Microsoft to merge GFW and Xbox.com

By Fred Dutton Published 1 July, 2011

UPDATE: Microsoft confirms date, details.

UPDATE: The merge will happen on 11th July, Microsoft has confirmed to Eurogamer.

"All of the same content from GamesForWindows.com will be available on Xbox.com so members of communities across Xbox 360 and Games for Windows can purchase and get details on their favorite games, all in one place," explained a spokesperson.

"All account information will remain the same and community members can still take advantage of their Xbox Live profile in their Windows games and stay connected to friends who are playing on the PC."

ORIGINAL STORY: Microsoft is to merge Games For Windows Marketplace into Xbox.com.

According to the brief announcement on the Games For Windows site, its PC digital delivery store will be absorbed into its console hub "soon".

"Games for Windows Marketplace will fully transition over to Xbox.com. Now you can get all of your gaming needs in one place. It’s convenient, it’s concentrated, and it’s a whole lot of great games," read the site.

Microsoft relaunched the service last October in an effort to turn the store into "a destination for games for PC gamers".

We're onto Microsoft now for more details on how, when and why the merge will go down.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (48) Latest comment 11 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Xardan #1 11 months ago

    Makes sense i suppose.

  • Bradach #2 11 months ago

    As long as they don't figure out a way to make us pay for PC online gaming!

  • Jimjamyaha #3 11 months ago

    @Bradach: I think you missed the MMO market 8 years ago. Although they're tending to fall into freemium these days.

  • OxWearingSocks #4 11 months ago

    I doubt it but I *really* hope this is a pathway to a future where I buy one game and can play it on Windows or my Xbox but not need to buy it twice. It just makes sense.

  • George-Roper #5 11 months ago

    ^ makes sense to who? To you?

    Newsflash, Microsoft want you to pay twice. Why wouldn't they?

  • riceNpea #6 11 months ago

    i'll put the bunting up and set up the table, chairs, plates and cups ect if you do the food. this kind of news calls for a street party like we had for Diana's wedding

  • OxWearingSocks #7 11 months ago

    @George Roper - It makes sense to the consumer. Of course business-wise MS want the extra money. You don't have to play the cynical EG poster all the time.

  • effinjamie #8 11 months ago

    Well it couldn't be any worse than the redesigned Xbox forums. Damn those things are a mess.

  • Koozer #9 11 months ago

    If there's one thing GFWL needed, it was to look even more like an xbox live copy/paste job. Great work Microsoft.

  • Killerbee #10 11 months ago

    Buying a game once to play across multiple platforms would be wonderful, but aside from Valve's very decent gesture with Portal 2 on PS3 / PC / Mac, I very much doubt this is ever going to happen on a regular basis. Sadly.

    As for GFW merging with Xbox.com, I'm not sure I see the logic. Admittedly I don't think I've ever visited gamesforwindows.com in all my years of PC gaming, but I'm no more likely to go to the official Xbox site for PC games than I am the Playstation or Nintendo ones.

    Why should I want to visit Xbox.com as a PC gamer? So I can see adverts for all the games that aren't available for my PC because MS has decided they can make more money out of franchises like Gears of War and Halo if they just release the first one or two titles on PC, then cut the series dead in order to give their console a few genuine exclusives to brag about?

    Forgive me if I sound like a bitter and twisted PC gamer, but I actually see this more as an indication of Microsoft pretty much giving up on PC gaming altogether. And I'm not even that surprised by it...

  • aphex187 #11 11 months ago

    Maybe it's because no one buys from GFW, i mean who in their right mind would pay £59.99 a few weeks ago for Bulletstorm!

  • bobfish09 #12 11 months ago

    GFW is already Xbox Live.

    Same account system, same billing system, same achievement system, same profile system... in fact the only difference is the domain name!

  • Xboxfanuk #13 11 months ago

    Three screens (Phone, PC, TV) one Live service to unify them. Additionally Microsoft is bringing the Windows Phone UI to Xbox, PC (Windows 8) and of course Windows Phone. It's unifying it's products and building upon the strength of it's popular brands.

  • layleeloo #14 11 months ago

    Ooooh the PC Elitists will love that!!!

  • andrewsqual #15 11 months ago

    And it took 5 years to do this why? Steam own all PC Game purchasing on all your versions of Windows Microsoft. You lost (on your own god damn medium lol).

