Arkham Asylum GOTY, Arkham City GOTY, BioShock 2, Dead Rising 2, Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, Iron Brigade and Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet. I think that's about it.
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Games for Windows Live purchases no longer downloadable from client [Edit: Fixed]
- Thread starter Parham
- Start date
Arkham Asylum GOTY, Arkham City GOTY, BioShock 2, Dead Rising 2, Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, Iron Brigade and Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet. I think that's about it.
This is ridiculous and deserves more attention. The download page for the client is still up, painfully stating that downloading your purchased games is still possible.
Naw. If anything, this is an extreme example of what can happen to any digital service.
Naw. If anything, this is an extreme example of what can happen to any digital service.
Crimsonclaw111
Member
Saoshyant
Member
Sure, but it also sets a precedent to what may happen to the Windows 10 store when things change within Microsoft and they go for the next new hotness in, say, five years from now. Not a good sign and it's understandable that people would be worried about this.
toddhunter
Member
Not every digital service is used as a means to push an operating system. Even valve is actively trying to stop people using steam os.
But overall, I look forward to years of being told "I've never had a problem with windows live store" or whatever the fuck the new one is called, because they completely miss the point that it'll be shut down at some point.
I fully agree. What I meant is that not only GWFL users should be concerned about this; users of any digital distribution services should take note.
Thanks Jase. Seems like the only titles I own that didn't get moved are Lost Planet 2, Fuel, Dirt 2 and GTAIV.
Ah, yeah, and Dirt 3, too.
GhostTrick
Banned
That gives a lot of confidence into Microsoft's new service lol.
GFWL wasn't integrated with the OS, the Windows Store is though. Unless they completely remove the Store from a future iteration of Windows, I don't see why they would stop people from downloading their content.
Since all these GFWL games are Win32 programs, they should be converted to Steamworks.
toddhunter
Member
How does being integrated help? That just means they can leave it out of windows 11 altogether and sell GFWL3.0 to whatever suckers will line up for a one off exclusive.
Not to mention the store can simply be taken offline. It being integrated into the OS as an app isn't in any way an inherent guarantee of longevity.
Caayn
Member
Huh? Can you further explain this?
toddhunter
Member
Yep. Actually they could have already done that. Has anybody checked lately?
That would ruin the perfect comedic timing.
milkybar1983
Member
glad this has been acknowledged, thought it was just my machine
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet? Time to reinstall the game and give it a shot then. I couldn't play it when I first bought it because GFWL kept giving me some error.
Terrible for anyone who used GFWL Marketplace. And people wonder why others are skeptical when Microsoft says they are commited to PC gaming for the umpteenth year.
Cant wait to buy games from Windows 10 Store
I heard Windows 10 store will be killed when Windows 11 releases. Just like the Windows Phone 7 store and Windows 8 store.
LostDonkey
Member
It's nice what they did with Dirt 3. All DLC was unobtainable from the market so they gave owners the complete edition on Steam free of charge as an apology.
Code masters, that is.
Code masters, that is.
LordRaptor
Member
...what?
toddhunter
Member
No it is more than that.
You are correct that steam could vanish at some point. No argument there, it would suck but what can you do. The thing is, if steam vanishes, so does valve, so you can bet that they'll try very hard to stop that happening.
If Origin closed tomorrow, EA would shrug and go on their merry way destroying past franchises.
If Uplay closed tomorrow, Ubisoft wouldn't even blink.
If Microsoft thought that closing the windows 10 store would help the next version of whatever they are really trying to sell go up by 1% in sales, they would close the fucker so fast you wouldn't even get a chance to download your games.
That is the difference and it is a crucial one.
Steam Support guarantees continued access to libraries in the "unlikely event" that the service is shut down. My theory is that Valve would update the great many third-party content servers to act as authentication servers also, meaning it'd be business as usual aside from the store, Steam Community and Steamworks network features being inaccessible and Steam would remain online for as long as someone is willing to host a content server.
no one would be willing to host Steam content for free
providing the bandwidth for downloads is a massive cost
and it is unlikely anyone would have the legal rights to provides other companies content
cute dream, not happening
No, it would be a limited download period and disabled Steam DRM. If they really have contracts in place to do so.
toddhunter
Member
I dream of a world where say isps had set up steam content server mirrors and were doing exactly that, for no extra charge, to actually decrease bandwidth costs.
