I like to mentally mispronounce GFWL as a sort of affirmatory exclamation on behalf of the burgeoning PC market: “Games for Windows live!” And they do live – just anywhere else but Microsoft’s notoriously iffy social and DRM platform.
Case in point: Capcom and their Ultra Street Fighter 4, which they’d rather not tie to GFWL if that’s all the same to you.
The original Street Fighter 4 came fused to Microsoft’s long white toolbar. But Capcom Digital Media Specialist and fighting game community figurehead Neidel ‘Haunts’ Crisan confirmed that the updated Street Fighter 4 would be leaving it behind:
@Smedwicks @toddhunter @ultradavid @FishStix @tehrebound It’s coming to Steam, yes, we’ll be transitioning from GFWL to Steam.
— Haunts (@haunts) August 14, 2013
It’s not yet clear whether Capcom will instead adopt Steamworks. Valve don’t seem to push their DRM platform on developers, but it has been increasingly frequently adopted by those looking to take advantage of its matchmaking, achievements, in-game economy management and anti-cheat features.
Haunts also told Twitter followers that Capcom were aiming for a simultaneously release date for Ultra Street Fighter 4 across consoles and PC, and promised more details sharpish. The new version will embellish the already definitive fighting game with various tweaks, modes and stages, as well as six new characters.
What has been your worst GFWL experience to date? Or conversely, your best?
Thanks, Gaffers.