  • deadstoned #16 11 months ago

    Well I hope this is a sign they've given up, GFWL is such a pain and simply drags games down with it. I think I fall into the bitter PC Gamer category with Killerbee.

  • oceanclub #17 11 months ago

    So much for their claim to refocus on PC gaming. God, how I detest them.

    P.

  • persus-9 #18 11 months ago

    One of the big problems with GFWL has always been Microsoft trying to impose ideas that work on console onto the PC. GFWL is a fish out of water, it's s shark that they took it out of the waters of the Xbox sea and threw into the PC jungle where it very predictably proceeded to flap about and gasp for air. There was a chance that given time and freedom it might have evolved into something suitable for PC and briefly last Autumn it did seem like it was trying to learn to shuffle along on it's flippers. Now it seems that Microsoft have decided that it must go back to not just being a fish like Xbox Live but be a fish of exactly the same species as lives so successfully in water. I predict another extended period of flapping and gasping. I don't think the mighty tiger they call Steam that roams these parts is going to be particularly worried.

  • persus-9 #19 11 months ago

    XboxfanUK: "Three screens (Phone, PC, TV) one Live service to unify them. Additionally Microsoft is bringing the Windows Phone UI to Xbox, PC (Windows 8) and of course Windows Phone. It's unifying it's products and building upon the strength of it's popular brands."

    Except they aren't because that isn't how you do that. A phones, PCs and TVs have a lot of differences and each have their own needs so unification of systems just means you end up imposing poor compromises on every system or have one good one and two shit ones. What they should do is unify the brands but allow the systems to be as different as they need to be. Live! is a powerful brand because it has done so well on Xbox but it's name is dirt among PC gamers because they tried to use the same system on a platform it wasn't appropriate for. They've actually undermined the Live! brand by trying to make the same system it do something it wasn't designed to do. What they should have done was built something from the ground up for PC, something good, and then applied the Live! brand to it to build up that brand by being associated with two good services.

  • gelf #20 11 months ago

    Have they fixed the awful system for storing save games yet, I'm reluctant to buy any game that uses that service until I can actually backup saves properly without going through hoops to restore them.

  • Gastrian #21 11 months ago

    Post deleted at 15:13:16 09-05-2012

  • TrevHead #22 11 months ago

    Im sceptical, MS always tries to change PC gamers into XBOX gamers by either carrot or stick (99% stick). Since XP we havnt had a OS built for gaming. If there was a (True) alternative to Windows for gaming I would swop in a heartbeat.

  • davisorle #23 11 months ago

    Post deleted at 15:13:16 09-05-2012

  • omicron1 #24 11 months ago

    Uh, no.

    You already paste Xbox terms and ads all over both services, MS. The writing's on the wall. I get it. You want me to purchase your console - to give you money up front, money with each expensive game I buy, money from all the overpriced peripherals. You haven't truly supported the PC since 2007, preferring to leave us out in the cold while spending all your effort on your more lucrative market. Thus, my GFWL account is actually an "Xbox live" account. I have an Xbox avatar. I have gamerscore and a gamercard. Yet I do not want an Xbox. I do not want to have anything to do with Xbox. The oppressive omnipresence of your aggressive marketing campaign actually OFFENDS me each time I see it.
    So, with all due respect, MS... You can take your console and your marketing both and shove 'em where the sun don't shine!

  • Xboxfanuk #25 11 months ago

    "Except they aren't because that isn't how you do that. A phones, PCs and TVs have a lot of differences and each have their own needs so unification of systems just means you end up imposing poor compromises on every system or have one good one and two shit ones. What they should do is unify the brands but allow the systems to be as different as they need to be. Live! is a powerful brand because it has done so well on Xbox but it's name is dirt among PC gamers because they tried to use the same system on a platform it wasn't appropriate for. They've actually undermined the Live! brand by trying to make the same system it do something it wasn't designed to do. What they should have done was built something from the ground up for PC, something good, and then applied the Live! brand to it to build up that brand by being associated with two good services. "

    Apple has been doing this for years. Microsoft pioneered some good stuff on Xbox and it's only fitting they continue that ecosystem on PC as well. But rather then having a seperate download client for games which is in no way connected to the Games Explorer Microsoft may unify this with Windows 8. Rather then having Steam Achivements you have Xbox Achivements.

