Games for Windows Live is closing

[Draco719]

They are shutting down the marketplace tomorrow. There was a naaaasty rumor floating around that steam plans on removing it from games that we have already purchased. I personally got a steam account to get GFWL games because they connect to my Xbox live account and unlock achievements. If steam does this, all the games i bought would be worthless to me. I was wondering if anyone has heard any official word on this.

[WonderGamer]

Well playing those MODs I don't think will be a big problem. I'm more worried about being able to download them on new installations of the game when it was a requirement to download them through GFWL. If there isn't an alternative to this, I still don't think I'll be purchasing from those companies anymore. I guess I'll need to do some backups so I don't lose those files if they don't come up with something.

[WonderGamer]

Ok. So I have some good news. Warner Bros. just replied to my email, said they are aware of the shutdown & are working on a solution; so they already have the wheels spinning on their games. 2K also responded the same day I sent the email, but seems they were not aware of the shut down scheduled for July of 2014; they said they had plans to deal with it, but their reply only mentioned the shutdown of the market, not GFWL in general. Every other response I got from companies either stated minimal to no infomormation or irrelevant information that didn't even have anything to do with the email.

[Lone Wolfe (Hoover1979)]

i just hope they dont re release them as "special steam versions" and make us all pay again

[RayeGunn]

That is good in that some companies seem to have plans to make sure the games continue to be functional, but bad in that it appears Microsoft hasn't given out as much information to developers/publishers as I assumed they would have.

[Turbo Nozomix]

The continued access will not be forever - expect a few more years out of them. In the meantime, pester the companies who own those games to strip GWFL out of the games. People always said, friends don't let friends buy GFWL. This is another reason why.

[Lone Wolfe (Hoover1979)]

at least GFWL's bloody reign of terror will end!

[Draco719]

引用自 The Rolling Ham Cheese：

Microsoft shutting down all GFWL Services.
Blame valve and steam.

This thread :|

I think everyone is misunderstanding what im saying. I totally understand Microsoft is shutting down gfwl and not Steam. What I dont want to have happen is for steam/valve/ whoever, to take away gfwl from games UNTIL it is actually done. After GFWL is gone, of course it would be a good thing if its patched to be removed from the equation.

As far as people commenting on achievements, im not sure what else to say. People have different play syles, why is this such a foreign concept? Some people will play one MMO exclusively, some people would never even touch one. Everyone is different. There are plenty of people that like to aim for getting achievements. Doesnt really matter if you "dont get it". You dont need to, its not how you play.

[WonderGamer]

I contacted 21 companies when I learned of this. The list included Warner Bros., Namco/Bandai, Rocksteady, People Can Fly, Codemasters, FromSoftware, Capcom, Double Fine, Slant Six, Sega, TimeGate, Square-Enix, Digital Extremes, 2K, Bethesda, Bugbear, Strategy First, Rockstar, Relic, Volition & Nordic have all been contacted. Probably won't get responsed from most of them, might even get banned from some of the support systems/forums. I have gotten responsed from Namco/Bandai, 2K & Rockstar. I didn't think the message went through to Warner Bros., but apparenlty it did as I got a response. I was unable to contact South Peak & Lionhead & I didn't see any point in contacting Microsoft Games. The email that was sent out to each company included the following information:

It has come to my attention that Games for Windows Live will be getting shut down soon & at least one of the games I own branded by your company is using this. My question is, will there be a patch that will allow us to remove this requirement from the game so it can continue being played? I know for a fact that I will not be purchasing from any game company that uses GFWL if the game becomes unavailable for use once it is shut down (I know others that feel the same way). That might change if the game becomes usable again in the future through a method to remove the GFWL requirement. Having to repurchase the game or any DLC for those games that I have already purchased is not an acceptable alternative, so hopefully you will consider a means of removing this DRM from existing copies so you do not lose customers over it.

I'm creating a log of replies I've gotten from each company, I'll share that via this thread when I have it finished.

[Draco719]

引用自 Archduke：

As I've mentioned elsewhere

GFWL will be discontinued simply because, as with Messenger (Windows Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, MSN Messenger) and Skype it's not worth Microsoft running two almost identical services.
As such, they will pursuee the preferred XLive service. Any GFWL / Live / Microsoft accounts that are not linked to XLive will either be automatically provisioned or users may be requested to link them, or create new XLive accounts.

As such, I don't really see how anything else will be particularly affected or why there's such a big fuss over it. From what I've understood generally from the Steam community, GFWL wasn't too popular anyway.

Right, really isnt much fuss to be honest. Just dont want Steam to jump the gun early is all.

[WonderGamer]

Okay. Here we go:

• 2K Games[www.wondergamer.net]
  
• Bethesda[www.wondergamer.net]
  
• Bugbear Entertainment[www.wondergamer.net]
  
• Codemasters[www.wondergamer.net]
  
• Namco/Bandai[www.wondergamer.net]
  
• Rockstar Games[www.wondergamer.net]
  
• Sega[www.wondergamer.net]
  
• Square Enix[www.wondergamer.net]
  
• Strategy First[www.wondergamer.net]
  
• Warner Bros.[www.wondergamer.net]

I didn't include the auto-replies because technically speaking that doesn't count as a response.

[Meyaka]

gfwl was a VERY bad and mishandled system anyway. Lots of my favorite games are useless now. I don't blame Steam, I blame microsofts nazi polices. If you understand why gfwl was implemented in the first place you will understand why its good that it is being cut. ♥♥♥♥ you microsoft!!!!!!!

[sfnhltb]

引用自 Xfire WonderGamer：

If you're playing a game with a set goal, then of course you're going to get bored with a game after that goal is reached. It's better to enjoy the game for what it is rather than only when you're ranking up. With the kind of thinking you have, the games only have a short lifetime before it really is considered a waste of money.

Surely achievements are just a formalisation of what gamers have always done - if a game was okay in the past you would complete it and then move on. If it was really good you would complete it again at a higher level of difficulty, or play through extra levels you particularly liked, or maybe run through a shoot em up to see how far you could get without killing anything apart from the bosses, etc. In most cases achievements are just a fixed set of extra challenges to do after you complete the game if you like it enough to go on further.

[Timey Wimey Detector]

引用自 Xfire WonderGamer：

I contacted 21 companies when I learned of this ...... I'm creating a log of replies I've gotten from each company, I'll share that via this thread when I have it finished.

Good guy WonderGamer ^-^

[OfficialGamerno1]

=)

[Draco719]

引用自 sfnhltb：

引用自 Xfire WonderGamer：

If you're playing a game with a set goal, then of course you're going to get bored with a game after that goal is reached. It's better to enjoy the game for what it is rather than only when you're ranking up. With the kind of thinking you have, the games only have a short lifetime before it really is considered a waste of money.

Surely achievements are just a formalisation of what gamers have always done - if a game was okay in the past you would complete it and then move on. If it was really good you would complete it again at a higher level of difficulty, or play through extra levels you particularly liked, or maybe run through a shoot em up to see how far you could get without killing anything apart from the bosses, etc. In most cases achievements are just a fixed set of extra challenges to do after you complete the game if you like it enough to go on further.

Ah, very well put. :)