Xbox Live Coming to Windows 8
by Craig Getting on September 14, 2011 9:00 AM ESTMicrosoft’s Major Nelson confirmed yesterday that Xbox Live will officially come to PCs with Windows 8.
“Bringing Xbox LIVE to Windows 8 is part of our vision to bring you all the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about, made easy,” wrote the Major, aka Xbox Live Programming Director Larry Hryb. Hryb also mentioned that Microsoft will be attempting to sell developers on the accessibility of Xbox Live for PC. If the popular console service can catch on in Windows 8, it could help Microsoft compete against services like Steam on the desktop and Game Center on the iPad.
Microsoft first attempted to integrate PCs with Xbox Live came with Games for Windows Live in 2007. The service has the base features of Xbox Live (friends lists, voice chats, Achievements) but its interface is sluggish and requires mandatory installs even when games are running in competing services, and consequently it hasn't seen very wide adoption.
Microsoft’s Windows 8, which is due in 2012, is currently being demonstrated at BUILD. One of its major updates is the Metro interface, which is also coming to the Xbox 360 later this year courtesy of a Dashboard update.
Source: Major Nelson
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
14 Comments
View All Comments
Red Storm - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
... and it failed pretty hard. Charging for multiplayer? Good luck with that.A5 - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
GFWL never had a charge for multiplayer, and I doubt that XBL for PC will either. Microsoft can't be that stupid.lianw - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
Multiplayer was always free. It was only certain features that were not.GFWL Gold exclusive features were:
Matchmaking (the sort that automatically puts you in a game).
Creating a game server or dedicated server.
Cross-platform multiplayer (for the games that featured it).
And a couple of other things.
ltcommanderdata - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
So will GFWL be folded into XBox Live with all the user information retained? Or will GFWL continue to be supported as a separate service or completely discontinued?Craig Getting - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
Microsoft has yet to discuss the future of Games for Windows Live, though I'd expect any titles that launch post Windows 8 will be Xbox Live-integrated and eschew GFWL.Wolfpup - Thursday, September 15, 2011 - link
This sounds like they're just renaming it.And I STILL can't even log in to Games for Windows Live on my system, for some reason.
I couldn't on my last install either, for like 8 months, then it magically started working, but still doesn't on my newer one.
Leonick - Friday, September 16, 2011 - link
Seeing how the share account and all info already I doubt that'll change...PsychoPif - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
Games for Windows was a big bag of fail. It pains me to say this cause I really wanted it to succeed but it never got the backing it needed from MS.Hopefully, that convergence mean MS won't make the same error with XBox live on Windows 8, because Steam is starting to be hard to live without if you're a serious PC gamer.
Leonick - Friday, September 16, 2011 - link
How is steam hard to live without as a serious PC Gamer?Only thing I ever use it for is to get games from it when they are on sale or possibly download a demo, all other games I order boxed online as that's often at least 10€ cheaper and I get a box and disc.
fancarolina - Wednesday, September 14, 2011 - link
They are already completely integrated. If you are logged into an account on one device you cannot sign into that same account on another. They are simply renaming Games For Windows Live, cashing in one the Xbox Live marketing, and making everyone pay now.