Black Raven Dragoons

Microsoft's finally pulling the plug on Games for Windows Live (GfWL) as of next year, but customers are already feeling the repercussions. As of August 25th, the GfWL Marketplace was shut down rendering downloadable content for all games purchased through the marketplace (and some that weren't) unavailable. The plus side is that you'll still be able to download your DLC if you've already purchased it; if you haven't, well, you're out of luck.

I first noticed this when I went to check on Microsoft Flight through Steam, noticing that only the game play trailers were available. Puzzled, I checked the Steam forums only to discover that Microsoft essentially took their ball and went home. Not only did they pull the plug on Flight through the marketplace, but they also pulled it from Steam!

For most of you, this probably won't matter. It simply means that any GfWL-enabled games will be reduced to single player functionality by next year. Age of Empires, Flight, and numerous other titles that had multiplayer capabilities will be affected. If you were just getting into a new game or planning to purchase one that's published by Microsoft, you're screwed. If you're playing a game that requires GfWL functionality (such as for saving progress), you'll be able to play it unimpeded until next year. After 2014, games requiring GfWL for save game functionality may be rendered unplayable. Others, like Fuel, have 3rd party patches that provide some modicum of local storage for user progress, but that may not be possible for most other games.

The hilarious (but nevertheless disappointing) side is the response from a number of pro-Microsoft gaming pundits. Apparently so many of them have Microsoft's dick stuffed so far down their proverbial throats that, through their bleary, watery eyes, they can't see anything but joy. To many of them, screwing over PC gamers is a good thing.

Wow. What a complete disaster! Can Redmond do anything right?

Can they ever? It's like the train wreck (IMO) that is Windows 8. Better still, 8.1--they've reintroduced the start button! But it takes you back to the start screen with its childish colors and awful aesthetics. The plus side is: If you want your classic start menu back, you get to pick among buggy free/OSS replacements (although Classic Shell is pretty good, if you can find the appropriate PNGs; not that I'm going to link them here or anything...) or fork out $19.95 to a 3rd party.

Jesting aside, the real plus side is Ballmer's departure, although who he names as his successor will ultimately determine Microsoft's fate. There's a good write up on Slate about Microsoft's broken employee evaluation system that might explain their decline in recent years and the hemorrhaging of employees to other tech firms.

I know GfWL has been buggy and generally awful, but come on, giving developers a tool to rely on so they have some kind of cloud access and relatively easy multiplayer implementation that mirrors the Xbox only to take it down? Blech. It seems to me that they're trying to force PC gamers to the Xboned without consideration that it's going to cannibalize their sales.