Microsoft has revamped its Games for Windows Live service today, marking the first major update since its debut 18 months ago, and it looks like the company is getting ready on Steam developer Valve. In fact, speaking in a recent interview with Shacknews, Games for Windows Live general manager Chris Early has confirmed that Microsoft plans to distribute full PC titles through its Games for Windows LIVE Marketplace in the near future.

Today’s release basically improves on the user interface, but a separate update scheduled for the coming weeks is expected to give users access to trailers, demos, and most importantly downloadable content. Microsoft hopes to exploit the latter to build a market presence by partnering with a number of studios such as Bethesda, so that they can offer exclusive DLC for high profile titles even if the game itself is being sold on Steam.

This is a smart yet long overdue move considering it already has the dominant PC gaming platform, its Windows operating system, but of course Valve has done a fantastic job at defining the way these distribution services work and Microsoft will have a lot of catching-up to do.