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GAMES FOR WINDOWS LIVE LAUNCHES MAY 8TH

Microsoft has announced that their Games for Windows – Live service will be launching on May 8th and, as with Xbox Live, will be available in 2 flavors – Gold and Silver. For those of you who missed the memo, Games for Windows – Live is Microsoft’s attempt to bring an "Xbox Live" type experience to PC gamers. Before we talk about just what GFW – Live is, let’s first talk about the biggest issue that’s been floated about on this one, and that’s the subject of PC gamers having to pay a fee in order to play games online.

Despite rumors to the contrary, it would appear that Microsoft is not expecting PC gamers to pay for the privilege of playing their purchases online. According to the press release, the ability for PC gamers to play against other PC gamers will be included in the free Games for Windows – Live Silver membership. Based on the information available, it would appear that pay "Gold" level membership (priced at $50 per year) is geared towards those who want to use custom online matchmaking tools or those who wish to play the upcoming cross-platform PC/Xbox 360 titles against Xbox 360 owners. In addition, Microsoft has also advised that the two services (Xbox Live and GFW-Live) are part of a unified service. If you have one, you have both – so there are no additional fees involved for Gold members of either service. Gamertags will also be linked across the two services, so existing Xbox Live members won’t have to stress over having to use two different identities between the services..

So what do you get with each service? Well, according to yesterday’s press release the following features are included with the two levels of service;

  • Silver (Free) Membership Features
    • Single gamertag
    • Common gamer profile
    • Common gamerscore
    • Single player achievements
    • Private chat via text and voice
    • Common friends list and online presence
    • PC only multiplayer including browsing a list of active PC games
  • Gold ($50 per year) Membership Features
    • All Silver membership features
    • Multiplayer matchmaking with friends
    • TrueSkill™ matchmaking
    • Multiplayer achievements
    • Cross-platform gameplay

While I for one would certainly welcome a simple, universal way to play PC titles against friends, I really do wonder just how Microsoft plans on pulling this one off. Unlike the Xbox brand, Microsoft really has little control over the PC game market, so the idea of them being able to control a universal service for online PC gameplay seems a bit far-fetched. Rather, I see this as becoming more of a service that PC developers will be able to use as an additional advertising tool for their titles. Further, with the direction Microsoft seems to be taking Games for Windows (using it to push games that will only run under Windows Vista), I really do have to wonder just how much of a benefit the service will be in the near future.

For those of you who want all the juicy details about the upcoming service, check out the full press release at this link. If that’s not enough for you, check out this FAQ on the service over at the Games for Windows site. For those of you who don’t, you may now return to your regularly scheduled internet surfing.

March 15, 2007 Posted by | Announcements, Games for Windows, Microsoft, PC Games, Windows, Windows Live | Leave a comment