Over a million people stopped by PC Gamer to read about the Elder Scrolls 6 announcement, but it wasn't the year's most-read article. That honor goes to the PUBG system requirements: 1.9 million people weren't sure if their PCs had strong enough guts for Battlegrounds.
These numbers indicate a lot more than a game's popularity or an article's utility. That PUBG article is the first Google result for 'PUBG system requirements', so it wasn't popular because regular PC Gamer readers are obsessed with checking how much RAM they need to run PUBG. I've left that one in, but culled other, similar articles from this list. A lot of people still want to know what the Skyrim console commands are, for instance, but that's not particularly relevant to the story of 2018.
I've also excluded most of our lists and guides, including hardware buying guides. Over half-a-million people wanted to know what we think the best survival games are, but instead of articles like that, I've focused on the news and features that best reflect the year, ordered from most readers to least. Here's the list:
1. PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds system requirements: what you need for 60 fps
We covered PUBG a lot at the beginning of the year. We still cover it a lot, and a ton of people play it, but it feels like ages since it was the game. Fortnite was a wrecking ball.
2. What are the chances of Red Dead Redemption 2 coming to PC?
The chances are pretty good, but if you want more to go on, we collected all the rumors and leaks.
3. Everything we know about The Elder Scrolls 6
Unsurprisingly, the Elder Scrolls 6 announcement was the biggest game announcement of the year.
4. Monster Hunter: World PC release date announced, and it's soon
People really wanted to know when they could play Monster Hunter on PC. Good thing it was really good.
5. Fortnite Season 4 Battle Pass: see the new skins, emotes, map changes, and challenges
I'm not including any more Fortnite posts after this (except one), because they'd be all over the place, and are mostly irrelevant as that game changes so often.
6. Cyberpunk 2077: Everything we know about CD Projekt's next RPG
This article was merged with Steven's written impressions of the E3 Cyberpunk demo, which were, for a while, the only way we could 'show' you the footage. When CD Projekt finally published the video, we added it to this article and it saw another wave of Cyberpunk hungry readers.
7. PUBG Corp has filed a lawsuit against Epic Games
Two of the most popular games in the world fighting.
8. The 80s and 90s PC games still unbelievably being updated today
I'm breaking my 'no lists' rule, but this was an especially fun one.
9. The Steam Winter Sale 2018 has begun
VAC ban this article, because it's a cheater. Rather than fill the site with old out-of-date Steam sale posts, we started reusing one, which is part of the reason this URL was viewed so many times. But also, people really like Steam sales. If I included all the discreet articles related to Steam sales in 2018, they'd be all over this list (so I haven't done that).
10. Fallout 76: release date, perks and everything we know
This was just a news story about Fallout 76's announcement, though we turned it into a much larger hub of information, because a hell of a lot of people wanted to know about it before and after the big reveal.
11. Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080: benchmark, release date, and everything you need to know
Another news story that became a large information hub. Despite the high prices, Nvidia's new cards generated a lot of curiosity.
12. I've somehow been WASDing wrong my whole life
I still can't believe Wes plays games like this.
13. Strip Fortnite is the latest in lazy exploitation on YouTube
A lot of people wanted to find out what Strip Fortnite was for obvious reasons, but we hope at least one parent was made aware of what YouTube's algorithm is probably promoting to their kids.
14. Fallout 76 drops in price (again) to $35
We just wanted to let you know that it was on sale.
15. The most downvoted comment in Reddit history is now a Star Wars Battlefront 2 mod
It's pretty funny.
16. Which game is just too damn long?
Of all the questions we asked this year, I'm surprised this was the most popular. You have opinions, clearly.
17. Steam's first uncensored adult game has been approved
Hmm.
18. Owning a nightclub in GTA Online is fun, but keeping it successful is a little boring
GTA Online is still extremely popular.
19. Fallout 76 players launch 3 nukes at once, crash server
Amusing technical issues are often popular on their own, but this one was obviously helped by the general mood around the game.
20. In tribute of Stephen Hawking, EVE Online pilots are lighting beacons all across its galaxy
Quick reporting from Steven sent this lovely tribute outside the confines of EVE's community.
21. World of Warcraft ditches upfront fee, and all older expansions are now free
People like free stuff, but on top of that, pricing changes are also used as ammo in the eternal debates about which games are or aren't 'dead,' which probably contributed to this article's popularity.
22. Gabe Newell: 'Hooray! Valve's going to start shipping games again'
And it did ship one, though most who read this might've been hoping for something other than Artifact. We're told there are more coming.
23. Micro Center will sell you a graphics card at MSRP if it's for gaming instead of mining
Revel in the absurdity that was 2018.
24. Why is Civilization 5 still more popular than Civilization 6?
We polled Civ players to find out why so many of them didn't make the switch to Civ 6. The results were interesting, and it's something a lot of people have an opinion on. Still, I'm surprised the debate ignited this much interest.
25. Overwatch fan-made Cairo map catches Jeff Kaplan's eye
Everyone likes a nice story where a fan artist potentially secures a job through their fanworks.
26. World of Warcraft's pacifist panda has reached level 120 by only picking flowers
People doing odd things in games always piques interest. Especially when they are pandas.
27. Obsidian's The Outer Worlds blends Firefly and Fallout into a bold, open-ended sci-fi RPG
A new Obsidian RPG was going to interest folks no matter what, but it was helped a little by Fallout 76, which for obvious reasons didn't appeal to those who prefer their adventures to be solo.
28. How to measure your PC's total power consumption
Useful!
29. I robbed a string of banks unarmed by posing as a journalist in a GTA 5 roleplaying server
Joe left PC Gamer this year to go do something involving sports (weird), but not before writing this heartwarming tale.
30. Valve has 1,700 CPUs working non-stop to bust CS:GO cheaters
A large number of anything going after cheaters was bound to be popular.
31. DrDisrespect returns to PUBG action, sets a new viewer record on Twitch
Remember when DrDisrespect returned to Twitch after confessing infidelity? That was this year.
32. How to buy a graphics card without getting ripped off
Getting ripped off is bad. Here's how to not do that.
33. I found the most dismal No Man's Sky planet where absolutely no happiness is allowed
Happy New Year!
