Games for Windows - LIVE

When gamers hear about Games for Windows - LIVE, they may think about the platform or the client. In this case, we are taking a look at the client; however, we just cannot do that without drawing the platform within the discussion. Sadly for some of us, Games for Windows - LIVE is dying. Moreover, Microsoft has set a specific date to close it down - 1st of July 2014.

Games for Windows - LIVE had a run of just above seven years and slowly has been losing ground in favor of Steam in the last few years. Mark of the Ninja was the first Microsoft Studios title to be released on Steam rather than Games for Windows - LIVE on the 16th of October 2012.

In truth, the whole concept had problems (big ones) since its inception as it had a price tag and not a cheap one, to say the least. Microsoft was charging 49.99$ in order to provide users with online gameplay capabilities and soon after that, they had to drop the price all the way to the ground and make Games for Windows - LIVE freely available for anyone.

Bold move, some would say, but that has announced a series of attacks from the community that never seized and slowly, fueled by more lesser problems through the years, have signed the death sentence for the entire platform. Developers have also migrated to the almighty Steam as well as other platforms such as EA’s Origin, leaving Games for Windows - LIVE with only one option and that is biting the dust.

By 2011, Games for Windows - LIVE had already started its downfall as users just couldn’t cope with it anymore. There were petitions, there was controversy, lots of angry users and all of them combined resulted in the predictable demise of the client alongside the whole platform. Microsoft just couldn’t make it work. Thank God Valve could and still can do a proper job!