PC Dark Souls Launches on August 24, Is GfWL Powered

Video game publisher Namco Bandai has confirmed that the PC version of its Dark Souls action role-playing game will be launched on August 24 and will be sold under the name Prepare to Die Edition, using the Games for Windows Live service from Microsoft as its Digital Rights Management solution.

The core content of the Prepare to Die Edition of Dark Souls will be the same as that for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 version of the game, but the development team at From Software will also add a number of new bosses.

The control scheme for the game will also be tweaked in order to take advantage of the extra possibilities afforded by the mouse and keyboard setup of the PC.

Dark Souls was launched as a hardcore experience which challenges players’ abilities and it points back to the period in video gaming when success was measured in progress against adversity rather than the number of Achievements a player has.

PC players quickly petitioned for the game to be ported to their platform and more than 50,000 of them have signed a petition asking publisher Namco Bandai to fund the project.

The company launched a teaser campaign earlier during the year which culminated in the reveal of the Prepare to Die Edition of the video game.

The addition of Games for Windows Live to the game has quickly eliminated some of the goodwill generated by the official announcement and a petition launched to get it removed has been signed by close to 10,000 gamers in a few hours.

The Microsoft service is almost universally hated by PC players and has not seen a major update in about one year.

The fan base says that they understand the need for a DRM solution for the PC version of Dark Souls, but that they would like to see Namco Bandai choose one that is less intrusive and more player friendly.

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