Microsoft reportedly killing Games for Windows Live in July 2014

[Scorpus]

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.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/53686-microsoft-reportedly-killing-games-for-windows-live-in-july-2014.html

 

[lawfer]

Good.

Bury that **** 20 miles deep.

 

[mccartercar]

Thank glob.

 

[Xclusiveitalian]

I hated games for windows live, kill it with fireeeee! If they plan on making something, either make it good or nothing at all.

 

[m4a4]

Not surprised. People didn't like it (even petitioned against it).
I however have had no problems with it (besides not being able to join an XBL party)...

 

[jeffz6]

Good. GFWL killed many great games

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

It's no loss. It never worked anyway.

 

[Lurker101]

So what happens to games that are anchored by this worthless piece of DRM, such as Fallout 3?

 

[DDG4005]

I have several games that use this service. What's going to happen to them if the service is shuttered?

 

[Divvet]

So what happens to games that are anchored by this worthless piece of DRM, such as Fallout 3?

Iv'e never once used a GFWL account, and yet I have completed Fallout 3, so don't think that will be an issue.

 

[misor]

I think I only played aoe online about 4x then I forgot about it (and my pword).
I played aoe2 more than any other game except starcraft broodwar; will probably buy aoe2 hd via steam when price hits less than 5 dollars (loooong time )
currently, my games for the week are l4d and l4d2 and for next week, I'll probably play d3 again.

I think MS is remiss in promoting GFWL as even the free aoe online is not popular in my town.
(I love city building games but even aoe online is meh.)

 

[Puiu]

The worst gaming service I've ever used. it made the hate closing and opening batman and I even had a lot of trouble installing it. so dam stupid

 

[Guest]

Now, if they shutter the Metro interface the world will be a better place.

 

[Kibaruk]

Oh god you heard me!!! This is the best news ever!

 

[Guest]

So what happens to games that are anchored by this worthless piece of DRM, such as Fallout 3?

Iv'e never once used a GFWL account, and yet I have completed Fallout 3, so don't think that will be an issue.

Ever since an early patch, Fallout 3 requires GFWL to be installed in order to run.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

I hope they provide some sort of patch or workaround for those of us who still want to play some older games at times. I enjoyed the Batman games so much I've played them 3-4 times over now, and probably will want to continue to do so in the future. I still play GTA IV every once in a while, and if V doesn't come out on PC then I probably still will want to in two years time.

 

[Lurker101]

Iv'e never once used a GFWL account, and yet I have completed Fallout 3, so don't think that will be an issue.

You're forced to install it with the last update for some insane reason. If you try without GFWL, it complains about missing .dlls.

 

[Kevin82485]

I read that they were shutting down the GFWL Marketplace (to buy DLC for GFWL PC titles), not GFWL itself.

 

[tmcclelland47]

The only game I liked was Tinker, and I got that when I threw Vista Ultimate on my netbook (BTW, Vista runs really well on my netbook.) I wanted Halo 2, but thanks to a certain Pirate we all know and love, I got it.