Incline Microsoft shutting down GFWL - removed from Batman:AA/AC, Bioshock 2, Dawn of War 2 and Dark Souls

[Chaotic_Heretic]

DRM free TPB versions bro.

 

[Infinitron]

http://steamcommunity.com/games/228400/announcements/detail/1534903873486601379

Ace Combat Assault Horizon enhanced Edition title Update - Game for Windows Live functionalities replaced by Steamworks functionalities.
24 FEBRUARY - MRIK
Dear Ace combat fans,

you can now update your Ace Combat Assault Horizon Enhanced Edition for PC game to replace the Games for Windows Live functionalities with Steamworks functionalities.
The update is available from today – February 24th and will let you keep both your saves and achievements.
Please visit http://steamcommunity.com/app/228400/discussions/ to read the update process.

If you played or are currently playing Ace Combat Assault Horizon, you will be able to update and keep your achievements and saves between February 24th and April 1st.
From April 1st, the new version using Steamworks functionalities will become the default version of the game.

Please read the process below to update your game properly.
Please note that after April 1st, we won’t be able to guarantee your save files and achievements will be properly transferred.

CASE 1: You already purchased Ace Combat Assault Horizon Enhanced Edition prior to February 24th. Process below is valid until April 1st

You purchased a Game for Windows live version from a retailer (Disc) or Game for windows live marketplace (Digital)
1) We recommend that you add it to you Steam account using your serial
2) Launch the game and connect to Game for Windows Live. You will be asked to update the game (Title Update). Accept the update request.
3) Run the game, only currently signed user progress can be transferred to Steam.
4) Close the Game for windows live
5) Once the game is patched, click right on your game in the Steam library, go into properties, check that the BETAS tab is set to “Acah-2.0-“
6) Launch Ace Combat Assault Horizon EE v2.0 from Steam
7) The game will look for previous saves (and will only access them if you have updated through GfWL first). If saves and achievements are detected in your computer, it will ask to import them, click yes, and you are ready to go.

You purchased a Game for Windows live version from Steam
1) Launch the game and connect to Game for Windows Live. You will be asked to update the game (Title Update). Accept the update request.
2) Run the game, only currently signed user progress can be transferred to Steam.
3) Close the Game for windows live
4) Once the game is patched, click right on your game in the Steam library, go into properties, check that the BETA tab is set to “Acah-2.0-“
5) Launch Ace Combat Assault Horizon EE v2.0 from Steam
6) The game will look for previous saves (and will only access them if you have updated through GfWL first). If saves and achievements are detected in your computer, it will ask to import them, click yes, and you are ready to go.

CASE 2: You purchase Ace Combat Assault Horizon Enhanced Edition between February 24th and April 1st

1) Once the game is downloaded, right click on your game in the Steam library, go into properties, check that the BETA tab is set to “Acah-2.0-“
2) Launch Ace Combat Assault Horizon EE v2.0 from Steam

Dark Souls is probably coming up next.

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=103494554&postcount=330

Might be nothing but ...

Three days ago steamdb's Dark Souls page was updated with this:

• Added community_visible_stats – 1
• Changed changenumber – 385497 › 422810

And if you check the community page, there a link to global achievements, though it currently just takes you back to the Steam Community start page.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Would removing GFWL improve the framerate drops in DS?

Hard to tell, as it's not like the game is very demanding by itself.
That definitely helped Arkham City, by the way. 5 or 6 more frames per seconds, according to some Gaffers.

Jesus.

 

[Infinitron]

http://bandainamcous.tumblr.com/post/86242175669/dark-souls-games-for-windows-live-and-the

Dark Souls, Games for Windows Live, and the Future

With the release of Dark Souls II, many players have been asking questions about the continued support of Dark Souls I. We thoroughly appreciate the dedicated fans who are adventuring through Lordran (maybe for the first time!) and we’d like to clarify a few points:

1. Dark Souls will remain fully functional on GFWL for the foreseeable future.
2. BANDAI NAMCO Games is currently seeking avenues to continue support and ensure the functionality of Dark Souls on other services. We will have more news and updates to share on this in the coming months.

 

[Metro]

Sucks. Been meaning to try Derp Souls again after getting a new system but I really don't want to install GFWL -- especially since it's defunct.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

"News in the coming months"?

