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Forums - PC - THQ drops Games For Windows Live from multiple games!

Scoobes on 15 September 2010

Unsuprisingly, another publisher drops the terrible GFWL service to focus on Steam. Are Microsoft ever going to truly support the PC like they say they will? Will they offer any decent competition in the PC space in the future?

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2010-09-15-thq-drops-games-for-windows-live-from-multiple-games

Publisher THQ (and developer Relic) will not include Microsoft's much-maligned Games For Windows Live tech for its forthcoming Warhammer 40,000 titles.

THQ has been a regular customer for Microsoft's multiplayer and community service, which many PC gamers have decried as troublesome and invasive despite its similarity in concept and interface to the more well-received Xbox Live.

The use of Games For Windows Live in Dawn of War II and its first add-on had also drawn ire due to the games also requiring a Steam account, thus requiring multiple logins to play.

In a move likely to please much of its community, standalone strategy expansion Dawn of War II: Retribution will instead use Valve's Steamworks platform, although its predecessors will not be patched to use the new back-end.

"This new back end will allow players to invite friends into matches from their Steam friends lists," explained THQ in a statement, "and take advantage of the full set of Steam community features including groups, achievements, and Steam overlay chat channels.

"We are also going to include an all new matchmaking and ranking set up, built specifically for Dawn of War II – Retribution.

"The move to Steamworks will also allow us to provide features like guest passes, free multiplayer weekends, pre-loading and the ability to provide fast turn-around on future patches and updates.

THQ last month confirmed that another Relic/Games Workshop title, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine would ship with Steamworks rather than Games For Windows Live, which would seem to signal that the publisher is set to move away from the service entirely.

GamesIndustry.biz has contacted THQ for further clarification as to its future use of Games For Windows Live.




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zarx on 16 September 2010

that's good news and this is topical http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/09/14/how-games-for-windows-live-ate-half-of-my-lunch-hour/



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Mr Puggsly on 16 September 2010

I still think GFWL is going to be a major competitor for Steam in the coming years. MS has several releases coming. Capcom will still be using it for Dead Rising 2 and Lost Planet 2. Upcoming games will also add GFWL.

If MS really starts opening its wallet. Steam is gonna be in trouble. We all know what Sony said. "We won't outspend Microsoft." I doubt Steam will either.

Edit: By the way, I purchased Gears 1 recently on GFWL. Works great... considering its a "terrible service."



Recently Completed: 
River City: Rival Showdown for 3DS (3/5) - River City: Tokyo Rumble for 3DS (4/5) - Zelda: BotW for Wii U (5/5) - Zelda: BotW for Switch (5/5) - Zelda: Link's Awakening for Switch (4/5) - Rage 2 for X1X (4/5) - Rage for 360 (3/5) - Streets of Rage 4 for X1/PC (4/5) - Gears 5 for X1X (5/5) - Mortal Kombat 11 for X1X (5/5) - Doom 64 for N64 (emulator) (3/5) - Crackdown 3 for X1S/X1X (4/5) - Infinity Blade III - for iPad 4 (3/5) - Infinity Blade II - for iPad 4 (4/5) - Infinity Blade - for iPad 4 (4/5) - Wolfenstein: The Old Blood for X1 (3/5) - Assassin's Creed: Origins for X1 (3/5) - Uncharted: Lost Legacy for PS4 (4/5) - EA UFC 3 for X1 (4/5) - Doom for X1 (4/5) - Titanfall 2 for X1 (4/5) - Super Mario 3D World for Wii U (4/5) - South Park: The Stick of Truth for X1 BC (4/5) - Call of Duty: WWII for X1 (4/5) -Wolfenstein II for X1 - (4/5) - Dead or Alive: Dimensions for 3DS (4/5) - Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite for X1 (3/5) - Halo Wars 2 for X1/PC (4/5) - Halo Wars: DE for X1 (4/5) - Tekken 7 for X1 (4/5) - Injustice 2 for X1 (4/5) - Yakuza 5 for PS3 (3/5) - Battlefield 1 (Campaign) for X1 (3/5) - Assassin's Creed: Syndicate for X1 (4/5) - Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare for X1 (4/5) - Call of Duty: MW Remastered for X1 (4/5) - Donkey Kong Country Returns for 3DS (4/5) - Forza Horizon 3 for X1 (5/5)

Zkuq on 16 September 2010
Mr Puggsly said:

I still think GFWL is going to be a major competitor for Steam in the coming years. MS has several releases coming. Capcom will still be using it for Dead Rising 2 and Lost Planet 2. Upcoming games will also add GFWL.

