Microsoft has recently suggested that multiplayer gaming through Live on Windows Vista will be a free service, unlike on Xbox 360 where users have to subscribe to Gold membership to have access to multiplayer, or so says an interview 1UP took Microsoft's Shane Kim. When asked if it would be free for PC users to play against friends, while certain premium-level stuff would be locked behind Gold, Shane Kim replied: "Theoretically speaking, that's exactly the kind of thing we'd want to do." OK, but what kind of influence will that have on 360 owners who also have a PC, or for those who were trying to decide whether to make an account or not?

It's only logical that the Xbox 360's controllers will be sitting in dusty drawers and the PC will totally win over it, playing through Live on Windows Vista being free of charge. Regarding to this very matter, Kim reckoned: "In the Xbox world when we created Xbox Live, there was no other option. We're sort of creating it as we go, we established that model and that framework. As we come into the Windows gaming world, there are alternatives that are out there so we have to be cognizant of that."

Of course, you must have guessed it won't be totally free of charge even if most options will and until a proper survey will be made, Microsoft is taking into consideration every aspect concerning PC gaming and is doing that with very small steps: "We do recognize that, unlike the Xbox 360 environment, there's existing competition in the PC online space. So we have to take that into account as we think about how we're going to structure our services, what they'll pay for and what they won't." So there will be some charging involved. What you'll be charged for... as soon as we know, you'll know.