According to a since-deleted support page from Microsoft, discovered by Polygon, Games for Windows Live will be discontinued on July 1, 2014. At least one title that relies on the service, Age of Empires Online, will be affected by the closure, with the support page indicating the game will no longer function after GFWL is shut down.
Games for Windows Live will be discontinued on July 1, 2014. Although it is available through Steam, Age of Empires Online requires features of the Games for Windows Live service. You can continue to enjoy all the features of Age of Empires Online as the service will remain 100% operational until July 1, 2014 when the server will shut down.
Microsoft informed PC gamers last week that they will be shutting down the Games for Windows Live Marketplace on August 21, 2013. The company also recently hired Jason Holtman, formerly of Valve and the man behind Steam, to head up their PC gaming division, indicating something may be in the works to replace GFWL.
It's possible that Microsoft may ditch Games for Windows Live and replace it with a beefed up version of the Xbox Games service found in Windows 8. Like GFWL, Xbox Games links with your Xbox account to provide achievements and leaderboards for certain PC titles, although currently it's limited to Windows Store games. The next logical step would be to expand this service to include support for AAA-titles, which are usually run from the Desktop.
A number of major titles over the past years have supported Games for Windows Live, including Grand Theft Auto IV, Fable III, Batman: Arkham City, Resident Evil 5, Dark Souls and BioShock 2. However the service has generally been disliked by PC gamers, with many labeling it as unreliable and intrusive.