Games for Windows Live Now Free

Posted by Deadly Cyclone at 12:47 PM

At their own Gamefest 2008 conference in Seattle, Microsoft has just announced that Games for Windows Live, previously $50 per year, will be free. All of the features including multiplayer play and cross-platform play have now been unlocked for everyone to use.

This change can be seen at the official page of Games for Windows Live:

"Play multiplayer games with your friends, or play against new opponents online using our exclusive TrueSkill™ matchmaking system – with other Windows® players or with or against XBOX 360 players (in supported games.)

All of this is possible today – and at no charge."

Along with this, Microsoft is planning a new marketplace for GfW Live that will be similar to the Xbox 360 counterpart. Some tech changes have also been instituted to help more developers make Games for Windows games. The price cut (or cancellation) goes into effect today so go out and pick up some Games for Windows!

Finally, Warhammer® 40,000™: Dawn of War® II and Battlestations™: Pacific have both been announced for Games for Windows, and will use the free Live service.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II will take players to the brutal frontlines of war where they'll experience intense action and visceral combat through a non-linear single player experience and a fully co-operative multiplayer campaign. Set in Games Workshop's highly popular Warhammer 40,000 science fiction universe, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II is being developed exclusively for Windows-based PC.

Battlestations™: Pacific delivers intense, action-packed combat and strategic warfare at an extraordinary scale and features two distinctly different single player campaigns