🟪 #112: Battlefield is back, baby!

Battlefield 6 is fun, Steam for ChromeOS is dead, and Nintendo likes Indies.

Hi, hello, and welcome to a new edition of the overkill digest newsletter.

I've been playing a lot of Battlefield 6 the last few days (and so did over half a million other people), and while it's still a beta with a few issues, limited maps and weapons, I think I can safely say: Battlefield is back! I've been enjoying the beta a ton, and can't wait for the actual release in October. But, as always, no preorders!!!

Also, I finally received my new monitor, the ASUS PG32UCPD. I went for the WOLED version of this monitor because of the dual mode, and because it's a matte finish, and I have big windows in my office, which would be annoying early in the morning when the sun hits the screen. I haven't fully tested the screen yet, but Monitor Unboxed keeps recommending it, so you don't need me to tell you that's it's great.

Ok, enough with that, let's get to this week's news. Gamescom is starting soon, so it feels kinda calm right now.

🚀 Big Moves

Google killed Steam for ChromeOS. On January 1st, 2026, games installed this way will become unplayable.

It's not very surprising, especially since this is Google we're talking about, a company notoriously known for killing projects. But it also makes sense to a degree, as Google reported about a year ago, that future versions of ChromeOS will be built on top of Android. And while Android is based on Linux, just like ChromeOS (ChromeOS is based on Gentoo Linux), most Android devices use ARM processors and lack native x86-64 support, which Steam requires (for now, as the community is working on emulation support).

On a related note: Steam is cutting support for macOS version 11 or earlier. (We're on version 15 right now.)

Why I got into the hi-fi audio rabbit hole. I started a new series on overkill, sharing everything I learn on hi-fi audio.

In the first article, I explain why I started going down this massive rabbit hole. To spoil my own article:

But the reason I got into it the first place is because of two things:
I'm annoyed by how much I'm dependent of my phone;
[And] Spotify, the service I've been using thus far, is turning to absolute shit and getting more expensive while doing so.

I'm still waiting for my audio gear to ship, but in the meantime I've been testing a bunch of streaming services, which will be the topic of the next entry in the series once I finish writing it.

🎮 Platform Updates

Every trailer shown during Nintendo's Indie World. After last week's Nintendo Partner Direct, we now got one for indie games.

This one was a bit less boring, but I still expect Nintendo to show something during gamescom week, which starts on August 20th.

💻 Hardware & Software

dbrand's Joy-Lock replacements are now available. If you have ordered the original Killswitch for the Nintendo Switch 2, you should have gotten an email by now on how to get your free replacements, but if you've been waiting for the new Joy-Locks to release before ordering the protection case, you can now go ahead. I still think it's the best protection available for the Switch 2, despite its earlier issues (which dbrand has now obviously fixed).

In addition to the replacement grips, you also get friction pads for the dock adapter, and a 15% sitewide discount, with shipments starting this coming week.

Digital Foundry tested the Mac Studio. This is an odd one, since normally Digital Foundry focuses on gaming performance, and the Mac Studio is clearly a productivity workhorse.

In summary, the Mac Studio overperforms in CPU tasks and underperforms (massively) in GPU tasks. And it costs nearly $10,000.

Talking of Digital Foundry, they went indie!