Fucking slackers. I was prepared to re-play the GFWL-free version in June/July since DaSII bores me to death.

 

[Infinitron]

SSFIVAE GFWL to Steamworks Transition

What's up guys? I know there are a lot of you out there who are playing SSFIVAE on Games For Windows Live (GFWL) and are wondering what will happen once GFWL goes down. Well today, I bring you the info on how to transition from GFWL to Steam. Keep reading below to see how.


As Ultra Street Fighter IV is coming out soon for Steam, we are looking to transition our current GFWL users over to Steamworks in order to provide the optimal level of support across the board for PC Street Fighter fans. We’ve been working behind the scenes to ensure that this change will be as seamless as possible, but for users who still wish to continue using GFWL, the game will still function as normal for the foreseeable future.

The transition from GFWL to Steamworks will take place on May 30, 2014. In order to make this change go as smoothly as possible, follow the directions below according to the case you fall under.

1. You bought Super Street Fighter IV AE for Steam.

• On May 30, 2014, the transition from GFWL to Steamworks will happen, and your GFWL enabled game will still function as normal for the foreseeable future.
• You will automatically be able to download the Steamworks version of the game via the Steam client for free. Once you boot up the new version of the game, it will prompt you to copy over your GFWL save data. Select “YES” and you’ll be ready to go!

2. You bought Super Street Fighter IV AE for Games For Windows Live (retail package version).

• On May 30, 2014, the transition from GFWL to Steamworks will happen, and your GFWL enabled game will still function as normal for the foreseeable future.
• You will be able to receive the Steam/Steamworks version of the game simply by inputting your original GFWL product activation code into the “Activate a Product on Steam…” option in the Steam client.
  • i. Customers can find their GFWL activation codes on the back of the instruction manual that came with the retail package.

• Code Redeem Process:
  • i. Launch the Steam client software and log into your Steam account.
  • ii. Click the Games Menu.
  • iii. Choose Activate a Product on Steam... iv. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the process. Once you’ve successfully redeemed your code, you will be able to download the Steamworks version of the game.

• Once you boot up the new version of the game, it will prompt you to copy over your GFWL save data. If you select “YES” the game will copy over the latest save file. Make sure that’s the one you want before going through the process!

EDIT: Unfortunately, both paid and free DLC for the GFWL version will not be transferred over in this process, but Steam should not be affected.

 

[DalekFlay]

Everyone who cares about that game is going to buy the new edition soon anyway.

 

[Wulfstand]

Dark souls with steamworks. I want to believe.

 

[Infinitron]

http://steamcommunity.com/games/DawnofwarIIChaosRising/announcements/detail/1642999041245168000

Dawn of War Letter from the Designer
28 MAY - RELIC_NOUN
Hello all –

On May 22nd, the original Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and its expansions underwent a major update in order to preserve multiplayer gameplay for all these titles.

Since their launch, Dawn of War and its expansions (Winter Assault, Dark Crusade and Soulstorm) have relied on the GameSpy service for multiplayer matchmaking. Since they are about to shut down their services for good it would otherwise leave these games without any way to play multiplayer. That is not an outcome anyone at Relic would want to see.

Dawn of War II and its first expansion (Chaos Rising) also rely on other external servers so we also intend to take this opportunity to migrate them over to Steam in order for a consistent multiplayer experience across the entire portfolio. This migration is in progress and we’ll have more details soon.

So, all titles in the franchise are being updated to use the same matchmaking and backend developed for Company of Heroes 2. This will not only mean multiplayer can continue on these titles, but the matchmaking experience will be improved. Matchmaking/login and so on will thus all be through Steam.

In the short term, there are likely to be some technical issues with the new setup. Recreating the multiplayer infrastructure for seven titles is no small feat, and there will be bugs. Ultimately, we felt that it would be better to get the update out in a slightly imperfect state in time to prevent an outright interruption in multiplayer play. So, bugs.

We are committed to tackling these bugs and getting all titles to be fully Steam enabled.

This update – and continued further support for DoW and DoW2 – is a big step for us at Relic. It’s a concrete signal of support for the Dawn of War franchise from us and from SEGA as a whole. Ever since SEGA acquired Relic we’ve been working on continued support for the Dawn of War back catalogue. It’s great for some of this to see the light of day at last.

