What's going to happen to GFWL games?

Could anyone break down what will happen to the games that won't change or adapt after GFWL has the plug pulled? I've always wanted to get Dark Souls 1 on PC, but have no idea what the death of GFWL will mean for it. Will the game be unplayable? Or will there be a workaround (probably 3rd party), and the game will still be playable, just without MP? I also know that Capcom has claimed to be looking for solutions for their older games and to be fair, their new games have quick, easy and painless Steam integration. Any idea what's going to happen to those?

(Also, on a side note, I thought Fallout 3 on Steam removed GFWL, but it's still trying to look for GFWL files and won't let me play. Anything I can do to fix this?)

Edit 1: Hell, will it even be legal for games that haven't been changed to work without GFWL to be sold on Steam? I heard that Bulletstorm got pulled.

Bandai Namco Games are currently looking for alternative options with Dark Souls online.

@adequatelyprepared: I have the non-Steam version of Fallout 3, and I'm still able to connect to GFWL. I think the Steam version still requires you to have the GFWL client installed as of now, but that was something I saw through a quick internet search and I've no idea as to the current status. I really love that game, so I'll be interested to see if it does become unplayable (mostly because the DLC I bought was all through the GFWL client and doesn't work unless I'm logged in). It would be nice if at the very least the DRM was stripped and the game was thrown into the wild blue yonder, but a lot of the GFWL library is still up in the air.

they gonna explode

thats sad that gfwl died. never got it since i have steam.

From what I see the games with developers still around are getting the updated treatment, if they haven't already gotten it. I know Relic is working Dawn of War 2, they just put in steam achievements but they are not working just yet.

@adequatelyprepared: http://www.pcgamer.com/uk/2014/01/19/games-for-windows-live-will-soon-be-dead-hooray-heres-a-list-of-devs-removing-it-from-their-games/ That says what happens to some of the games.

...It's not an alternative though. It was some awful piece of shit extra DRM that broke games for a fuck tonne of people, and also let certain people not buy games based on their country of origin.

Not to mention specifically that most GFWL games sold on Steam still made you use their interface and log in to even be able to play it. As you said, extra DRM. There was never an option to not use it, even if you bought the game online through another retailer.

As if my opinion of how much Microsoft cares about its users could be lowered, this potentially making games unplayable is just wild, blatant disregard. It's like some dude coming into your house, takes some of your stuff (that you paid for) without him asking, and just to make sure you think he's a dick, farts on his way out.

Games that the devs don't care about anymore will be unplayable without illegal bypasses, same with Microsoft published games. Luckily WB already replaced GFWL in the Arkham games.

Microsoft and Capcom have both gone on record saying they have no plans to remove GFWL for any of their games, so it's looking like almost all of their games are going to stop working. The only exception is Super Street Fighter IV / Arcade Edition, which Capcom changed to Steamworks because they're going to be selling the Ultra update later this year.

I'm so glad Devil May Cry 4 never used GFWL.

Yep, we needed another thread about this.

You will lose everything so you should cry.

No, actually all those games are still going to be playable offline- even Dark Souls. Some of the developers are trying (or saying they're trying) to find other options, but many aren't going to bother. Most of the affected games will still be playable without it- they just won't have online functionality.

@cornbredx: Sure you can play most of those games offline but with the first two and only GFWL games I've purchased are basically broken in my mind. Yeah, sure you "can" play Ace Combat or Dirt 3 offline but if you ever want to save your game than no, no you can't because of some dumb DRM bullshit.

Also at least this topic is game related. How many topics lately have been about unrelated garbage?

@mason20: My initial sarcasm is because there is already a thread about this- and I am a deeply sarcastic person so sometimes I can't help myself.

As for the GFWL stuff: I agree that online games (or games that are better online by design) will become inferior and basically not what you paid for, but without going into that whole topic I'll just say I am neither defending nor decrying what is happening with GFWL. Only stating facts. A lot of people think their games will be unplayable and that is simply not the case. Fallout 3 and Gears of War, just as an example, are still very much playable- just not multiplayer parts which to some I understand is upsetting.

I'm not sure about the saving part. The only GFWL games I own are Darksouls, Fallout 3, and Gears of War and those are all playable without ever logging into GFWL (in fact I never could get GFWL to work in Fallout 3 or Gears of War to begin with). It just annoys you a lot until you get it to go away. Saving works, though. I don't know about how it was used in other games, so I can't speak to that.

For what it's worth, though, I never liked GFWL to begin with and I think the real crime is that it was ever used. Not that Microsoft cares what we plebs think.

Ace Combat got GFWL patched out of it two months ago, it's using Steamworks now. It probably was Namco's testing grounds for how do go about it with Dark Souls. The entire process was pretty painless though, you just had do download one GFWL update that converted the save data, and then opt in to the Steam beta, and it would import all your progress, including achievements.

Some SEGA GFWL games suddenly disappeared from all online stores (Steam, GamersGate etc.), and are unlikely to ever get patched. These were The Club and Universe At War among others.

AFAIK there has been no updates since the joystiq article in January.

http://www.joystiq.com/2014/01/17/games-for-windows-live-is-dying-we-check-the-life-support-of-ga/

I'm mainly worried about GTA IV, doesn't sound promising for that one.