This is quite the in-depth article on the topic, I might have to read through it a few times to digest it all.
One thing I was going to point out was I definitely see benefit to working on software changes where possible to save the cost of needing specialized equipment. The article does cover this
Holden cites Sea of Thieves’ addition of 'single stick' controls, where any swashbuckling and/or plundering can be performed using a single thumbstick
I was going to mention PSO2: NGS which has a single button to cast any spells based on what might be best for that situation (maybe one of the few things I liked about that game...). Definitely would like to see more of that. I also play FF14 and read a theory that the devs there consider button bloat a game feature, so whenever they simplify one skill (by making it a single button) they have to split another skill by making it multiple instead, which I find really unfortunate, I have a disabled friend who has trouble playing much due to the mass amount of skills.
And yea, definitely a good idea to donate to charity. SpecialEffect is listed which has been in the Yogscast Jingle Jam charity event at the end of the year. Assuming they have one this year and are taking part, might be a good idea to send some money their way or to other relevant charities for people who can do so
The article does a good job of summarizing everything they changed and improvements, but I feel like pcgamer's headline is sort of leaving off a "... after reducing scope". For instance, the multiplayer mode that had been announced before launch. I also think I read they planned on multiple DLCs but they reduced that down to just this one? Regardless all my friends seem to enjoy the game so I'm sure it's a fun game to play
It also says FY which I assume means Fiscal Year. It seems like Microsoft's fiscal years end in June and start in July based on browsing a few investor pages (like this one saying fourth quarter ended in June). Not that that completely solves for the time difference but wanted to mention it
Neither of those had any NPCs, did they? I'm not familiar with Dear Esther but from looking it up it says you just explore environments, and I remember Everybody's Gone to the Rapture having like, vague humanoid models but I don't recall them being animated, could be wrong.
I'm kind of sad about how large games have become and how little goes into optimizing that since "space is cheap"; though it seems people don't really care about the bandwidth (environmental) cost of downloading that now that everything has gone digital (not that I'm saying physical doesn't have waste).
I just kind of wish there were alternates, maybe high-res (free) DLC packs or audio localization packs which I feel like were done in the past but never really became a thing. I find myself sticking to indie games that are only hundreds of MBs instead.
I don't think the article provides any conclusions besides beat games faster to delete them to clear space.
Might want to check out beat 'em up categories as well. I really enjoy River City Girls 1 and 2 (2 having more QoL improvements), but it might not be for everyone.
Similar to what was said about overcooked/CSD, there's also Plate Up! which I enjoy but am not sure myself how local co-op is