Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

Microsoft reportedly shutting down Games for Windows Live July 2014

Craig Lloyd
By
games for windows live shutting down july 1 2014 gfw
Image used with permission by copyright holder

After announcing that its Games for Windows marketplace would be shutting down later this month on August 22, it seems Microsoft is planning to take the entire Games for Windows Live service with it, as a now-redacted support page on Microsoft’s website pointed to a shutdown date of July 1, 2014.

According to Polygon, the message appeared on the Age of Empires: Online support page on Xbox.com before being taken out of the support notes for the game a short while later. The message also noted that service for Age of Empires: Online would be ending that same day as well, although it’s not specified whether the entire game would shut down or just some aspects of the game, but Microsoft stated that gamers would be able to “continue to enjoy all the features of Age of Empires Online as the service will remain 100 percent operational until July 1, 2014 when the server will shut down.”

Recommended Videos

We don’t know exactly why Microsoft pulled the message from the support page, but it simply could’ve been posted prematurely or by accident, with an official announcement possibly coming in the near future. In the meantime, though, it seems that Microsoft doesn’t have a lot of faith in its current PC gaming offerings. While many big titles have used Games for Windows Live, developers are starting to back away from the service due to its drop in popularity.

Related

However, Microsoft may have something else in the works to eventually replace Games for Windows Live. The Redmond-based company recently hired former Steam director of business development Jason Holtman to focus on “PC gaming and entertainment strategy” for Microsoft. Steam has been a leader in the PC gaming industry for several years, so Holtman could bring a lot of useful insights to Microsoft as they attempt to focus more on the platform.

Image Credit: TheWax/deviantART

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Craig Lloyd
Craig Lloyd
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Craig Lloyd is a freelance writer who's been writing and blogging since 2008. His love for technology goes back even further…
How to type an em dash in Windows
Overhead view of someone typing on a Surface laptop.

The em dash (—) is a supremely useful (and fashionable) piece of punctuation used in writing and editing, often in place of a comma, colon, or parenthesis. While you might want to utilize it to make your grammar look fancy, the symbol on a computer can be a little challenging to access if you don’t know how, especially on the Windows operating system.

Fortunately, there are several methods available to insert the em dash punctuation into your text. Check out the following tips to learn how to become more familiar with the em dash on your computer.
Keyboard
The em dash keyboard shortcut is one of the easier methods to access the punctuation. Though it might take a little bit of getting used to, once you master it ,you’ll be an em dash typing master. Turn on Number Lock by pressing the NumLock key on the upper number row of your keyboard. Then hold the Alt key and type the sequence 0151 on the numeric keypad of your keyboard. Release the Alt key and the em dash will appear.

Read more
How to delete Google Chrome on Windows and Mac
Google Chrome with pinned tabs on a MacBook on a table.

Google Chrome is a user-friendly web browser that is packed with useful features and intuitive controls. It’s also the default browser for pretty much any Chrome-branded product you purchase. Even if you prefer Safari or Firefox, we bet Chrome has one or two things you would dig. But what if you've added Google Chrome to your Windows or macOS machine, and you’ve decided you don’t like the dang thing?

Read more
How to automate tasks in Windows to make everything faster
The screen of the Surface Pro 9 on a table.

In daily use of Windows 11 or Windows 10, you might notice that a lot of the things you do are repetitive. As soon as you turn on your PC, you might end up launching a specific app like a web browser. You might even be launching programs in tandem, like Slack, Teams, and Microsoft Office.

If you're hoping to be more productive and save time, automating these tasks to happen on their own without a mouse click or a keyboard as soon as your PC boots up is something to consider.

Read more