I came to Relic in 2005 to work on the product that became Dark Crusade and went on to run narrative and campaign on both Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising. To be working on these titles again is a joy, and on behalf of all of us, I’d like to thank the fans who have continued to keep DoW in their hearts. You guys rock.

For the Emperor!

Philippe Boulle
Design Lead, Dawn of War Franchise

 

[DalekFlay]

That's cool of them because they easily could have said Retribution, which was always Steamworks, was good enough.

 

[Infinitron]

We Know: GFWL Not Shutting Down Next Week

We’re only a few days from July 1, when Games for Windows Live was supposedly due to shut down. Despite pulling the announcement which sparked all this confusion, for whatever reason Microsoft have been happy enough to let this rumour roll around. Any time they addressed this, it was vague and unhelpful, giving the impression that they planned to kill GFWL at some point but AoEO had jumped the gun. When developers started cutting GFWL out their games, it suggested something was definitely afoot. As July 1 has drawn nearer it’s seemed clear that day won’t bring the end of GFWL–it’d be too little notice–but what about beyond then?

Microsoft have definitively stated that they are “continuing to support” GFWL, by which they mean keeping it alive on life support, a respirator and feeding tube half-heartedly jammed down its throat.

Before we get to the new statement, this mess has confused lots of people, so let’s recap. In August 2013, a note on Age of Empires Online‘s support page said the game would go down when GFWL died on July 1, 2014. Microsoft soon withdrew that statement in a cryptic way, saying that they foresaw “transitions as we build out new investments” and would “share more details in the future.” Which sounded an awful lot like “Yeah, we are, but we weren’t supposed to say that yet.”

This was seemingly supported by developers of games from BioShock 2 to WH40K: Dawn of War patching GFWL out in favour of Steamworks. Yes, GFWL is horrible, but it’s rare nowadays for developers to make big changes years after launch simply for the good of their players. This wasn’t confirmation, but did seem to support the story. Even Ms. Splosion Man, made by Microsoft-owned Twisted Pixel, replaced GFWL with Steamworks last week.

The last, and most concrete thing, we heard was in March. Microsoft Studios head Phil Spencer commented that they had plans for GFWL which he wouldn’t reveal yet, but that shutting the service down “isn’t exactly the right thing to do.” He cleared things up a bit, but not much.

Now we’re up to speed, here’s what’s new. Microsoft last week gave Game Informer this statement:

We are continuing to support the Games for Windows Live service. As previously announced, as part of the retirement of Microsoft Points the Xbox.com PC marketplace was closed. Although customers are unable to purchase new games from the marketplace or receive title updates, they can continue to enjoy previously purchased content by downloading them through the Games for Windows Live client as usual. We remain committed to investing in PC gaming in the years ahead, and look forward to sharing more in the future.

So GFWL will continue to run, for now at least. You can still play your GFWL games, though you can’t patch them (if it uses the GFWL patcher) or buy DLC. The service will inevitably shut down at some point or be rebooted in a new form, as every tech service does. Perhaps Microsoft are simply giving devs a little more time to switch away from GFWL. For all our sake, let’s hope Microsoft handle the eventual shutdown announcement less clumsily. Writing all these vague news stories has been a right pain in my rump.

 

[J_C]

 

[Turjan]

I noticed that GfWL titles like Dirt 2 and Bulletstorm are sold during the Steam Summer Sale, even as flash sales, which would be a bit of an asshole move a few days before shutdown. So I see this more as a confirmation.

 

[DalekFlay]

I noticed that GfWL titles like Dirt 2 and Bulletstorm are sold during the Steam Summer Sale, even as flash sales, which would be a bit of an asshole move a few days before shutdown. So I see this more as a confirmation.

Bulletstorm is 99% singleplayer focused, so it matters little there. Just use an offline profile.

The service is never coming back but obviously they are going to keep existing servers going a while longer. Which is good, I guess? I don't play online so none of this really means squat to me in general.

 

[Turjan]

I noticed that GfWL titles like Dirt 2 and Bulletstorm are sold during the Steam Summer Sale, even as flash sales, which would be a bit of an asshole move a few days before shutdown. So I see this more as a confirmation.

Bulletstorm is 99% singleplayer focused, so it matters little there. Just use an offline profile.

Bulletstorm had been delisted from Steam in March, that's why I mentioned it. It's now back to being sold again.

 

[sexbad?]

