Wardell: Games for Windows Live has "too many strings attached"

What’s the problem with Microsoft’s Games for Windows Live from a developer’s point of view? Let Stardock’s Brad Wardell tell you what.

It’s ”key mistakes” are having ”too many strings” to deal with. Enduring ”third party” approval for updates is tiring. Steam is the ”most mature.”

Stardock Games operates its own digital platform called Impulse, so you might think to discard Wardell’s words as one simply of a rival competitor. Well, judge for yourself.

”The key mistakes I’ve seen Games for Windows Live make includes having too many strings attached,” he told Edge in an interview.

“As a developer, I want accounts and Achievements, and seamless multiplayer. But I don’t want to have to go through some third party to get approval for updates and whatnot.”

Games for Windows Live is at times an almost invisible part of participating PC titles, but when an update is needed or the Internet connection drops - then you’ll notice it’s presence. Once a title update is approved you are left with no choice but to download it.

Speed consistency is another issue for GfWL because the patching process isn’t accurate when representing it’s true progress during the download phase, which can at times appear frozen or very slow. This is horrible when you just wanted to ‘drop in’.

”If I was in charge of Games for Windows Live, I would make it a series of tools and libraries that is a companion to DirectX. I’d eliminate the client and focus on the key tools and services: accounts, Achievements, matchmaking,” noted Wardell.

The Stardock boss called the problems with the Microsoft platform a “lack of commitment to quality”, something that Valve works hard on for Steamworks, he praises.

”Right now, there are three major platforms for developers and publishers,” he noted. “Steam with Steamworks, Impulse with ImpulseReactor and Games for Windows Live.”

“Steamworks is, by far, the most mature. It has the most features and services.” Wardell considered himself a proponent of Games for Windows Live but after facing huge grief in getting Elemental released, he lost faith in the service platform.

What are your opinions on Games for Windows Live? Too much an Xbox Live clone?