Giant Bomb Video Game News

GTA IV has, of course, already been announced for release on the PC this November. But Microsoft put out a bit more about its plans for that timeframe and the future of the Games for Windows - LIVE service.

In case you haven't been keeping track, GFW Live is Microsoft's attempt to bring the unified system of Xbox Live to the PC. It's not bad, but it hasn't exactly been widely adopted, either. On top of that, it hasn't been fleshed out very well since its initial release. Aside from bringing the concept of the Xbox 360's guide to games that support it and allowing for messaging and friends lists that work across games, it's just another questionable player matching service on a platform that works better when you just give people a big server browser.

Perhaps this year's updates will help make the system seem more relevant. Back in July, Microsoft made the service free, which is a good first step (unless you're still paying the annual fee for Xbox Live, in which case it probably feels pretty unfair). The service's interface will be redesigned later this year, and a marketplace for add-on content will be added, as will an out-of-game client. That sounds like the sort of thing that'd be useful for Xbox 360 owners, potentially giving you the ability to watch your friends list and receive invites. Seriously, the mention of an out-of-game client is probably the most exciting thing about this entire story.

GFW Live will also be getting some more new releases with full support for the service later this year. Fallout 3, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II, and James Bond: Quantum of Solace will all feature support for the service.

Hey, at this rate, they'll have over a full dozen games with GFW Live support by 2009.