Games for Windows LIVE Closing July 2014?

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billgatez

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I wounder what will happen to all the games like GTA and Bioshock 2 that use Windows live for online play?
Also more evidence that shows that MS no longer cares about PC gamers.
 

digiex

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The online model is broker, bring back the LAN model. The reason why ageless games like the old Counter Strike, Generals, Red Alert 2, old Starcraft, Warcraft have a cult following is because of LAN.
 

back_by_demand

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Shutting GFWL does not mean an end to the games you own, doomsayers, prepare for a cross platform integrated game service, one where you can buy Xbox games and play on the PC too
 

lpedraja2002

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Pfft Microsoft was full of empty promises when they announced GFWL. Cross-platform play anyone? How many games did we get with that feature? Yeah that ONE GAME who no one remembers.

I just hopes Dark Souls 2 doesn't use the damn thing and what will happen to Age of Empires Online players? Way to rekill Age of Empires AGAIN! Microsoft! Yeez... its like they hate RTS games with a passion.
 

JOSHSKORN

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So in otherwords, they're finally (sort of) acknowledging that they royally screwed up with Windows 8 and are giving up completely on the PC market, and now are focusing on XBOX ONE and that's that?
 
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Oh yah, GFWL, now I remember...Bioshock 2...almost got an aneurism trying to install that game through Steam and then activated it through GFWL [burn it with fire, please]. Made only one play-through of Bioshock 2, unlike the first Bioshock, of which I made many. MS got a really polite/tempered complaint from me at that time, plus I said I would never buy another GFWL game ever again or any future Bioshock games (too bad though, Bioshock Infinite looks like fun) . I vote with my wallet not with my keyboard.
 

Aoyagi

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I'm quite sure GTA 4 doesn't actually use GFWL for multiplayer. That's what the Communist Club is for.

Then again, I really wonder what happens to the games that use GFWL as a DRM.
 

bustapr

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though I love that the thing called GFWL is going to die soon, I fear that something worse may come after. I just hope I dont have to go through the nightmare that is creating a new account of anything after buying my games on steam like I had to do with bioshock 2 and splinter cell(ubisofts worse drm). I like logging in to steam and not having to worry about other assholes thinking I stole my steam game -_-
 

back_by_demand

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lpedraja2002, right there, you are exactly what is wrong with the world - not looking forwards, only complaining about things in the past.
Previous cross-compatability was doomed to failure due to the architecture and coding requirements - now we have a totally new console which is basically a PC, with and OS that is basically Windows 8 - cross-compatability has never been more possible and a rebrand/relaunch to take advantage of the hype around Xbox One is more likely than just a shutdown.
 

bloodroses

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I seriously hope they plan on doing something about the games that are already released for GFWL as some of them will not save or do any other necessary features without an active account. Street Fighter X Tekken is one of them.
 

eklipz330

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no doubt they will release an updated client, one that's deemed more competitive. if anyone is capable, it's microsoft.

pc gamers are one of the more demanding markets. we know what we want, and we know what we like. all they have to do is listen
 

stevejnb

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"All they have to do is listen"? you mean like the people who released the original Humble Indie Bundle? They listened to years of PC gamers saying "Oh, the only reason we pirate is because things are overpriced by big megacorporations just out to milk us for a buck - if games were reasonably priced, we wouldn't pirate!" So, they released a bundle which a lot of people were interested in at a completely flexible price - as little as a one cent donation to get the whole bundle.

So, what do you figure the PC gaming community that "knows what it wants" did to a group that "listened? Read for yourself.

http://blog.wolfire.com/2010/05/Saving-a-penny----pirating-the-Humble-Indie-Bundle

Of the 100,000+ tough-to-please-but-reasonable-if-listened-to PC gamers who downloaded the Humble Indie Bundle, over 25,000 pirated it - didn't donate one single cent to keep a bunch of indie game devs offering a great deal in business. That's not even including torrent sources too, so you can bet the piracy numbers were significantly higher than listed in that blog.

