Microsoft gave its Games for Windows service a handful of new features today, with the introduction of an anti-piracy solution and in-game marketplace. While these announcements are aimed mostly at developers - the company was speaking at the Game Developers Conference after all - there are certain changes that will be of interest to gamers as well.
The in-game marketplace, for example, should help developers to sell content through their own store fronts via customized APIs and give users access to additional game content in the most seamless way possible. Furthermore, a new 'Roaming' feature will enable gamers to save their settings in the cloud and access them on any compatible and connected Windows PC - much like the Steam Cloud service announced last year.
Lastly, in an effort to prevent game piracy and thus lure more game publishers, Microsoft will be implementing some sort of zero-day piracy protection that will require server-side authentication of titles before online play is allowed. Few details were revealed about this feature, but hopefully it won't involve treating legitimate game owners like potential criminals.