Sigh. I guess we just have to stick with one mega server under Gabe's desk that serves out every game in the world.
Stitch
Gold Member
GFWL also can't update games anymore. I got that Clone Wars game from Steam and if I log in it always tells me that there's an update. Seconds later GFWL tells me it can't download the update...
or maybe it's trying to update the client, no idea. Anyway, there's an update for something and I can't get it.
or maybe it's trying to update the client, no idea. Anyway, there's an update for something and I can't get it.
dr_rus
Member
Amazon would gladly take over I'd say.
Baron_Calamity
Member
I've had an ongoing issue with most of the GFWL games not working. I almost bought a game on sale on steam yesterday and then I saw it had GFWL and decided against it. There are several games I own that are completely screwed because of GFWL.
Fallout 3 is still screwed up because GFWL doesn't work. Thus achievements doesn't work, can't access save files from when GFWL did work, can't update the game, and purchased DLC doesn't work either. I think the game of the year edition that is on sale now on steam probably is ok but if you were like me and bought the game when it was new, its a screwed situation.
Universe at War: Earth Assault. Is completely unplayable and non launchable. I reached out to Petroglyph and they said their hands are tied. I should bug Sega but I know thats unlikely to go anywhere.
Bulletstorm - I can get this to function without GFWL with a hack called Xliveless but it seems buggier without it.
Viva Pinata - Can't start a new game, can't load a save game. I can flip through the menus. I haven't tried xliveless to see if it will work.
My biggest issue is with GTA IV. I launch the game from steam, log on to Rockstar Social Club, login to GFWL. At this point, GFWL says it needs an update. If I let it update, it just hangs and never finishes. I let it sit for an hour, it never gets past the first percent. If I skip the update, it say i have to play in offline more. Fine but when I do that, it comes up immediately and says I have to log in to play. I've tried deleting everything GFWL off my computer, reinstalling the separate uptodate GFWL client and that didn't help.
Fallout 3 is still screwed up because GFWL doesn't work. Thus achievements doesn't work, can't access save files from when GFWL did work, can't update the game, and purchased DLC doesn't work either. I think the game of the year edition that is on sale now on steam probably is ok but if you were like me and bought the game when it was new, its a screwed situation.
Universe at War: Earth Assault. Is completely unplayable and non launchable. I reached out to Petroglyph and they said their hands are tied. I should bug Sega but I know thats unlikely to go anywhere.
Bulletstorm - I can get this to function without GFWL with a hack called Xliveless but it seems buggier without it.
Viva Pinata - Can't start a new game, can't load a save game. I can flip through the menus. I haven't tried xliveless to see if it will work.
My biggest issue is with GTA IV. I launch the game from steam, log on to Rockstar Social Club, login to GFWL. At this point, GFWL says it needs an update. If I let it update, it just hangs and never finishes. I let it sit for an hour, it never gets past the first percent. If I skip the update, it say i have to play in offline more. Fine but when I do that, it comes up immediately and says I have to log in to play. I've tried deleting everything GFWL off my computer, reinstalling the separate uptodate GFWL client and that didn't help.
That's exactly the problem. Microsoft said the purchased content would remain accessible through the client, but they've been so slow to respond you'd think they've given up entirely. I can't imagine how frustrating this must be for the folks who have poured hundreds of dollars into the service.
TheWeaponeer
Banned
I was one of the bigger GFWL supporters back in the day; I had a lot of fun with it and some of the debates I got into about the service were pretty intense for the time. I never had issues with it, but I also took pride in keeping that handled as best I could.
But no service, NO SERVICE, could have recovered from the pounding pro-Steam users gave GFWL. I still have a few burned bridges with people in the "industry" who felt like this was a necessary thing to see because of their devotion to "lord Gaben". You would feel like me too if you had your system hacked and torn to shit because some Steam users did not like the fact you stood up for the exception and not the norm (I still have the HDD stored away as a reminder that Steam users can actually suck eggs too). Certain reviewers, editors, and the sites that employ them I still avoid to this day because like Pepperidge Farm, I remember too.