    Steam is ahead by several factors, one of which is the sheer volume of quality content. Secondly by allowing MODS to work unfettered and a good quality control for cheating. GWL has a lot of catching up to do and let's be honest their tactics with charging for gold originally and trying to force an upgrade to Vista for Halo 2 (a very very old game) has screwed them. Unless Microsoft starts to truely support the system with Halo Reach, Halo 3, ODST, and other exclusives why do people care?

    If Microsoft took the approach of unifying everything so that if you choose to game on PC you have the same fantastic experience that you get on Xbox then they would be on to a winner. But instead it's go a paltry small selection of titles, not all of them support achivements and you end up with this sorts of half-ass setup. It could be alot better, but it isn't.

    The strategy isn't to capture hard core gamers on GWL anyway. The strategy now is to bring Kinect to PC officially, combine GWL and MSN casual games in a way that will bring Avatars and unique experiences to the PC through Kinect and hope to build an online community around casual games which are paid for by micro-transactions.

    [link url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBPYdgy35KA
    ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBPYdgy35KA
    [/link]

  • UncleLou #26 11 months ago

    I've just checked the GfW store. Asscreed: Brotherhood only (!) € 59.99.

    Morons.
    Edited by UncleLou at 02/07/11 @ 10:09

  • petran79 #27 11 months ago

    I just hope gfwl for xp continues support. I fear that ms may make new versions available for vista/7/8 only and i have to upgrade the os to play a new game, even if it uses directx 9.

  • miiiguel #28 11 months ago

    Idk why ppl tendo to "bend" to PC Gamers?, I mean, after 30 comments no one mentioned what might happen... I for once, who haven't played a PC game for 15 years (or so, when was Diablo out anyway ?) and do most of my gaming on Xbox might me tempted to star PC Gaming again. This is not just about you, you know ?
    And, maybe it's good for PC gaming to have the crowd who actual pay for their games on their side.

  • Subdominator #29 11 months ago

    They continue to amaze me. First they introduce various new divisions on the Xbox marketplace. Like Zune for music, specialty stores for everything so you don't find things easy. Then they get rid of the clunky but working forum system only to replace it with an even clunkier and not working system. Now they melt Windows games and Xbox games under the Xbox label. But Windows phone games still are in a different category. It's total madness. There are so many brands on the Xbox where it could be just Xbox Music, Xbox Movies, Xbox Games. Plus we have Twitter, Facebook and whatnot. The dashboard is already a mess and now they ruin xbox.com as well. I like that they try to incorporate everything under the Xbox brand, but the way they do it is beyond clueless. If they want a roof for everything just call it Microsoft Games. How is a PC gamer supposed to know he should buy games for PC on xbox.com?

  • StooMonster #30 11 months ago

    George Roper: Newsflash, Microsoft want you to pay twice. Why wouldn't they?

    Competition?

    For example the Sony+Valve alliance. Buy Portal 2 on PS3 and you get the PC and Mac versions on Steam for free, all three formats all use SteamCloud for game-saves so you can play and seamlessly switch between console and computer versions. Gabe Newell has presented this as his vision of the future in interviews and at conferences, and I think it would be good if they continue to expand this offering.

  • Spekingur #31 11 months ago

    Build-up for a conference announcement at next E3 event (or possibly sooner). Built in cross-platform on the next XBox?

  • Darren #32 11 months ago

    Microsoft can scrap GfWL for all I care because despite their claims to the contrary they've shown nothing but apathy toward PC gaming. In the eight months since they made that claim we've had one lame 360 port, Fable III, and absolutely nothing else. As long as they can sell a new Windows operating system every two or three years and lure PC owners into buying an Xbox 360 where they can fleece them with online gaming subscriptions and overpriced DLC and XBLA titles then that's all they care about.

  • paketep #33 11 months ago

    Says everything about how much Microsoft despises PC gamers.

  • immateriaux #34 11 months ago

    It was only a month or two ago they were quoted on here claiming to improve GFW, claiming how they would listen to PC gamers to make those improvements. Now I REALLY don't think any PC gamer said "make me go to the XBox site to get games"? It's horribly ironic that it is the monolith of cash behind them that they accrued from PC software that allows them to act like such fucking morons when it comes to PC gaming.

