Games for Windows Live now free

Tue Jul 22, 2008 9:20PM EDT

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At this year's GameFest in Seattle, Microsoft announced that it would be making all premium Games for Windows Live services absolutely free. This includes TrueSkill matchmaking, cross-platform game play (Xboxers vs PCs), voice chat, and multiplayer achievements.

In previous years, Games for Windows Live had a similar subscription scheme to the super-popular Xbox Live. Silver membership was free but limited your access to multiplayer gaming, making it an undesirable choice for competitive gamers. Gold membership cost $50 a year, but many developers and gamers felt that they were being charged for amenities that were usually free.

Microsoft also announced a new Games for Windows Live Marketplace this fall, which will offer free and paid downloadable content for games. Expect downloadable map packs, trailers, and demos to be a big part of this new service.

Kudos to Microsoft for lowering the cost to zero. With free Live membership, PC gaming will hopefully get back on its feet and reacquaint gamers with the old keyboard and mouse.

 

 

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  • 3 Posted by jblackfield08 on Mon Jul 28, 2008 11:43PM EDT Report Abuse

    I never really got into the windows games primarily because of the membership costs. I might Re-look into this now. Microsoft= ve nice

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