Microsoft has not had the best history when it comes to their gaming efforts. Whilst the Xbox One has gained an admirable foothold in the console gaming market, Microsoft’s attempts to capture the hearts of their PC audience have failed miserably.
Some modern gamers will be familiar with the laughably obscure Microsoft Store gaming platform built into every Windows 10 PC, Microsoft’s record of mishaps go back quite a few years prior.
Launching in 2007, Games for Windows Live aimed to bring the social systems of the Xbox 360 to the PC market – a fairly noble intention. Far less noble was the goal to charge PC users annual fees for the use of these basic chat features. Worse still was the price – almost $50 a year. Perhaps the worst aspect of Games for Windows Live was the intention to monetise online game-play, forcing users who wished to play multiplayer games to sign up for the subscription.
Consequently, Games for Windows Live was absolutely despised by users. When it was revealed that Dark Souls would launch with integrated Games for Windows Live features, a petition to have the game released without them racked up over 20,000 signatures in just under five days.
When it was eventually discontinued in 2009, Games for Windows Live was intent on not going down alone, ensnaring and soft-locking many of the games it came packaged with.
Although developers have for the most part tried their best to remove Games for Windows Live from their software, there are still some titles that fall victim to its parasitic influence. Grand Theft Auto IV for example, despite being sold on Steam, is in an almost broken state; leaving the games of many users without the know-how to circumvent the Games for Windows Live login system completely broken.
Luckily, this handy guide is here to save the day, offering the quickest and easiest way to get Games for Windows Live off your back for good.
1: Update Games for Windows Live
Although it may seem counter-intuitive, the first step to begin getting rid of Games for Windows Live is to install the latest version. Simply visit the official website and follow the on screen instructions to install the software.
After installing the software, launch your Games for Windows Live enabled game and proceed to the next step!
2: Create an offline account
Despite Games for Windows Live‘s insistence that you have to log in to your Xbox Live account in order to play your game, this is a bit of a catch 22. Due to server issues, it appears that existing Xbox accounts cannot be used to log into Games for Windows Live, resulting in a soft-lock or an error code.
Luckily, Games for Windows Live contains an “Local profile” which you can use to circumvent this.
With your Games for Windows Live enabled title open, press your keyboard’s “Home” button. This should open a dialogue box at the top of your screen. This will prompt you to log in with an Xbox account.
Press “Create New Profile” and scroll down. At the bottom of the window there is an option to “create a local profile” in blue text as pictured below.
Press this button and complete the account creation process.
3: Enjoy your game!
By following all these steps you should be able to now play your Games for Windows Live enabled game hassle free!
Select the “Settings” tab within the drop-down box.
In the dialogue box opened by the previous step, select the “Change” button under “Beta participation”. Open the drop-down box in the popup and select “Steam Beta Update”.