For those of you still baffled by Microsoft’s distressing near neglect of its by now embarrassing Games for Windows service, this bit of news may shed some light on the matter. Apparently the plan is to deeply integrate Windows 8 and Xbox Live, similar to the way the service has been integrated in Microsoft’s mobile offering, Windows Phone 7.
Microsoft VP Mike Delman is right in asserting that ”whether it’s us or Apple or anybody else, people want to be able to navigate through multiple devices in a certain ecosystem very seamlessly so we’re committed to that.” But what people also want is for the service to actually be useful and add value to the experience of playing games on your OS. They also want to leverage their current collection of games, which for many resides on Steam. So while a “pervasive” Xbox Live “across devices” sounds great, we’ll save our enthusiasm for when Microsoft has something to show in that direction.
