I opted into the prod_slim beta and it works as advertised. 22.01 GB on my SSD and the game is running the same as before, as far as I can tell.

It’s unlikely you can prevent install or remove entire features when Microsoft does not want you to. Depends on how baked-in they make it. More often than not it’s a game of whack-a-mole where you find out what toggles are available that disable stuff you do not want.

More unwanted bloat to disable, I guess.

That post looks like an AI-written sloppy ad. Also the github repo has no source code, only executable files. NOT SUSPICIOUS AT ALL.

You should ask Noctua what they think, they have splendid customer support.

I would keep it as an involuntary art piece.

Play BotW first. A few years down the line, if you ever want more and are able to make time for it, play TotK. One should not play them back to back anyway.

Agreed. As long as their corporate overlords do not fuck up Ars, there is no reason to avoid them.

If (when ?) it becomes an AI slop-filled shell of its former self, then it will be past time to go elsewhere.

Oh wow, I just took a peek at its history and it does not even qualify as slop. To the blocklist it goes !

No announcement that I’m aware of. Just me hoping.

Unfortunately coming from Vermintide 2, I find Darktide to be a step down in most aspects. I went in with my usual coop group at release, expecting this game to last us for hundreds of hours, like VT2 did. We stopped in the tens of hours instead.

I check in every once in a while, but find no compelling reason to keep playing. The one thing DT has over VT2 is that the combat system is more refined. Other than that… No compelling characters, no storyline to speak of, forgettable locations, randomized shops, bad reward loop, no solo play nor proper bot support, … I could go on.

They have had to rework so much of DT that they added more actual content to VT2 in the meantime. Now I’m hoping for a VT3 bringing the best of both worlds.

Enshittification ahoy !

If you do not sign your commits, you deserve to be impersonated. Well, not really, but you get the gi(s)t.

The genre is ASS games. Can’t go wrong with that.

Unfortunately, the company is now empty of employees, so the road ahead will be entirely different.

Not much of a studio the guy bought back. Just a name and some IP rights maybe.

The secrecy must be unrewarding, but it’s the best defense against lawsuit-happy IP holders. When word of mouth begins to spread, you better be ready to release and run because it’s only a matter of time before Nintendo’s lawyers start gunning for you.

“It’s not like you guys aren’t going to have stuff, because guess what? Amazon is at your house every day,”

Ouch. Right in the furniture.

That’s barely 15 months of console exclusivity for a flagship title. Sony’s getting there with PC releases as time goes on.

Reminds me of Guns of Icarus, but on land and extraction shootery.

Sure this is about protecting their bottom line. However the argument that this contradicts the Apple vs Epic verdict seems sound.

OMG it’s finally happening !