This "the PC gaming community is just such a reasonable group that knows what it wants and is making it so easy for game sellers" stuff is total BS. PC gamers want to b*tch, piss, moan, whine, and complain about every little thing that isn't perfect, blaming the companies for *everything*, and then pirate it anyways when someone does listen. They are the definition of entitled, spoiled brats who will throw a tantrum if they don't have their ice cream before supper served to them on a silver platter.

Games for Windows Live was a problematic service but, stop pretending like all the blame is on the shoulders of the gaming companies - not just MS, but across the board. The PC gaming community repeatedly proves that gaming companies bending over backwards for them oftentimes do not get a whit of appreciation and just more complaints and piracy. Is it a wonder they're trying to DRM us up the bung hole after the debacle of the 90's where every major release that cost companies millions of dollars to produce was pirated up the wazoo? PC gamers have, time and again, proven to be the whiniest group of entitled brats out there, and also the first to pat themselves on the back for being such great and reasonable customers - an utter joke.
 

back_by_demand

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The 1 cent donation bundle is a stupid and extreme example, Steam have already proved that bundle packs and time limited special sales can drive vast numbers. If that 100,000 had to pay $1 instead of 1 cent, the number of downloaders would have to be 100 times less to make the same money. A dollar is nothing to some people, they could have made 10 times as much and if they had properly distributed it like Steam there would have been almost no passing on or piracy. Good principle, idiot moneymen.
 

IndignantSkeptic

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We need a consortium for digital download of everything.

stevejnb, yes some PC gamers are total jerks, but so are some game makers somewhat. It's more like a war than a beating. Both sides are abusing people on the other side to certain extents. For example Sega when they sell their classics on PC, they often times give the Sega Genesis Megadrive versions of games rather than the vastly superior arcade or even PC versions. They don't give you the PC version on PC! WTF ?! Go look at Sonic 3D Blast on Steam and Mobygames if you don't believe me.
 

Bean007

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Damn, now I can't send messages on Xbox Live with some of my friends. It was all free!!!! Didn't have to pay for Gold. I don't use my xbox 360 anymore.
 

stevejnb

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Back_by_demand, I agree, it was a stupid business plan and they could have gone about it in a way that makes more money. The thing is though, even though it wasn't intended as such, it ended up being a neat little experiment. In the 90's when I was buying Duke Nukem 3D and Tribes and whatever, PC gamers who pirated - and there were LOTS of them - would claim that they only pirated because "games were too expensive" and they wouldn't pirate if they were more affordable. In the 2000's when game developers began fighting back and adding in DRM, PC gamers complained bout price and constantly complained about the restriction of DRM, saying that "pirated copies of games are easier to use, so they're punishing the people who play legally - so I pirate to use a less problematic version of the game." They also still complained about price, and they didn't care about paying as much because most of the money went to he publishers anyways..

Whether they intended it or not, the Humble Indie Bundle put these two very, very oft repeated claims about piracy to the test because one, it was as cheap as it gets, and two, there was no DRM whatsoever. What did they show? That the PC community was full of $*(% when it tried to sound like it actually had reasons for piracy other than being cheap and not really giving a rats' arse whether the people developing these games got paid or not.

So, it was bad business, but it proved one thing - that when PC gamers had a chance to prove that they actually had a good reason for pirating, more than 1 in 4 of them were cheap and underhanded. I can imagine that a lot of companies were looking at this debacle and said "Yeah, there is proof that we were right to start using DRM."

And Skeptic, I agree with you. I'm not trying to paint these companies as some saints just out to protect themselves. They are companies that exist to make money and will squeeze every dollar out of us that they can. Calling it a war is not a bad way to look at it - underhanded, greedy companies try and rip off the gamers, and underhanded greedy gamers try and rip off the companies. What I'm pointing out is that this myth that the PC gaming community is by and large fair and won't screw companies that don't screw with them is utter BS - they will lie, cheat, and steal, and then go in forums and type in al caps that they are just wonderful, reasonable people who want fair treatment. There are plenty of honest gamers, but there are *loads* of people who will pirate when they know any money they donate goes to charity and the devs and that's it.
 
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At which point did I say that Bs Infinite uses GFWL?

I wrote, I'll never buy any GFWL games and FUTURE Bioshock games (after Bioshock 2), hope that clarifies it - I don't need to "Google"...first.
 
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