For a PC-specific award pick, start with XCOM: Enemy Unknown, named Best PC Game by Spike TV. The broader shortlist also includes PC Gamer’s 2012 Game of the Year, Mass Effect 3, and genre standouts such as Dishonored and The Walking Dead: The Game. These are recommendations drawn from distinct award categories and editorial picks—not one shared ranking.
How to read this 2012 shortlist
“Best” depends on what you want to play and which award is being considered. Spike TV named an overall Game of the Year as well as a separate Best PC Game; PC Gamer’s year-end archive gave awards by genre and format. PC Gamer’s nominee feature described its selection as editorial argument, not a formula. The awards therefore offer useful signals, not a single numerical consensus.
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PC Gamer’s 2012 feature also captured the era’s enthusiasm with the line “PC gaming is exploding.” It reported that the League of Legends Season 2 Championship drew 8.2 million viewers, which the feature described as a record for an esports event at the time; that is a historical 2012 figure, not a current audience measure. PC Gamer’s nominees and editorial introduction
Recommended games by play style
For tactical strategy: XCOM: Enemy Unknown
This is the strongest PC-specific award-backed recommendation in this shortlist. PC Gamer included XCOM: Enemy Unknown among its 2012 nominees, and Spike TV named it Best PC Game. PC Gamer’s year-end archive also labeled it Strategy Game of the Year. Choose it if turn-based tactical decisions and strategic planning appeal more than a story-led action game. Spike TV award results · PC Gamer’s 2012 year-end archive
#1 Best Overall
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For a story-led action RPG: Mass Effect 3
PC Gamer named Mass Effect 3 its 2012 Game of the Year, while Spike TV named it Best RPG. Those honors make it a strong pick for readers seeking a character-focused role-playing experience with action, rather than a tactics-first strategy game. The Game of the Year label here is PC Gamer’s editorial pick, not a universal award. PC Gamer’s 2012 year-end archive · Spike TV award results
For stealth and single-player action: Dishonored
Dishonored gives the shortlist a stealth-and-action option. PC Gamer named it Singleplayer Shooter of the Year, and Spike TV awarded it Best Action Adventure Game. The differing labels reflect each organization’s category, not a disagreement about one common ranking. PC Gamer’s 2012 year-end archive · Spike TV award results
Rank #2
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For a narrative adventure: The Walking Dead: The Game
Spike TV selected The Walking Dead: The Game as its overall Game of the Year. PC Gamer’s archive recognized it for best writing. This is the narrative-adventure choice in the group; importantly, Spike TV’s overall winner was not its Best PC Game winner. Spike TV award results · PC Gamer’s 2012 year-end archive
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For more genre options from PC Gamer’s categories
- FTL: Faster Than Light — PC Gamer’s short-form Game of the Year.
- Euro Truck Simulator 2 — PC Gamer’s Sim of the Year.
- Guild Wars 2 — PC Gamer’s MMO of the Year.
These category winners broaden the shortlist beyond the best-known overall and PC-specific honors. PC Gamer’s 2012 year-end archive
Rank #3
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Other games recognized in 2012
BAFTA’s nomination announcement, dated February 16, 2012, recorded five nominations each for Portal 2 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. These are nominations, not wins in the award record described by that announcement. BAFTA reported that 48 different games were recognized across the nominations. BAFTA’s 2012 games nominations announcement
PC Gamer’s nominee feature also included candidates such as Dota 2, PlanetSide 2, Crusader Kings II, Diablo III, Torchlight II, Borderlands 2, Far Cry 3, Max Payne 3 and Spec Ops: The Line. Their appearance in that feature means they were nominees or candidates, not category winners. Spike TV separately named Borderlands 2 both Best Shooter and Best Multiplayer Game, and Journey Best Independent Game. PC Gamer’s nominees · Spike TV award results
Rank #4
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Does this mean every game first launched on PC in 2012?
No. This is a retrospective of PC-relevant games featured in PC Gamer’s 2012 coverage and award results, alongside games recognized by other awards. The records summarized here do not independently establish the original PC release date or platform-by-platform launch timing for every title. If your criterion is strictly “first released on PC during calendar year 2012,” verify each game’s release record before treating this as a release-year list.
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