Of course, Microsoft did itself no favors with many things themselves and that IS on them because there WERE people like me trying to tell them otherwise. But at the time it was all "360 is hip and cool", "got to protect the 360 brand", and my favorite,"there is just not enough money to pull from the 360 side to improve things for GFWL". Yes, I was actually told that at one point. The one guy who came over from Ubisoft tried to get it on track, but by then the gig was up in the eyes of a lot of people.
Want an example of MS not stepping up when needed? How about changing the audio codec on the console side but NOT the PC side of the service so it pretty much killed chat functions and communication with the cross platform games it had for the service. One of the many fine FUBARs Microsoft did for the service.
And they never really did try to streamline things once the writing was on the wall. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
The change over to Steamworks is based on a developer available basis. Some of the studios that made the games do not even exist anymore, or the licensing is sitting in limbo (Quantum of Solace for example).
I had mentioned elsewhere last year that maybe there should be a GoFundMe or Kickstarter to get some money in the hands of people to do that kind of conversion - especially since people seem to love to throw money at these kinds of things now (and that has not always worked out well either), but it never really gained any traction. Which is a shame, because the GFWL library in its entirety had some had really good games. Over 70 of them total, and most of the really top-tier ones have already gone over to the only game in town that people will allow, Steam. And there was a lot of games that were supposed to use GFWL, but changed up in the 11th hour (yeah "it was misprint" MY ASS lady...).
I do pour one out for Bulletstorm's DLC issues because that game is great. But I figure if they did fix it, they would also have to fix it for its Origin users as well so it might be up to EA to do something there. I got all the achievements on the PC for that one when it mattered, but I still recommend that game when I can.
There are still some good games out there that could use the change over to Steamworks. Crash Time 4 is damn fine game and deserves the exposure. The AFL/Rugby titles were also solid sports titles. The Club is another good action shooter. The Legend of The Galactic Heroes is the best strategy game the GFWL library has. The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes game could use it too because Star Wars is back baby!
I still want of AOE Online to come back in some form or fashion, but I know that is not going to happen.
No, I won't mention Hour of Victory, but hey, you never know... I kept the available GFWL titles available in my Wishlist on Steam to see how they would change over time and most of them are simply unavailable now or replaced with Steam specific versions.
So seeing this thread after the history the service has had? It should surprise no one at all because this is what the general consensus wanted to have happen, right?
Gaben or bust? Well, now it is bust. Offline and backdoor routes (Game Room and the base GFWL client program have been lynchpins for the allowing PC achievements to still get their Gamerscore properly added to the 360 GT for a while now) may still work, but at this point, even I had have to let it go because there just was not enough left to work with now.
While others may say this is a prime example of how all digital could implode badly, it is not the only service that had this happen to it. Gamespy comes to mind - and there are games for that service as well that sit no better than the remaining GFWL library.
Everything is Steam now, or else it is nothing. And before anyone says "GOG!" here, I have yet to see a DRM free version of the any Ass Creed/Batman/Bioshock/DiRT/Dark Souls/etc. game show up on GOG. The masses have spoken, and this is what we get with PC gaming from here on out. So when I see "Rise of Tomb Raider DRM free on GOG now available", then we can revisit that debate.
I still play games on the PC, but Steam's near-monopoly on things and my own experiences with its community of more "fanatical" supporters pretty much keep my involvement with anything Steam to a bare minimum. But I still have the memories when there WAS a choice to be had with PC gaming.
I am the only GFWL user with has Gamerscore in every GFWL title who did it legit (please note the distinction). Don't believe me? Check my profile picture on Steam; do you see the Russian Bioshock 2 and The Legend Of The Galactic Heroes boxes? Because they are there. TESTIFY! I was also the guy who called into the Kotaku Podcast to correct people about folks who used "THEY MADE US PAY FOR GOLD!" as a CONSTANT WHINING excuse when members of the GFWL community got Microsoft to change course on that two years prior. And speaking of that...
