Games for Windows Live goes completely free

Posted Jul 22nd 2008 2:30PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Biz, Downloads

It's not exactly a shock but today Microsoft has officially announced it is doing away with the fees for the so called "Gold" features for its Games for Windows Live platform. All games that have Games for Windows Live as part of its interface can now use the features like the TruSkill matchmaking, voice and text chat, friends list and cross-platform multiplayer for selected Xbox 360 games for free. Previously those features cost $50 a year to use (they were free if you already had a subscription to Xbox Live). This change affects all current and future PC games that use Live

Microsoft also announced plans to launch a Games for Windows Marketplace feature sometime this fall. Presumably similar to the Xbox 360's Xbox Live Marketplace, this will be a location where people can download both free and paid games along with demos, trailers and other content. Microsoft has also announced plans to make the actual Games for Windows interface more "PC friendly", which presumably means it will look less than the Xbox 360 UI it currently has. Big Download will have a chat with a Microsoft rep about these changes later this week.

[via email press release]

Tags: breaking, games-for-windows, games-for-windows-live, microsoft

4 Comments

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Still, Steam is top spot for me for the time being.Posted at 2:55PM on Jul 22nd 2008 by sicsided

about time microsoft gets their head out of their assesPosted at 3:42PM on Jul 22nd 2008 by dave

Too little too late MS.Posted at 4:43PM on Jul 22nd 2008 by Mike

still MS, why would we want to buy a game and then pay to play it online? i already pay for broadband, and i already bought the game (thats the software and connection paid for now i need to purchase rights to play?)
its so lame, especially when u consider the amount of free 2 connect games, let alone all the games that cost nothing 2buy or play online. i think u should make the connections free n keep ur gold membership that allows u better perks for the games. same with xbox, should be free if u already have broadband.
Use some initiative MS, go like the mmorpgs, makes ur games more customisable n charge for the best bits.
charging to play online on a PC is soooo lame. plus u wont see me buyin any whilst i have 2 pay2playPosted at 4:29AM on Sep 16th 2008 by chris