If MS really starts opening its wallet. Steam is gonna be in trouble. We all know what Sony said. "We won't outspend Microsoft." I doubt Steam will either.

Edit: By the way, I purchased Gears 1 recently on GFWL. Works great... considering its a "terrible service."

So we're getting ports? Do you really think ports are what are going to make GfWL popular?

Also, whatever GfWL offers, Steam offers it as a lot better version.



slowmo on 16 September 2010
Mr Puggsly said:

I still think GFWL is going to be a major competitor for Steam in the coming years. MS has several releases coming. Capcom will still be using it for Dead Rising 2 and Lost Planet 2. Upcoming games will also add GFWL.

If MS really starts opening its wallet. Steam is gonna be in trouble. We all know what Sony said. "We won't outspend Microsoft." I doubt Steam will either.

Edit: By the way, I purchased Gears 1 recently on GFWL. Works great... considering its a "terrible service."


GFWL is already dead, Microsoft should have stopped flogging it 2 years ago.  As soon as they tried to start charging PC gamers to play it was never going to get the gamers onside.  Even if it was completely free now, for everything, there will always be the nagging doubt in many PC gamers minds they would start charging as soon as they could.



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Mr Puggsly on 16 September 2010
Zkuq said:
Mr Puggsly said:

I still think GFWL is going to be a major competitor for Steam in the coming years. MS has several releases coming. Capcom will still be using it for Dead Rising 2 and Lost Planet 2. Upcoming games will also add GFWL.

If MS really starts opening its wallet. Steam is gonna be in trouble. We all know what Sony said. "We won't outspend Microsoft." I doubt Steam will either.

Edit: By the way, I purchased Gears 1 recently on GFWL. Works great... considering its a "terrible service."

So we're getting ports? Do you really think ports are what are going to make GfWL popular?

Also, whatever GfWL offers, Steam offers it as a lot better version.

Popular? I said a major competitor.

Who knows how popular Steam actually is? We know they account for a majority of digital downloads. But we don't know how much sales they actually get. Do we even know if they get more downloads than XBLA? Who knows?

Anyhow, I'm just predicting what will happen in the future. If MS is willing to throw money around, they can easily compete with Steam.



Recently Completed: 
River City: Rival Showdown for 3DS (3/5) - River City: Tokyo Rumble for 3DS (4/5) - Zelda: BotW for Wii U (5/5) - Zelda: BotW for Switch (5/5) - Zelda: Link's Awakening for Switch (4/5) - Rage 2 for X1X (4/5) - Rage for 360 (3/5) - Streets of Rage 4 for X1/PC (4/5) - Gears 5 for X1X (5/5) - Mortal Kombat 11 for X1X (5/5) - Doom 64 for N64 (emulator) (3/5) - Crackdown 3 for X1S/X1X (4/5) - Infinity Blade III - for iPad 4 (3/5) - Infinity Blade II - for iPad 4 (4/5) - Infinity Blade - for iPad 4 (4/5) - Wolfenstein: The Old Blood for X1 (3/5) - Assassin's Creed: Origins for X1 (3/5) - Uncharted: Lost Legacy for PS4 (4/5) - EA UFC 3 for X1 (4/5) - Doom for X1 (4/5) - Titanfall 2 for X1 (4/5) - Super Mario 3D World for Wii U (4/5) - South Park: The Stick of Truth for X1 BC (4/5) - Call of Duty: WWII for X1 (4/5) -Wolfenstein II for X1 - (4/5) - Dead or Alive: Dimensions for 3DS (4/5) - Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite for X1 (3/5) - Halo Wars 2 for X1/PC (4/5) - Halo Wars: DE for X1 (4/5) - Tekken 7 for X1 (4/5) - Injustice 2 for X1 (4/5) - Yakuza 5 for PS3 (3/5) - Battlefield 1 (Campaign) for X1 (3/5) - Assassin's Creed: Syndicate for X1 (4/5) - Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare for X1 (4/5) - Call of Duty: MW Remastered for X1 (4/5) - Donkey Kong Country Returns for 3DS (4/5) - Forza Horizon 3 for X1 (5/5)

Mr Puggsly on 16 September 2010
slowmo said:


GFWL is already dead, Microsoft should have stopped flogging it 2 years ago.  As soon as they tried to start charging PC gamers to play it was never going to get the gamers onside.  Even if it was completely free now, for everything, there will always be the nagging doubt in many PC gamers minds they would start charging as soon as they could.

