Dark Souls finally defeats GfW Live with new update

It's uncouth to dance on a grave—even that of your mortal nemesis, and so I will be restrained in my celebration of GfWL's latest defeat.

A new optional update for Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Edition will exorcise the horror that is Games for Windows Live. For now, the update is opt-in only, as players have until February 16th to transfer their game saves.

Steam users wanting to retain their save data should follow these instructions:

Launch the game and connect to Games for Windows Live.
Run the game (only the currently signed-on user’s progress can be transferred to Steam).
Close Games for Windows Live
Right click on your game in the Steam Library, go into Properties, check that the BETA tab is set to "dsptde-2.0-"
Launch Dark Souls™ Prepare To Die Edition v2.0 from Steam
Sign in using the same live profile used in step-2 to import your Save Data and Achievements from the Games for Windows Live version to the Steam version for the same profile (gamertag)
The game will look for previous Save Data and Achievements. If they are detected on your computer, you should be able to continue your progress in the game and achievements should be unlocked in Steam.

For those who bought the game on disc, there's a slightly different process for save transfers that you can find here.

If you're launching Dark Souls for the first time, just enable the Beta in the game's properties menu and you'll be able to pretend that GfW Live was never a part of the game. The update will become mandatory on 16 February.

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.