Today Microsoft released the official details of the new Windows Live service that they briefly talked about at GDC07.
The service will go live on May 8th, 2007 which is also the date of Halo 2 for Vista followed by the launch of Shadowrun in June. Shadowrun of course will be the first game to allow Vista gamers to compete with and against Xbox360 gamers. Another title that will allow Vista and Xbox360 gamers to play together will be UNO which comes out sometime later in 2007.
Windows Live will allow Vista gamers to tap into the 6 Million Xbox Live subscriber community. Gamers can switch between the platforms and have a consistent Gamertag, friends list, gaming history and of course achievements.
If you are already a subscriber to Xbox Live, your Gamertag will carry over to your Vista computer’s Windows Live service at no extra charge. You will get all the great things you’ve come to expect from gaming online on Xbox360. If you’re a Vista owner you’ll discover in-game chat, achievements and dedicated servers. The Live silver membership which gives you community access but no online game play will be free. The Live gold membership will be USD $49.95 per year and adds cross platform gaming support.
Here is a breakdown of the individual service features:
Windows Live will allow Vista gamers to tap into the 6 Million Xbox Live subscriber community. Gamers can switch between the platforms and have a consistent Gamertag, friends list, gaming history and of course achievements.
If you are already a subscriber to Xbox Live, your Gamertag will carry over to your Vista computer’s Windows Live service at no extra charge. You will get all the great things you’ve come to expect from gaming online on Xbox360. If you’re a Vista owner you’ll discover in-game chat, achievements and dedicated servers. The Live silver membership which gives you community access but no online game play will be free. The Live gold membership will be USD $49.95 per year and adds cross platform gaming support.
Here is a breakdown of the individual service features:
Silver Membership Features
- Single gamertag
- Common gamer profile
- Common gamerscore
- Single player achievements
- Private chat via text and voice
- Common friends list and online presence
- PC only multiplayer including browsing a list of active PC games
Gold Membership Features
- All Silver membership features
- Multiplayer matchmaking with friends
- TrueSkill matchmaking
- Multiplayer achievements
- Cross-platform gameplay
"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. "The benefits of expanding Xbox Live to Games for Windows titles is twofold: We're bringing together two communities that share a passion for playing online games, and we're enhancing the online experience for PC gamers who have long desired seamless game and voice connectivity - it's a win for everyone."While many Xbox Live gamers will probably embrace the expansion of their Live Community onto Vista and maybe drive them to do a Vista upgrade, it remains to be seen if PC gamers will embrace this pay structure. Are multiplayer achievements and cross-platform multiplayer gaming worth $49.95 ? I guess it all will depend on how large the 'Games for Windows' catalog of games will become.
