In a move that will make big waves in the (relatively) small PC gaming market, Microsoft has announced a games-on-demand service for Windows. The service will kick off on December 15, 2009. Here are some of the launch details:
The launch lineup will include recent hits like Resident Evil 5 (Capcom), Red Faction: Guerilla (THQ), and Battlestations: Pacific (EIDOS), as well as new exclusive Live-enabled versions of popular digital games such as World of Goo and Osmos, distributed by Microsoft Game Studios. All games can be purchased either by credit card or with Microsoft Points. Games on Demand for Windows will be available in markets that currently have the Games for Windows — Live service. Microsoft is also offering an updated Live-enabled version of Tinker, formerly an exclusive Windows Vista Ultimate Extra, as a completely free download from the Games for Windows — Live client.
Valve should be worried about this initiative. It could be a very large problem for its competing Steam service. Although Steam is more established, Microsoft obviously has the money and infrastructure to make its service immediately competitive. Then again, I wonder if MS will fully back this endeavor. It makes so much money from Xbox 360 and has clearly been pushing gamers towards its Xbox 360 console. Its recent PC gaming efforts have been half-assed.
In the past, a lot of you have told me that you’re never going back to PC games outside of Blizzard titles. Does Microsoft’s new service interest you?