The reason charging for GFWL online play didn't work is because they didn't deliver appealing software. It can be done but you need to offer something more than a late port of Halo 2. Just ask the millions of people that pay for MMORPGs.

For the record, online play is free now on GFWL. I say that because you said, "Even if it was completely free ." Were you not aware?



Recently Completed: 
River City: Rival Showdown for 3DS (3/5) - River City: Tokyo Rumble for 3DS (4/5) - Zelda: BotW for Wii U (5/5) - Zelda: BotW for Switch (5/5) - Zelda: Link's Awakening for Switch (4/5) - Rage 2 for X1X (4/5) - Rage for 360 (3/5) - Streets of Rage 4 for X1/PC (4/5) - Gears 5 for X1X (5/5) - Mortal Kombat 11 for X1X (5/5) - Doom 64 for N64 (emulator) (3/5) - Crackdown 3 for X1S/X1X (4/5) - Infinity Blade III - for iPad 4 (3/5) - Infinity Blade II - for iPad 4 (4/5) - Infinity Blade - for iPad 4 (4/5) - Wolfenstein: The Old Blood for X1 (3/5) - Assassin's Creed: Origins for X1 (3/5) - Uncharted: Lost Legacy for PS4 (4/5) - EA UFC 3 for X1 (4/5) - Doom for X1 (4/5) - Titanfall 2 for X1 (4/5) - Super Mario 3D World for Wii U (4/5) - South Park: The Stick of Truth for X1 BC (4/5) - Call of Duty: WWII for X1 (4/5) -Wolfenstein II for X1 - (4/5) - Dead or Alive: Dimensions for 3DS (4/5) - Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite for X1 (3/5) - Halo Wars 2 for X1/PC (4/5) - Halo Wars: DE for X1 (4/5) - Tekken 7 for X1 (4/5) - Injustice 2 for X1 (4/5) - Yakuza 5 for PS3 (3/5) - Battlefield 1 (Campaign) for X1 (3/5) - Assassin's Creed: Syndicate for X1 (4/5) - Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare for X1 (4/5) - Call of Duty: MW Remastered for X1 (4/5) - Donkey Kong Country Returns for 3DS (4/5) - Forza Horizon 3 for X1 (5/5)

slowmo on 16 September 2010
Mr Puggsly said:
slowmo said:


GFWL is already dead, Microsoft should have stopped flogging it 2 years ago.  As soon as they tried to start charging PC gamers to play it was never going to get the gamers onside.  Even if it was completely free now, for everything, there will always be the nagging doubt in many PC gamers minds they would start charging as soon as they could.

The reason charging for GFWL online play didn't work is because they didn't deliver appealing software. It can be done but you need to offer something more than a late port of Halo 2. Just ask the millions of people that pay for MMORPGs.

For the record, online play is free now on GFWL. I say that because you said, "Even if it was completely free ." Were you not aware?


I thought it was but I didn't want to stake my reputation on what I'd read rather than tried.  On my PC I have a couple of titles but I sign in with my Gold account anyway so couldn't ever confirm.  You'll still never get gamers paying to play FPS online, it doesn't matter how appealing you make it imo.



Mr Puggsly on 16 September 2010
slowmo said:
Mr Puggsly said:
slowmo said:


GFWL is already dead, Microsoft should have stopped flogging it 2 years ago.  As soon as they tried to start charging PC gamers to play it was never going to get the gamers onside.  Even if it was completely free now, for everything, there will always be the nagging doubt in many PC gamers minds they would start charging as soon as they could.

