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Games For Windows digital distribution service to compete with STEAM

by Steven Williamson on 23 July 2008, 11:06

Tags: Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

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STEAM, the digital distribution platform that allows gamers to download games direct to their desktops, will soon have a competitor who plans to flex its muscles with a similar service.

Microsoft has today confirmed that it will be expanding its Games For Windows Live service and will be launching a similar platform to STEAM this Autumn, allowing gamers to download games, trailers and demos.

The service will work in the same way that Microsoft's Xbox live marketplace does, though the Games for Windows live interface will be streamlined to make it more PC friendly.

Games for Windows Live launched last year with Shadowrun and Halo 2 offering cross-platform matches between Xbox 360 and PC players. Since then, however, the service has struggled and today, aside from annoucing its new digital distribution service, Microsoft has taken action in a bid to attract new gamers.

The yearly fee for gold membership has now been scrapped and the Games For Windows Live service is now free of charge to all users.

Tempted now?

Source :: Gamesdog


HEXUS Forums :: 17 Comments

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Posted by LuckyNV - Wed 23 Jul 2008 12:30
Sounds decent, if its anything like Steam it'll work out great.
Probably not edge out Steam since unlikely MS will be allowed to stock Valve games (although money talks ;))
Shouldn't be a problem on the bandwidth front for MS either so good for us.
Posted by Steven W - Wed 23 Jul 2008 12:45
LuckyNV
Sounds decent, if its anything like Steam it'll work out great.
Probably not edge out Steam since unlikely MS will be allowed to stock Valve games (although money talks ;))
Shouldn't be a problem on the bandwidth front for MS either so good for us.

I agree. STEAM already has a massive user base as well.
Posted by nichomach - Wed 23 Jul 2008 13:02
Free is good, though it's the obvious move - if you want people to buy games a la Steam, charging them for the service wouldn't be too clever…
Posted by Lucio - Wed 23 Jul 2008 13:07
Not convinced this “new era of gaming” offers any real improvement, other than making sure you have to have an insanely good internet connection just to sit down and play a single player game. Things like Half Life 2 showed the utter ridiculousness of the situation, having to wait a few hours to play because instead of shipping the games via discs, you have to wait for them to download and update from the internet….

This is yet another nail in the coffin for PC Gaming as far as I'm concerned…
Posted by Rosaline - Wed 23 Jul 2008 13:52
Steam it must be remembered is actually more than just a shop. I find it's community features vital, and because of those (the ability to chat with friends when in game? Yes please!) I will always have it loaded. Unless games for windows can offer similar, it will not be quite the full competitor (aside from the MS monopoly abuse aspect).

As for being ‘another nail in PC gaming’, I really must disagree Lucio. Steam for me took PC gaming into proper competition with consoles at last. I want a game - I buy it. Download times, if left running overnight, are better than what you would get by mail ordering. Games seem generally to be priced fairly, thanks to the strong pound (all steam sales are in dollars). Installation is automagic, and there are no worries about it at all. I have purchased more new computer game releases since I stated using steam that I have in the two years previously (and without any change in my financial situation causing this difference).

Steam is still incomplete, and would like to see some radical changes in parts, but it has done wonders for PC gaming, and will continue to do so. If you want a perfect example of this sort of thing done properly, take a look at the Penny Arcade game on steam. At a few hundred Mb, it was a refreshingly small download for an amazingly fun game. The solution isn't to decry these online sales systems as the ‘death’ of PC gaming, but rather to admonish those developers that release 8Gb games over such services.

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