Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition for PC has now been updated. Previously, the game used Microsoft’s Games for Windows Live service to connect players, before handing everything over to the peer-to-peer system.
The original announcement earlier this year, detailed From Software’s intent to update the game, removing Games for Windows Live, and porting the game over to Steam’s Steamworks service. It was delayed by a month back in November, and it has now gone live.
It’s currently opt-in only on Steam, due to the Save Data and Achievements Transfer service that allows you to carry your save files and your unlocked achievements to Steam. This period will last until February 16th.
To enable the update, you can read the instructions here.
Previous PC players of Dark Souls may have used the community fix “DSFix”, which corrected many of the porting issues the game (still) has. Setting a custom resolution, forcing borderless fullscreen mode, and removing the 30 frames-per-second lock, were some of the most utilized features of DSFix.
Fear not, DSFix has also been updated to work with the new update, and you can find it here.
Unfortunately, players who preferred playing with a mouse and keyboard will have issue with the new update, as it no longer supports the community fix, “DSMFix”, which did much the same as DSFix, by allowing better mouse and keyboard controls. It remains to be seen if DSMFix will receive a similar update.
I wholly recommend the use of a controller, rather than a mouse and keyboard. Dark Souls is one of those games that is intended to be used with a controller, in my opinion.
It’s worth mentioning that the update seems to have enabled a form of region lock, preventing players in different regions from interacting. From Software is likely to resolve this issue, as Red Faction: Guerrilla had a similar issue upon it’s migration to Steamworks; the region lock was later removed. Bear that in mind if you decide to play before a potential fix is released.
Personally, I am very excited to hear this news, as I am an avid player of the Souls franchise. The prospect of new players coming to Dark Souls is something I greatly look forward to. Dark Souls has excellent co-op features, as well as player-versus-player interaction. The multiplayer aspect of the Souls games, as well as the community surrounding the game, gave me some of the greatest experiences I’ve had while gaming.
Enjoy!