14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has apparently denied the fact that it's going to shut down the whole Games for Windows Live online service, even as more games are being updated to remove support for it and transition to Valve's Steamworks.
Games for Windows Live was Microsoft’s attempt at bringing over the Xbox Live-like online service to PC but, due to glitches, bugs, and problematic software that displayed lots of errors, GfWL became the bane of any gamer's existence.
Fortunately, many new titles distanced themselves from GfWL, and it's rumored that Microsoft will shut down the service altogether on July 1, seeing as how lots of games have been updated in recent months to replace GfWL with Steamworks.
However, Microsoft has now offered a statement to GameInformer, saying that it's going to continue supporting Games for Windows Live in the future.
"We are continuing to support the Games for Windows Live service. As previously announced, as part of the retirement of Microsoft Points the Xbox.com PC marketplace was closed. Although customers are unable to purchase new games from the marketplace or receive title updates, they can continue to enjoy previously purchased content by downloading them through the Games for Windows Live client as usual," the company said.
"We remain committed to investing in PC gaming in the years ahead, and look forward to sharing more in the future."
Meanwhile, Twisted Pixel, one of Microsoft's own internal studios, has just released an update for Ms. Splosion Man on Steam that removes the Games for Windows Live support altogether, replacing it with Valve's Steamworks.
"Ms. Splosion Man will now use Steamworks in place of Games for Windows Live. Achievements and cloud saving are now available. You can also convert your previous GFWL save file to a Steam save file. Please note that you will need GFWL installed in order to convert your save game file. Once converted, GFWL will no longer be needed," the studio said on its Steam page.
As such, while it's unclear what Microsoft is officially planning, it seems that Games for Windows Live is still being eliminated from existing games, which is certainly a great thing, considering how many problems and issues it has caused them.
Even so, quite a lot of major titles, like Grand Theft Auto 4, still use GfWL, so it's unclear if developers have yet to update them or have received new info from Microsoft itself about the continued support for the service.