PC Building Simulator might not be exactly what Epic Games Store customers expected for the store's October 7 free game. The store's usual free fare involves beautiful, ambitious indie titles, alongside some classic triple-A games.
While the occasional simulation tool pops up on the Epic Games Store, they are rarely as meticulous as this entry from Claudiu Kiss. Originally a 2018 release on Steam, the game was incredibly popular, and 3 years later it is coming to the Epic Store for free. While the free release will just be the base game, most of the title's DLC will also become available on the store at the same time for enthusiastic PC engineers.
What Else is Free on the Epic Games Store?
Strategy is essential to an efficient PC build, so the October 7 free game might actually have more in common with the current free Epic Store title than expected. Of course, Europa Universalis 4 requires a significantly different type of strategy than a careful PC build, but careful planning is definitely essential to both.
Like PC Building Simulator, Europa Universalis 4's free release also marked its debut on the Epic Store. Although Paradox Interactive's flagship historical grand strategy has accrued a lot more DLC in its 8 years of release than PC Building Simulator, its release also coincided with its many expansions becoming free on the store.
The Story of PC Building Simulator
PC Building Simulator is a fantastic case study in the power of the game demo. Although demos are often seen as consumer-forward tools that allow for an informed purchasing decision, they can also work as a phenomenal marketing tool. After all, loads of free demos and alpha builds are arguably what allowed Minecraft to become one of the bestselling games of all time. While PC Building Simulator never quite reached the same lofty heights as Minecraft, what it still accomplished was impressive nonetheless.
Before the game was officially released on Steam, over 500,000 people had played the game. For indie games like PC Building Simulator, that's no mean feat. It should not surprise canny Steam users, however, as the simulator genre is currently incredibly popular on the platform.
In recent weeks, Gas Station Simulator was outselling Deathloop, Arkane's new hit time-jumping shooter. Against all odds, it bested the new FPS in terms of concurrent players as well. While PC Building Simulator has never quite reached the same concurrent player base as Gas Station Simulator, it still boasts some impressive stats on Steam DB, including a 94.36% positive review rate.
PC Building Simulator's Different Game Modes
Like many simulator games, Kiss' computer creation software has various modes for players to dig into. Enterprising PC builders can either embark on the game's career mode or dedicate their time perfecting their computerized craft in the free build mode. In the career mode, players have to negotiate a whole host of broken sets of hardware. This can include everything from virus removal to wholesale repair of high-end machines, giving gamers an inkling of the intensive labor that goes into repairing their equipment.
The other gameplay mode, however, is arguably where the game really shines. For years, games have been power fantasies, letting players embody burly space marines, thoughtful investigators, and even Slime Ranchers on occasion. PC Building Simulator delivers a whole different type of wish fulfillment, finally allowing gamers access to a litany of hyper-expensive PC parts. Thanks to the global semiconductor shortage, this might be the only way that some players get access to the most recent Nvidia cards, even if it is virtual.
PC Building Simulator Outside the Epic Games Store
PC Building Simulator sells itself as not only an exciting tech management game but also as a way of learning how to construct a PC. Where previous Epic Store free games like Train Sim World 2 simulate a role that most people are unlikely to achieve, many gamers could find themselves needing to build their own PC.
The team behind the game obviously appreciates this, as the game's Twitter page is dedicated to highlighting fan builds within the software.
Even if life as perpetual tech support isn't for someone, PC Building Simulator is worth a free download anyway to play around with some of the beautifully modeled high-end PC parts available in-game. Partnerships with companies like AMD, Intel, MSI, Razer, and Corsair (to name but a few) show the game's huge range of realistic parts. It's just a shame building PCs is not as simple in real life (and is certainly much more expensive).
PC Building Simulator will be free on the Epic Games Store on October 7.