...this not just a "service" kind of thing either. When Modern Warfare 2 on the PC came out, they wanted to implement Infinity.net instead of full featured Steamworks (and wanted to use Steam mostly for DRM and achievements and little else) and people wound up ripping that game's online code to shreds within weeks after release because they felt they HAD to make that point. Pretty much killed the online for the PC version of MW2 too. Nothing like 80 foot jumps and infinite grenade launchers because F**K YOU STEAM!. And we all remember that "Boycott Modern Warfare 2" group, right? Because that was real, no matter what certain "Steamheads" would want to tell you.
This is NOT a "bitter salt" post of any sort - it is just statement of how it IS now because of how actions on both sides got it to this point. No one in that scenario comes out looking clean. But now? Now we move on. Find something different or accept what is the here and now. Even I came to that point.
This will be the only statement I make about this on NeoGAF. So please, save the flamethrowers for The Division...
But no service, NO SERVICE, could have recovered from the pounding pro-Steam users gave GFWL. I still have a few burned bridges with people in the "industry" who felt like this was a necessary thing to see because of their devotion to "lord Gaben". You would feel like me too if you had your system hacked and torn to shit because some Steam users did not like the fact you stood up for the exception and not the norm (I still have the HDD stored away as a reminder that Steam users can actually suck eggs too). Certain reviewers, editors, and the sites that employ them I still avoid to this day because like Pepperidge Farm, I remember too.
Of course, Microsoft did itself no favors with many things themselves and that IS on them because there WERE people like me trying to tell them otherwise. But at the time it was all "360 is hip and cool", "got to protect the 360 brand", and my favorite,"there is just not enough money to pull from the 360 side to improve things for GFWL". Yes, I was actually told that at one point. The one guy who came over from Ubisoft tried to get it on track, but by then the gig was up in the eyes of a lot of people.
Want an example of MS not stepping up when needed? How about changing the audio codec on the console side but NOT the PC side of the service so it pretty much killed chat functions and communication with the cross platform games it had for the service. One of the many fine FUBARs Microsoft did for the service.
And they never really did try to streamline things once the writing was on the wall. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
The change over to Steamworks is based on a developer available basis. Some of the studios that made the games do not even exist anymore, or the licensing is sitting in limbo (Quantum of Solace for example).
I had mentioned elsewhere last year that maybe there should be a GoFundMe or Kickstarter to get some money in the hands of people to do that kind of conversion - especially since people seem to love to throw money at these kinds of things now (and that has not always worked out well either), but it never really gained any traction. Which is a shame, because the GFWL library in its entirety had some had really good games. Over 70 of them total, and most of the really top-tier ones have already gone over to the only game in town that people will allow, Steam. And there was a lot of games that were supposed to use GFWL, but changed up in the 11th hour (yeah "it was misprint" MY ASS lady...).
I do pour one out for Bulletstorm's DLC issues because that game is great. But I figure if they did fix it, they would also have to fix it for its Origin users as well so it might be up to EA to do something there. I got all the achievements on the PC for that one when it mattered, but I still recommend that game when I can.
There are still some good games out there that could use the change over to Steamworks. Crash Time 4 is damn fine game and deserves the exposure. The AFL/Rugby titles were also solid sports titles. The Club is another good action shooter. The Legend of The Galactic Heroes is the best strategy game the GFWL library has. The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes game could use it too because Star Wars is back baby!
I still want of AOE Online to come back in some form or fashion, but I know that is not going to happen.
No, I won't mention Hour of Victory, but hey, you never know... I kept the available GFWL titles available in my Wishlist on Steam to see how they would change over time and most of them are simply unavailable now or replaced with Steam specific versions.
So seeing this thread after the history the service has had? It should surprise no one at all because this is what the general consensus wanted to have happen, right?
Gaben or bust? Well, now it is bust. Offline and backdoor routes (Game Room and the base GFWL client program have been lynchpins for the allowing PC achievements to still get their Gamerscore properly added to the 360 GT for a while now) may still work, but at this point, even I had have to let it go because there just was not enough left to work with now.
While others may say this is a prime example of how all digital could implode badly, it is not the only service that had this happen to it. Gamespy comes to mind - and there are games for that service as well that sit no better than the remaining GFWL library.
Everything is Steam now, or else it is nothing. And before anyone says "GOG!" here, I have yet to see a DRM free version of the any Ass Creed/Batman/Bioshock/DiRT/Dark Souls/etc. game show up on GOG. The masses have spoken, and this is what we get with PC gaming from here on out. So when I see "Rise of Tomb Raider DRM free on GOG now available", then we can revisit that debate.
