f13.net

REDMOND, Wash. — Oct. 22, 2010 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the Games for Windows Marketplace, a new online PC games store that combines the convenience of the Web with the power of Games on Demand online distribution. Launching Nov. 15, the Games for Windows Marketplace will offer PC gamers a robust lineup of games they love, easier navigation and purchase, and recurring specials such as Deal of the Week.

       “With Games for Windows Marketplace, we set out to create a digital store built for PC gamers end-to-end,” said Kevin Unangst, senior global director, PC and Mobile Gaming, at Microsoft. “And by integrating with our existing Xbox LIVE and Windows Live services, we’ve made it easier than ever for millions of gamers to see for themselves how easy buying PC games can be.”

A Streamlined Experience

Built from the ground up for convenience and performance, the Games for Windows Marketplace (http://www.gamesforwindows.com) will remove the barriers between gamers and the games they love by offering the following:

    * Online access, anywhere. Optimized for speed, the store allows for ultra-fast downloads; this means fewer clicks to purchase and download, delivering faster turnaround for gameplay. And since the service lives on the Web, gamers can download games on a PC, anytime, and can easily redownload games they purchase if needed.
    * Deals and discounts galore. Gamers can check out screaming deals on select games every time they visit the Marketplace, as well as the Deal of The Week and other recurring and seasonal offers.
    * Game search functionality. Gamers can search by titles or genres to quickly find the games they want; they can even find new games from their favorite publishers with dedicated publisher pages.
    * Fresh design. The clean, intuitive look and feel makes browsing for games a simple, enjoyable experience. Gamers can easily navigate between pages as they search for the perfect game.

A Growing Portfolio

       Games for Windows Marketplace will launch with a managed portfolio of 100 top-quality titles. The launch roster includes blockbuster games such as “Fable: The Lost Chapters” (Microsoft Game Studios) and “Grand Theft Auto III” (Rockstar Games Inc.) from some of the industry’s biggest developers, such as Capcom Entertainment Inc., 2K Games, Square Enix Co. Ltd. and more. In addition to top retail games, the portfolio will bring new indie titles to the forefront and continue to grow with many of the best games in the industry including titles such as “Lego Universe” (Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment) and “CarneyVale” (Microsoft Game Studios), which will hit the Games for Windows Marketplace and retail stores at the same time and date; recent hits such as “Dead Rising 2” and “Lost Planet 2” (both from Capcom); and perennial best-sellers such as “Max Payne” (Rockstar) and “Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition” (Square Enix).

       “We plan to deliver some of our biggest and best PC franchises on Games for Windows Marketplace from day one,” said Christian Svensson, corporate officer and vice president of Strategic Planning and Business Development at Capcom. “Digital distribution continues to drive growth in PC gaming, and we’re excited to partner with Microsoft and bring amazing games to this growing marketplace.”

       Games for Windows Marketplace will also be the place to find iconic franchises from Microsoft Game Studios, such as “Flight Simulator,” “Gears of War,” “Halo” and “Zoo Tycoon,” as well as upcoming blockbusters “Fable III,” “Age of Empires Online” and “Microsoft Flight.”

Easy Access to a Massive Gamer Community

       Using the new marketplace is a breeze: anyone with a Windows Live ID (Windows Live, Xbox LIVE, Games for Windows – LIVE or Zune account) can login and immediately start shopping in the Games for Windows Marketplace. The new store also supports Microsoft Points (as well as credit card purchasing), allowing the more than 25 million users of Xbox LIVE, Zune Marketplace and Games for Windows – LIVE to use their Microsoft Points balance seamlessly across platforms.

       The new Games for Windows Marketplace launches Nov. 15 at http://www.gamesforwindows.com.

Did Fable 2 ever come out for the PC?

No, it remains a 360 exclusive with no word of a PC port.

Lame, why do they hate my money?

To be honest I always assumed they would have been quite happy with PC gaming dying (I'm sure they get a bigger cut from selling X-box's and licensed games). In which case this represents them realising that valve has either rescued PC gaming or proved there was still a market out there.

After games for windows live making me cancel numerous potential purchases, I'm sure this digital distribution system will be handled much, much more efficiently.  :awesome_for_real:

Given how obnoxious GFWL currently is, and how polished and accepted Steam currently is, I doubt this is going to get much traction among PC gamers.