The reason charging for GFWL online play didn't work is because they didn't deliver appealing software. It can be done but you need to offer something more than a late port of Halo 2. Just ask the millions of people that pay for MMORPGs.

For the record, online play is free now on GFWL. I say that because you said, "Even if it was completely free ." Were you not aware?


I thought it was but I didn't want to stake my reputation on what I'd read rather than tried.  On my PC I have a couple of titles but I sign in with my Gold account anyway so couldn't ever confirm.  You'll still never get gamers paying to play FPS online, it doesn't matter how appealing you make it imo.

Well that's not really important.

I'm just saying GFWL could become a big competitor with Steam and I think it will. If MS can't do it, who can? But they need to relaunch it (people love relaunches) and improve the software.

Which will likely happen sometime in the future.



Recently Completed: 
River City: Rival Showdown for 3DS (3/5) - River City: Tokyo Rumble for 3DS (4/5) - Zelda: BotW for Wii U (5/5) - Zelda: BotW for Switch (5/5) - Zelda: Link's Awakening for Switch (4/5) - Rage 2 for X1X (4/5) - Rage for 360 (3/5) - Streets of Rage 4 for X1/PC (4/5) - Gears 5 for X1X (5/5) - Mortal Kombat 11 for X1X (5/5) - Doom 64 for N64 (emulator) (3/5) - Crackdown 3 for X1S/X1X (4/5) - Infinity Blade III - for iPad 4 (3/5) - Infinity Blade II - for iPad 4 (4/5) - Infinity Blade - for iPad 4 (4/5) - Wolfenstein: The Old Blood for X1 (3/5) - Assassin's Creed: Origins for X1 (3/5) - Uncharted: Lost Legacy for PS4 (4/5) - EA UFC 3 for X1 (4/5) - Doom for X1 (4/5) - Titanfall 2 for X1 (4/5) - Super Mario 3D World for Wii U (4/5) - South Park: The Stick of Truth for X1 BC (4/5) - Call of Duty: WWII for X1 (4/5) -Wolfenstein II for X1 - (4/5) - Dead or Alive: Dimensions for 3DS (4/5) - Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite for X1 (3/5) - Halo Wars 2 for X1/PC (4/5) - Halo Wars: DE for X1 (4/5) - Tekken 7 for X1 (4/5) - Injustice 2 for X1 (4/5) - Yakuza 5 for PS3 (3/5) - Battlefield 1 (Campaign) for X1 (3/5) - Assassin's Creed: Syndicate for X1 (4/5) - Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare for X1 (4/5) - Call of Duty: MW Remastered for X1 (4/5) - Donkey Kong Country Returns for 3DS (4/5) - Forza Horizon 3 for X1 (5/5)

Scoobes on 16 September 2010
Mr Puggsly said:
slowmo said:
Mr Puggsly said:
slowmo said:


GFWL is already dead, Microsoft should have stopped flogging it 2 years ago.  As soon as they tried to start charging PC gamers to play it was never going to get the gamers onside.  Even if it was completely free now, for everything, there will always be the nagging doubt in many PC gamers minds they would start charging as soon as they could.

The reason charging for GFWL online play didn't work is because they didn't deliver appealing software. It can be done but you need to offer something more than a late port of Halo 2. Just ask the millions of people that pay for MMORPGs.

For the record, online play is free now on GFWL. I say that because you said, "Even if it was completely free ." Were you not aware?


I thought it was but I didn't want to stake my reputation on what I'd read rather than tried.  On my PC I have a couple of titles but I sign in with my Gold account anyway so couldn't ever confirm.  You'll still never get gamers paying to play FPS online, it doesn't matter how appealing you make it imo.

Well that's not really important.

I'm just saying GFWL could become a big competitor with Steam and I think it will. If MS can't do it, who can? But they need to relaunch it (people love relaunches) and improve the software.

Which will likely happen sometime in the future.

MS have done 2 things/games so far that may help GFWL: Fable 3 day and date release with 360 version and Age of Empires Online.

Both however have problems:

The Fable franchise has skipped an iteration on PC. The majority of fans are now predominantly on 360.

Most fans know MS closed Ensemble, that's bad PR from the start but redeemable. However, AoE: Online looks like MS' attempt to jump into the casual Farmville market with an established core franchise.




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