  • digitalash #35 11 months ago

    Stop trying to force this crap onto our hard drives, Microsoft. Nobody loves you.

  • Lucodeath #36 11 months ago

    @stoomonster
    Glad you said that , I forgot I could get portal2 for free on steam. Im off to download it.

  • Laminator #37 11 months ago

    Both MS and EA after a slice of the Steam pie. Steam will always win, it's not the cheapest and it's not perfect but they allow titles from all publishers, something EA and MS will never do. These guys haven't quite realised most people want to keep all their games in 1 place not install stupid digital store software from every individual publisher. Not to mention Steam supporting indie developers by giving them a sweeter deal than any regular publisher ever would.

    Also I suspect if Linux was ever supported by game devs and hardware manufacturers properly most gamers would drop windows in a second. The only reason I use win 7 and not Ubuntu is gaming, Ubuntu works better for just about everything else.

  • Demiath #38 11 months ago

    In related news, agricultural institutions all across the world have decided there's no need to confuse consumers by having separate terms for their different products. From now on, everything produced from a farm will be called "milk"...

  • milki-tea #39 11 months ago

    Wow, why is their so many PC ELITISTS? the whole universe orbit around their "PC is real gaming bollocks"

  • P1GEONPOO #40 11 months ago

    @milki-tea
    more like PC ELI TITS!!!

  • dirtysteve #41 11 months ago

    Will they make indie games available to all countries now? I'm still in development, but when you realise the game can't get released in your own country, to your own friends, it gets a bit discouraging.

  • HeNiCiDe1988 #42 11 months ago

    hm strange wonder why they doin it now granted makes sense, maybe they seen potential in cross platforming?

  • subedii #43 11 months ago

    @miiiguel & milki-tea :

    There's nothing "elitist" in saying that GFWL as it currently stands is a bad system by all accounts, and is surpassed by pretty much every other DD store when it comes to selling games. And it's easily surpassed by Steam, Impulse, and XFire when it comes to community systems. Making uyse of GFWL for any sort of online game is an outright pain./

    Please also kindly note: This is not to do with XBL, even though they may now share the same name. XBL as a system works, and was the service that pushed digital into the console sphere. But despite your love of XBL, GFWL is an abject pain when it comes to online gaming. It is at best a mild inconvenience, and believe me when I say I could write paragraphs and paragraphs about everything it does wrong, ESPECIALLY in comparison to the competition.

    For the past 5 years, MS has been promising improvements to GFWL and to really focus on making it a worthwhile system. In various ways they have pretty much failed to do so, and frequently in fact hamstrung it in order to keep important features exclusive on the 360.

    This isn't necessarily an ethos I can fault MS for, but if they have had every opportunity to improve it, and have failed to do so. And without further evidence to the contrary, this will remain the same as the four or five previous times (literally) that they've "re-affirmed" their commitment to GFWL. Which is to say: A joke, and a change in name only.

    The future for this service could be different. MS certainly has the resources to do so, but no interest.

    tl;dr : If they want me to believe that this means anything more than Jack-all, it's time to show me, not tell me.
    Edited by subedii at 03/07/11 @ 20:47

  • layleeloo #44 11 months ago

    @twinberettas. That's good then - you have some decent things now instead of "PC" bollocks
    Edited by layleeloo at 03/07/11 @ 21:27

  • Matthew_Hornet #45 11 months ago

    And console gamers ask why PC gamers are pissed off with Microsoft.

    @miiiguel Everything you said might be a lot more credible if you didn't spout the "PC GAMERS PIRATEZ" crap in the same breath. Check some torrent sites for X360 ISOs - you'll probably be stunned with disbelief...

  • Buran #46 11 months ago

    GFWL still does exits? I used to think that were closed after Relic and other third did leave to Steam, more even due Microsoft has no PC games...

  • michaelius #47 11 months ago

    I wonder if it's that smart decision.
    If there's one thing die hard pc gamers hate more than GfWL it would be xbox and everything connected to it ;)

  • layleeloo #48 11 months ago

    And there are people trying to say PC players are not Elitists? @michaellus just proved it yet again hahaha. You do make me chuckle