Games For Windows Goes Live News

Microsoft has today announced Games for Windows - Live, offering a unified platform for PC gamers. Following a similar structure to the established Xbox Live the service will offer two levels of membership, a free to use Silver account, and a subscription-based Gold account - though Xbox Live subscribers will be able to extend their current account over to the new PC-based platform at no extra cost.

Silver accounts will feature a variety of now familiar functions, such as a single Gamertag identity for all Games for Windows titles, Achievements (though the Silver membership will only allow Single-Player achievements to be unlocked), private chat, and a Friends List. Additionally, Games for Windows - Live Silver Accounts will allow PC vs. PC multiplayer, a departure from Xbox Live, and a natural move to make if the online brand is to succeed.

Gold accounts will also benefit from the TrueSkill ranking algorithms, cross-platform gameplay (beginning with Shadowrun and Uno), and the ability to unlock Multiplayer-based achievements.

"Five years ago, we began building a service that now defines the bar for online gameplay," said Peter Moore, corporate vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business in the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. "We're proud to be extending the best-in-class Xbox LIVE service to include Games for Windows - LIVE, which will connect more than six million Xbox LIVE gamers together with the millions of online Windows gamers under a single online service."

A subscription to the Gold account will cost £39.99 a year, and it'll be interesting to see how successful the Live brand will be on PC, away from any take up by current Xbox Live users. Games for Windows - Live will be launching on May 18th.