Games For Windows Live: Free for all
Games For Windows Live: Free for all
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On their technology conference GameFest 2008 Microsoft announced today that the service Games for Windows LIVE (which they brought to life as an equivalent to the service XBox Live for the console XBox360) will from now on be free for all users. This is quite a big change, because up to now a GOLD membership would have cost you $49.99 for a 12-months membership. Read on for more details.
Features like achievements, cross-platform play with the XBox360 (for example in games like Shadowrun), voice and text chat, friends lists and some more will now be free for every PC gamer to use. This change is effective immediately and affects every Games for Windows LIVE game, no matter if they were already released or if they are to come out in the future.
But this is not all, folks. Microsoft also plan to introduce a marketplace for the service (again, we already know this from XBox 360), which will feature downloadable games, new content for games, demos and trailers. Some of this content will be free, but for some content you will also have to pay for. It was also announced that work is in progress to streamline the interface. And upcoming titles with LIVE support were introduced as well. Those are Warhammer 40.000: Dawn of War II and Battlestations: Pacific.
This announcement is definitely a sign for the crash-landing that Games for Windows LIVE has apparently been up to now. Time will now tell if this will change in the future. But we predict that there will be likely more gamers playing titles like the RTS Universe at War shortly, which features an online mode that you were only able to fully use without restrictions with a Games for Windows Live GOLD account up to now.
Meanwhile, XBox360 gamers still have to pay for XBox Live. What will they think?
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It does sound interesting, the PC desperately needs a service to unite all developers, if that should be Games for Windows, so be it.
But I have to say, from my point of view, so far they did a lousy job at marketing the thing. The only contact I have with the brand is, that it's written on some of the game boxes that I buy. But as of today I still have no idea where to sign up for the service and what they exactly offer.
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