Microsoft is moving fast when it comes to its gaming services, making them more attractive to the average gamer. The company has recently announced, at its Gamefest 2008, that the Games for Windows Live Gold membership is now free and will allow players to match up, chat and share content at will.

Now it appears that the Xbox Live Silver members are able to play Shadowrun on Xbox Live, which they should not do. 1up contacted Microsoft to see what was up, as reports regarding cross platform play with Universe at War without Gold memberships spread.

Microsoft quickly stated that "for a limited time, Microsoft is offering free online multiplayer on Xbox 360/Games for Windows titles that offer LIVE cross-platform play. This promotion won't last, so we can encourage everyone to take advantage of it while they can." No clear time frame in which the services will remain free was given, but we're betting on a few weeks at the most.

Microsoft says that this promotion is an added bonus that's tied with the initiative of no longer requiring PC gamers to have a Gold membership for online cross platform play. There are now few games that use the cross platform play capabilities but, with Games for Windows Live now free, we could see more developers integrating the service in their games. One prominent example is the upcoming Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II.

Ever since that move people have been thinking about the possibility of Xbox Live Gold going free, as its PC counterpart has done. Microsoft is now saying that such a move is impossible, mainly because of the value that the service offers, like the Netflix membership and the possibility of streaming movies on the Xbox. Saying that Xbox Live Gold is "the best bargain in the industry" he emphasized that Xbox Live users should upgrade to Gold and see how their gaming and multimedia experiences are transformed.