Dave the Diver gets a major quality of life update and the players love it: 'Tears in my eyes,' one dedicated fan says

Smiling man with scuba gear — (Image credit: Mintrocket)

Dave the Diver is a game we didn't see coming. On the surface it's a cute indie management game about going fishing and running a restaurant, but underneath all of that lies a compelling narrative, varied and delightful gameplay, and one of the best games of 2023. And now it's even better, thanks to a major new quality-of-life update.

The update adds functionality for automated quick time events, an under-acknowledged accessibility issue in gaming for people with RSI or other disabilities, so players will have the option to just push a button and be done with it.

The update also makes optimizations that reduce the overall build and patch size, and improves performance "so that the game may run on devices with lower specs." There's a little bit of hedging there, but performance improvements of any type are always welcome.

Improved the overall text quality of French / German / Spanish / Portuguese.
Mouse cursor will no longer be displayed when playing with a controller.
Steel Net can now be purchased in the Cobra Shop at all times when a (whoops, spoiler) is in progress.
The overall sound quality has been improved.
Korean & Japanese title screens have been localized.

The reaction to the patch is actually pretty remarkable. Typically, a developer releases an update, fans say thanks, and everyone goes on with their lives. Dave the Diver fans, though, are a little more enthusiastically appreciative. From the Steam comments:

Oh my GOD! THANK YOU!
siiiiiick Patch !!
I love this game dude its so good
Thank you devs! I can't think of the last time i was this excited to play a game after an update.
Amazing patch!!
I'm so happy about this update. Tears in my eyes
KEEP WORKING ON THIS MASTER PIECE, TE AMO DAVE.
woah these qol changes are actually goated af

Alongside the QoL changes, this update also makes a number of balance tweaks and bug fixes—the full list is long and filled with spoilers, so head over to Steam if you want to dive into the whole thing. A hotfix to address a handful of issues that came up after the QoL update went live has also been released—you can read all about that here.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.