DirectX and HLSL would indicate otherwise.

Given a choice, this is obviously true - on the other hand, I can see a GFWL exclusive programme being designed to screw over anyone who refuses to conform.

MS only really need to throw relatively small amounts of cash to a few key developers to have them go digital-exclusive to GFWLM and before long they'll have an install base to rival steam. Customers will follow the product regardless of how crappy the platform is.

Case in point, how many people here bought HL2 on Steam, despite the state of Steam at HL2 launch.

MS only really need to throw relatively small amounts of cash to a few key developers to have them go digital-exclusive to GFWLM and before long they'll have an install base to rival steam. Customers will follow the product regardless of how crappy the platform is.

Microsoft rips off steam's online activation DRM approach. Microsoft modifies the Xbox game licensing agreement such that all Xbox games, after 6 months, will be released on GFWL. Microsoft continues selling Xbox peripherals for the PC since the games will not be customized for the PC. Microsoft makes bank.

Sure... Microsoft are terrible at this. I doubt they'll ever seriously compete with Steam. The three advantages they have are they can integrate and bundle it with windows, the average PC user actually considers them as an awesome company and they have Xbox exclusive games steam simply won't get.

When (HL2)steam first launched, there were no alternatives. The market is completely different now.

Microsoft rips off steam's online activation DRM approach. Microsoft modifies the Xbox game licensing agreement such that all Xbox games, after 6 months, will be released on GFWL.

I'd say that has more to do with not wanting OpenGL (from which they borrowed a lot of the foundation for DirectX) becoming the foundation library for windows games. Even worse because OpenGL was multi-platform. Microsoft is smart enough to know controlling the standards is cash in the bank.

Steam may be more established, but that doesn't make it impervious. If MS is serious and starts stealing exclusive titles and popular Steam features, they could easily gain ground.

MS may have a poor reputation, but gamers are easily distracted by teh shiney.

Microsoft doesn't want to be in the games business but is building API's which are free to utilize because they want to control the standards of the games business because... profit.

Lolwut?  Conclusion does not follow.

People vastly overestimate how effective MS is when it throws money at a problem. Didn't work with phones, didn't work with Zune, didn't work with tablets, didn't work with set-top web tv, didn't work with Xbox in Japan, didn't work with Silverlight, didn't work with XAML, didn't work with Live Search.

The idea that hey, they'll just spend enough and then be a serious competitor is not borne out by history.

Just a note, you ARE able to see your serial key in GFWL for AoE3. So, it would seem possible to get that key, torrent the game somewhere else, and use the key with the torrent to bypass the bullshit DRM and GFWL bloatware.

Due to the overwhelming success of the Age of Empires III sale, we have temporarily run out of keys to unlock the game. You can still buy the game at this amazing price and you will get/see a key in the next week.  When new keys are added to the system you will be auto-assigned a key, there is no need to call support or take any other action from your end.  We will post here on the forums when the keys are available and the next time you click 'View Game Keys' for the game you should be assigned one.

Thank you for your patience and we hope you enjoy the game.

The more, the merrier. Let's see who can drive their prices the lowest and capture market share.

How the fuck can they run out of fucking keys?

Seriously.

Um, you realise microsoft writes development tools, that GFWL is the infrastructure for playing online and that XNA is their multiplatform (eg. windows and xbox) game development framework?

The upside to all of that being you can use the key on a downloaded copy of the game, which is a legit thing to do. Also, some GFWL keys work on multiple games.

This is not competition with Steam.

Everything they've done with PC delivery has been trash.

(Edit: I should add, if they abandon everything they've done previously with GFW/L and completely integrate the experience into windows, add saves to the cloud (perfectly, for every game, can compete with Steam on pricing, community support [etc.] and don't make it eye-stabbingly ugly - then, and only then, will it approach being competition. Though I bet the indie support will still be godawful).

I'd say that has more to do with not wanting OpenGL (from which they borrowed a lot of the foundation for DirectX) becoming the foundation library for windows games. Even worse because OpenGL was multi-platform. Microsoft is smart enough to know controlling the standards is cash in the bank.