I still play games on the PC, but Steam's near-monopoly on things and my own experiences with its community of more "fanatical" supporters pretty much keep my involvement with anything Steam to a bare minimum. But I still have the memories when there WAS a choice to be had with PC gaming.
I am the only GFWL user with has Gamerscore in every GFWL title who did it legit (please note the distinction). Don't believe me? Check my profile picture on Steam; do you see the Russian Bioshock 2 and The Legend Of The Galactic Heroes boxes? Because they are there. TESTIFY! I was also the guy who called into the Kotaku Podcast to correct people about folks who used "THEY MADE US PAY FOR GOLD!" as a CONSTANT WHINING excuse when members of the GFWL community got Microsoft to change course on that two years prior. And speaking of that...
...this not just a "service" kind of thing either. When Modern Warfare 2 on the PC came out, they wanted to implement Infinity.net instead of full featured Steamworks (and wanted to use Steam mostly for DRM and achievements and little else) and people wound up ripping that game's online code to shreds within weeks after release because they felt they HAD to make that point. Pretty much killed the online for the PC version of MW2 too. Nothing like 80 foot jumps and infinite grenade launchers because F**K YOU STEAM!. And we all remember that "Boycott Modern Warfare 2" group, right? Because that was real, no matter what certain "Steamheads" would want to tell you.
This is NOT a "bitter salt" post of any sort - it is just statement of how it IS now because of how actions on both sides got it to this point. No one in that scenario comes out looking clean. But now? Now we move on. Find something different or accept what is the here and now. Even I came to that point.
This will be the only statement I make about this on NeoGAF. So please, save the flamethrowers for The Division...
There are already dozens of content servers hosted by third parties and they're not paid to do so. A few of the more popular ISPs here in Australia host their own and provide unmetered access as part of their plan offerings in the hopes of standing out, for instance. These companies host the servers by their own accord; they're not Valve's own content servers that are run by third parties.
I admit that my guess seems a little pie-in-the-sky on the face of it, but considering Valve's exact phrasing ("... measures are in place to ensure that all users will continue to have access to their Steam games"), the fact that CEG/"Steam DRM" would still be functional, and the relative ease of implementation, it does make sense.
I will just say that uPlay and Origin "survived Steam" just fine. Yeah, people still prefer Steam, but unlike what happend with Games for Windows Live uPlay and Origin are actually getting better instead of getting worse.
Saoshyant
Member
Yeah. It's a shame they didn't get around to also remove GFWL from Dirt 2. It's such a good game and now it's gone into the ether.
brain stew is that you?
Edit: I don't even remember what I own from the GFWM. Well, Age of Empires and Flight, but those are dead. Oh, Viva Piñata I think... at least I still have my 360 copies, LOL. Oh Microsoft, you fuck ups.
You have to feel sorry for him in retrospect; he was eager to help GFWL improve but nothing ever came of it. He never did offer any updates on that front and I'd take a guess and say that MS went silent -- it just wanted to look good for five minutes by saying it reached out to the gaming community for input.
People Can Fly owns Bulletstorm and always has but can't surgically replace GFWL without EA's approval as its publishing contract is still in effect. There's no saying how much longer it'll be until the rights revert back to PCF, but the game turns five on the 22nd, so keep those fingers and toes crossed.
Considering Bulletstorm woefully underperformed, I doubt there's any desire at EA to facilitate a move to Origin. If the GFWL service is shut down before EA's publishing contract expires, then the game is going to exist in limbo until PCF can get its hands dirty as Bulletstorm is one of the few GFWL games that doesn't support local/offline profiles.
grandwizard
Member
GFWL was trash. Sorry you picked the losing side.
Saoshyant
Member
That's on Steam now, and you should play it because it's really, really good.
charlequin
Banned
You wrote over a thousand resentful words about the supposed unfair treatment of a nigh-universally agreed to be terrible service.
I do feel a bit sorry, but not that much. He was also very eager to tell us all about how it was always happening, always just around the corner when everyone else still saw right through it.
It got a bit tiring after a while.