from Warhorse Studios will walk you though the development process, show you what makes the game so unique and reveal some insight into the quest mechanics.
12.30. Making Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition (Square Enix)
Technical Director Takeshi Aramaki and Game Design Manager Kenichi Shida will take to the stage to talk about the creation of the PC edition of Final Fantasy XV, including new features and the numerous improvements made to the game's visuals. Attendees will have the chance to see more of the game in action on PC ahead of its launch in March.
14.30. A Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia—Total War in the Anglo Saxon age (Creative Assembly)
Join our Creative Assembly guests, Game Director Jack Lusted and Communications Manager Al Bickham, as they explore many of the new features and feature evolutions in Thrones of Britannia. Beginning with a brief history lesson covering the Viking invasion of Britain, our hosts will take a deep-dive into the many interlocking features of the game which combine to create a vibrant vision of Anglo Saxon Britain, and the player’s part in it. Thrones of Britannia Charts the geopolitical events in the aftermath of the invasion, with the British Isles—initially at least—in a state of uneasy peace. Assuming the role of one of ten regional kings, players have a choice of approaches to establishing and cementing rule—through flat-out conquest, through growing fame, or by following narrative-led objectives and evolving their kingdom. Creative Assembly would like it to be known that no actual Vikings were harmed in the making a of this developer session.
15.30. Warhammer: Vermintide 2 Q&A (Fatshark)
Join the Fatshark team as they answer questions about Warhammer: Vermintide 2, sequel to the critically acclaimed Vermintide with visually stunning and groundbreaking melee action game that pushes the boundaries of the first person co-op genre.
16.30. Into The Breach Q&A (Subset Games)
FTL co-creator Matthew Davis chats to PCG EIC Samuel Roberts about the release of their long-awaited second game, Into The Breach.
17.30. The creation of Murderous Pursuits (Blazing Griffin)
You're invited to step aboard the HMCS Britannic and immerse yourself in the Victorian stealth-em-up action of Murderous Pursuits, a multiplayer murder mystery for the ages. Join the team at Blazing Griffin as they take you through the inspiration behind this spiritual successor to acclaimed PC game, The Ship, and share a guided demo of its tense hunt-or-be-hunted gameplay. From the colourful cast of characters, to dynamic, living environments, Murderous Pursuits is set to flip stealth games on their head. Forget the shadows and hide in plain sight as you hunt down and eliminate your quarry, all while avoiding any would-be hunters on your tail, and doing so with the elegance and poise one would expect from the Victorian era.
Sunday 18 February
10.30. Surviving Mars: System driven game design—how to avoid the self-playing piano (Haemimont, Paradox Interactive Games)
Gaby and Ivan-Asser from developer Haemimont together with Producer Jakob from Paradox Interactive Games presents their upcoming game, Surviving Mars. In this eagerly anticipated survival city builder, the player is tasked with building mankinds first home away from home, a permanent colony on Mars. The theme will be interactions between a human player and deep AI simulations and how to create interesting player choices in a systems-driven game.
Haemimont has great experience in creating tight management game designs that still leaves space for an industry-unique streak of humanity and warmth, and Surviving Mars takes this even further. Listen to true veterans of the industry talk about their game and the surprising amount of work and thought that goes in to creating a simulation that stands out from the crowd.
11.30. Making Final Fantasy XV: Windows Edition (Square Enix)
Missed our Final Fantasy XV developer guests on Saturday? We'll host another panel on the Sunday, so don't miss it.
14.30. 25 years of Rebellion and Battlezone: Combat Commander Demo (Rebellion)
A talk on the history of Rebellion over the last quarter of a century, followed by a demo of Battlezone: Combat Commander. This panel will be led by Tim Jones, Head of Creative at Rebellion, with more guests from the studio alongside.
15.30. Tropico 6—Building the next chapter in the infamous dictator Sim (Limbic Entertainment)
François Reinold, Senior producer from Limbic Entertainment takes fans through the highly anticipated Tropico 6, the latest instalment in the world famous dictator sim and talks about what it takes to build on Tropico’s brand heritage while keeping true to the classic gameplay and trademark humour of the series. Fans will get to see some of the new features in action like archipelagos, infrastructure and heists as well as seeing the all new engine in action. The island paradise of Tropico has never looked so good!
