Disk Cleanup
Welcome to Disk Cleanup, our common weekend column delving into the PCs of PC gaming luminaries. Come again each weekend to learn a brand new interview, digging into the vital questions, like “How tidy is your desktop?” and “What recreation will you by no means uninstall?”
Geoff “Zag” Keene first encountered PC gaming by watching his dad play Blizzard video games at evening via a crack within the doorway. The primary time he noticed Diablo was at a LAN get together organised by his dad’s coworkers. “All of them had these computer systems within the basement, like 10 of them or one thing,” he says. “I keep in mind clicking round and simply being sort of misplaced … I feel that will need to have been the primary time I used to be excited about videogames as greater than only a factor that is round, however really like a hyper-fixation.”
Deep Subject is now engaged on a brand new venture, whereas additionally planning extra updates for Abiotic Issue. “We’ll have a brand new roadmap quickly for ABF,” he says. “All via 2026, we’re doing updates. We have got some DLC deliberate. We’re following another story threads. We’ve a bunch of stuff we wish to do with ABF as a result of it is a lot enjoyable to work in.”
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Keene briefly stepped out of his hazmat go well with to take me on a tram experience via the concrete warrens of his PC, which took us from the dusty archives of RTS gaming to extraction shooter R&D.
What recreation are you at the moment taking part in?
Geoff “Zag” Keene
Keene is the design director on the distinctive madcap co-op romp Abiotic Issue, which we topped Greatest Co-op in our 2025 GOTY awards.
The large one I have been obsessive about is Arc Raiders, for positive. What a murals, truthfully. If I made an extraction shooter, that is the sport I might have needed to make. It is so good.
What Arc Raiders has is that it is bought the vibe. It isn’t nearly mechanics. It isn’t nearly completely different weapons and attachments and all this shit … it understands it is this world you wish to spend time in. That is what I suppose I outline vibe as. The place do I wish to spend my time? Do I wish to dwell on this world? Do I wish to breathe it and really feel it? And I feel that is what it is actually good at, regardless of the very stunted, shitty AI voices that they need to do away with.
I play each Saturday. I play with my companion and a pal. We play completely different co-op video games on a regular basis, and Deep Subject’s just about based on making cool co-op issues. Video games are there to be shared with individuals, I feel.
Generally I play video games to look at different individuals take pleasure in them. I will play a recreation that I am sort of into, simply to look at my companion be actually into it and luxuriate in it. Or I will wish to convey my mates to return play. I am like “You ever performed Halo co-op? Come play!” And I will sort of sit again and perhaps battle sluggish or one thing, to look at them and have them expertise [it].
What was the earlier recreation you performed, and is it nonetheless put in?
I simply completed Dying Mild co-op. I am now engaged on the second, slowly. Simply began. I do not know if I prefer it but. We’ll see. However OG Dying Mild, that was actually fascinating. I had a pal that basically needed to play it. I feel I uninstalled it proper once we completed. I used to be like “I am good”.
I wasn’t actually [into it]. I believed the story was all very foolish, and quite a lot of it was tacky. It was sort of enjoyable to yell on the protagonist for being a dumbass. I undoubtedly fall off video games fairly fast in the event that they’re repetitive. If you happen to’re doing the identical actions time and again, and that recreation is filled with repetitive actions … however then once more, I like Arc Raiders, and that is very repetitive. I feel the gamers maintain that [interesting]; it is completely different every time due to the interactions.
We began the brand new one, not the brand new one, however Dying Mild 2 as a result of we’re persevering with the collection. We’re like “OK, let’s attempt the subsequent one”. And the smoother it is gotten, the extra tutorialised and onboarded, the much less I am liking it.
Generally issues must have a little bit of that jank to actually click on. I like seeing the errors. Not annoying errors and annoying bugs. However I like seeing the people behind the factor, creating the factor. Like “Oh, this bizarre trash can right here was positioned by someone. Why is that this floating within the air? Properly, as a result of someone moved this and forgot to repair this.” And it is simply humorous. I like that. I like seeing the seams on stuff like that. It makes it really feel extra like a chunk of artwork someone made, and never a commodity, like a product you eat.
What’s the oldest recreation (by launch date) at the moment put in in your PC?
It is Warcraft 2. I used to be taking part in that nicely earlier than I thought of video games as one thing I may make. That was the primary recreation that I used to be simply obsessive about. The world of it. I appreciated all of the items and the colors, which makes me sound like a quite simple individual … I suppose I used to be a toddler. However the music and issues and every little thing simply got here collectively rather well.
After I consider gaming nostalgia, it is my go-to. That is the oldest factor that I’m super-super obsessive about.
What’s the highest variety of hours you’ve gotten in any given recreation, in response to Steam?
There was a time when PUBG got here out and … everybody was simply taking part in it with their buddies, and the worst avid gamers that you already know have been all taking part in it. Everybody was simply operating round, attempting to outlive on this atmosphere that was killing all people. I used to be fairly good at it myself, and our artwork director, we used to play loads. It is really what we began taking part in once we first began working collectively and we actually bonded over that. However we performed the hell out of it and we bought superb at it.
There was a time interval, sort of towards [when] they added the snow map, and the sport was such as you have been taking part in co-op in opposition to—it was actual gamers—but it surely nonetheless had that sort of PvE really feel the place you are exploring this world, attempting to duck into bushes and conceal in buildings and loot stuff. I imply, it is actually why we now have Arc Raiders. The battle royale style instantly led to the extraction style.
I am very keen on it. That is why I’ve over 1,000 hours. I’ve 1,160 hours. We had these nice back-to-back classes of that recreation.
What recreation will you by no means, ever uninstall?
Sadly, it is Warcraft 2 once more. There’s one thing concerning the stuff you performed as a toddler, proper? The nostalgia issue. Generally you simply wish to boot it up. I will play one of many marketing campaign ranges or one thing actually fast, or I will simply click on round a bit. There’s one thing concerning the noises and the sounds I feel which might be fairly comforting. Generally you simply boot them as much as hear them once more. Like taking part in an previous tune you want.
It is fascinating as a result of, earlier than you emailed me, I had booted it up like a few days earlier than, and I am attempting to recollect why. I feel I had been careworn with work. Perhaps I used to be like “Oh, I simply want this. I am simply gonna have this for myself.” I do not know. Perhaps it is like, as an alternative of going to remedy, guys will simply actually boot up Warcraft 2.
What’s a chunk of non-gaming software program put in in your PC that you just could not dwell with out?
I used to be excited about this. I by no means used Home windows Snipping Device, proper? I take advantage of a program referred to as ShareX. It does rectangles on the display screen and it might probably document video and stuff too.
I have been utilizing that for half a decade, greater than half a decade, perhaps 10 years. I have been utilizing that as my approach to shortly snip display screen rectangles and ship them to individuals. We do it loads for work proper? Sport builders simply use it loads. We’ve to share quite a lot of visible info.
How tidy is your desktop display screen?
It is fairly tidy. I’ve two screens, and I maintain all my icons on the centre one, the primary one. It kind of fills up with stuff, like I will usually put my downloads on my desktop, like icons and stuff I am attempting to make use of, completely different work issues. After which they will refill, and I will finally put them in a folder the place I in all probability by no means take a look at them once more.
I haven’t got them in random positions on my display screen. I can not stand that. It bothers me a lot. I all the time type all of the icons. They’re left-aligned and as soon as they begin taking over about half the display screen, I am like “OK, time to tidy up.”