I noticed that GfWL titles like Dirt 2 and Bulletstorm are sold during the Steam Summer Sale, even as flash sales, which would be a bit of an asshole move a few days before shutdown. So I see this more as a confirmation.

Bulletstorm is 99% singleplayer focused, so it matters little there. Just use an offline profile.

The service is never coming back but obviously they are going to keep existing servers going a while longer. Which is good, I guess? I don't play online so none of this really means squat to me in general.

As I recall, Bulletstorm made me sign in with GfWL and wouldn't get beyond the start screen unless I played with it. Some other games seem to be a different story, but I remember BS being pretty intrusive. I haven't tried it in a long time, though, so maybe there is a way around the online lock thing that I didn't notice.

 

[Turjan]

I noticed that GfWL titles like Dirt 2 and Bulletstorm are sold during the Steam Summer Sale, even as flash sales, which would be a bit of an asshole move a few days before shutdown. So I see this more as a confirmation.

Bulletstorm is 99% singleplayer focused, so it matters little there. Just use an offline profile.

The service is never coming back but obviously they are going to keep existing servers going a while longer. Which is good, I guess? I don't play online so none of this really means squat to me in general.

As I recall, Bulletstorm made me sign in with GfWL and wouldn't get beyond the start screen unless I played with it. Some other games seem to be a different story, but I remember BS being pretty intrusive. I haven't tried it in a long time, though, so maybe there is a way around the online lock thing that I didn't notice.

That's correct, after installations it requires activation via GfWL. But the box during startup now says that I have to sign in to GfWL for multiplayer, so I guess that implies I don't have to for singleplayer?

Well, anyway, I have a few other games that still want to call the service, like Dirt 2. Or Dark Souls.

 

[DalekFlay]

As I recall, Bulletstorm made me sign in with GfWL and wouldn't get beyond the start screen unless I played with it. Some other games seem to be a different story, but I remember BS being pretty intrusive. I haven't tried it in a long time, though, so maybe there is a way around the online lock thing that I didn't notice.

Late in its life GFWL introduced "zero day piracy protection" as an option, which turned it from an optional online service client into actual DRM. Bulletstorm did use this originally I think, but it doesn't anymore (at least not on Origin/Steam). Now it just launches right into the game, and you can make an offline profile no problem.

I think Dead Rising 2 and Fable 3 are the games I own that still have the DRM aspect of GFWL in them. I would assume if GFWL servers ever actually shut down those games would be patched to remove that, or else there would be a PR shitstorm.

 

[Turjan]

Actually, I cannot install Bulletstorm from Origin. It gets stuck perpetually at 99%. I had to download it from amazon and fix a few things by hand, and then it needed the GfWL login. It was a bit of a hassle to get this to run.

 

[DalekFlay]

Actually, I cannot install Bulletstorm from Origin. It gets stuck perpetually at 99%. I had to download it from amazon and fix a few things by hand, and then it needed the GfWL login. It was a bit of a hassle to get this to run.

I haven't had any issue installing and running the game. Sounds like an Origin issue?

And yes you need to "log in" to GFWL, you do with every game, but you can log in to an offline local profile and play all the singleplayer content.

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...-dawn-of-war-2-ditches-games-for-windows-live

Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 2 ditches Games for Windows Live
For the Emperor!

Relic Entertainment has updated real-time strategy game Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 2 so that it no longer uses the Games for Windows Live platform.

Back in June Relic, owned by Sega, pledged to support Dawn of War 2, now over five years old, and said it would move the game over to the same server systems it uses for the first Dawn of War, Company of Heroes and Company of Heroes 2. Now, it is making good on its promise by moving Dawn of War 2 over to Steamworks.

The update for Dawn of War 2 and its expansion Chaos Rising also moved leaderboards and achievements to Relic's servers, with Relic's Battle Servers being used to manage multiplayer networking.

However, a number of features have been removed in the process, including LAN support, referee mode and the ability to pause during multiplayer.

Relic has focused on the Company of Heroes franchise in recent years, supporting COH2 with expansions and other content. But Dawn of War remains in the developers' thoughts. Back in April game director Quinn Duffy told Eurogamer there was a "strong possibility" that Relic would work with Games Workshop on a new Dawn of War game at some point in the future.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

The Inquisition has purged the Xenos.

Fuckin' finally.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Where is my GFWL-free Dark Souls Lebowski???