Developer Stage
Saturday 17 February
11.00. The birth of Two Point Hospital (Two Point Studios)
Two Point Studios’ co-founders Mark Webley and Gary Carr, hosted by Two Point Studios’ Community Manager, Lauran Carter, will take you on a journey through Two Point County covering the inception of the studio from just an idea to signing a publishing deal with SEGA for their brand new games, Two Point Hospital. We’ll be showing a ton of previously unseen footage including a world-exclusive gameplay reveal where we’ll reveal to viewers a brand-new in-game illness!
12.00. Project X—Building impossible worlds (Automaton Games)
Automaton Games offers a first look at their upcoming MMO-shooter and reveal the journey behind building an online-world of previously impossible immersion.
13.00. Phoenix Point and the evolution of the XCOM genre (Snapshot Games)
Snapshot Games are revealing early tactical game play for Phoenix Point, an XCOM-style game with an evolving, alien threat. Julian Gollop will explain how Phoenix Point takes elements from the original X-COM games and the Firaxis reboot, with the addition of some interesting new mechanics. Julian will also talk a little bit about the ambition for the strategic side of the game which develops interesting themes from X-COM Apocalypse, with multiple factions and complex relationships.
15.00. Making PC Building Simulator (The Irregular Corporation)
Join producer Stuart Morton as he shows gameplay for PC Building Simulator for the first time ever in public. A prototype of the game was uploaded to Itchi.io last year and has been downloaded over half a million times, growing a cult following amongst PC gamers.
Now it's gearing up to launch on March 27th and has partnered with an incredible list of official hardware and software partners including EVGA, NZXT, Cooler Master, FutureMark and more!
The game will feature a fully-fledged career mode, 'How to build a PC' learning mode, free building mode and a range of official components from some of your favourite brands.
16.00. In Detail with Biomutant (Experiment 101/THQ Nordic)
Stefan Ljungqvist, creative and art director at Experiment 101, who played a key role on the likes of Just Cause and Mad Max at Avalanche, will take to the stage to go in detail with some gameplay elements of the promising-looking Biomutant. You can also play the game on the show floor.
17.00. Sea of Thieves—Building a PC game that PC players expect (Rare)
As our first PC game, we had an opportunity with Sea of Thieves to build it for the PC community. We figured that to achieve this we needed to work with the PC community from day one, so here is our story...
Ted Timmins, PC design lead at Rare, will reveal all.
Sunday 18 February
11.00. Frozen Synapse 2—Open World Tactics (Mode7 Games)
Co-founders Paul Kilduff-Taylor and Ian Hardingham discuss the challenges of developing a tactical game with an enormous scope. 2011's Frozen Synapse was a hugely successful tactical title in its own right, but now Mode 7 are attempting to bring that gameplay into the context of a vast simulated city—we talk to them about this transition and how the game is coming along.
12.00. Seed—Build Your Own Utopia (Klang)
Klang will be joining PC Gamer on stage for a live Q&A session on its upcoming MMO god game Seed. Klang Games co-founder Mundi Vondi will take the stage to discuss the inspiration, design and technology behind its ambitious new title, while revealing new footage from the game.
13.00. Cobalt, from PC to console and back again (Oxeye Game Studio)
How bringing mouse support to Cobalt created a game of its own and what it taught us about designing the perfect PC-centric platformer.
15.00. Minecraft Updates and Game Design (Mojang)
An update on the upcoming Minecraft updates with insights in how Minecraft features are conceived and developed, presented by Jens Bergensten, Mojang's lead creative designer.
16.00. The PC Gamer panel
Join Samuel Roberts, Tom Senior, Phil Savage and Philippa Warr from the PCG editorial team as we take your questions about all things PC gaming. What do we think of the current state of PC gaming? Are we any good at PUBG? Why did Tub Geralt happen? All of these questions will be answered and more.