Over the last few months, we have heard plenty of rumors hinting ar the demise of Games for Windows Live service. However, in a statement to the gaming website Game Informer, Microsoft has squashed rumors that said that the service will shut down on July 1, 2014. “We are continuing to support the Games for Windows Live service,” said Microsoft.
One could easily see its shifting focus towards Steamworks — as several of the popular PC developers, including Microsoft’s own studios like Twisted Pixel Games, are now using Steamworks to manage achievements, multiplayer and other features — but Microsoft hasn’t release any information about this yet.
“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. We remain committed to investing in PC gaming in the years ahead, and look forward to sharing more in the future,” the Microsoft spokesperson added.
PC gamers became even more furious when Microsoft didn’t mention Windows and PC gaming at the E3 event which took place early this month. “It’s a retail show, it’s a console show, so it didn’t really feel like the right place for us to talk about Windows,” Phil Spencer, Head, Microsoft’s Xbox division explained. However, Spencer does believe that Microsoft needs to up the gaming experience on Windows. “Windows and gaming on Windows is critical to Microsoft’s success,” he added.
