What I'm hoping is that this perhaps means is a consolidation of the Xbox brand. Games for Windows Live was never much good, as Microsoft has clearly shown that it does not want to invest much in it, as it does not have a guaranteed return like the Xbox does in platform fees.
*Straps on tinfoil hat*
If Microsoft were to consolidate the Xbox brand, one possible ramification would be cross-platform multiplayer. The problem with allowing the PC to compete against consoles is that you're matching an extremely customizable platform against a very limited, locked-down version of the above. Consoles really don't have any advantages over PC's, and thus it would be really unfair to match those with the proprietary Xbox/PS3 handicaps against those without them.
Until console OS's become true OS's, allowing for hardware customization and variety(in both input and output), there will never be widespread crossplatform multiplayer.
Honestly, in my opinion that would be the best option for Microsoft/Sony. Simply (when doing the next generation of consoles) write the PlayStation 4& Xbox 720 OS's so that they can run on most hardware. They could still sell the hardware by itself, and most people would probably buy it, if it was even slightly competitive. (Based off their track record...the 360 and PS3 were relatively modern hardware when they were originally released.)
Offer the operating system as a separate product that one could purchase and run on your PC. I would envision dual-booting or something akin to it. (Microsoft would have the edge on this, of course, as it owns Windows) If you want to game, simply restart into Xbox mode(for example). That would allow Microsoft/Sony to still collect their royalties on games. I'm sure that hardware vendors would love to jump on board. Say, if you have a PS4 which has an ATI Radeon HD 7850...I bet AMD or NVIDIA would love to sell you a graphics upgrade, and would do all the hard work making the drivers and etc. for the sales. Microsoft/Sony could easily implement automatic driver installations for supported hardware, and etc, allowing for the "just works" feel, and if you wanted to do something unsupported, you could switch into advanced mode or something.
It would be amazing if this happened, because as great as Windows is, it really isn't designed for gaming. The two main reasons that people game on the PC (imo) are that it uses already existing hardware, so you can game on your PC and then go and set up a spreadsheet without needing two different machines, and the customization it allows. You can use a controller or a mouse and keyboard, and for many games the latter is superior as far as accuracy and speed, so the former isn't super common on that platform. When I get tired, it's great to switch to my 360 controller and play from the couch. You can also put any kind of hardware you want inside your PC, whether you're rocking a entry-level HD 4670 or a pair of GTX 570s. (I personally love my Eyefinity, and you can't do that with an Xbox or PS3.)
I very much doubt that consolidation under the Xbox brand means that Microsoft is likely to do something like my suggestion, but we can always hope...
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