[Update: Added Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition]
The PC Gaming wiki page has been updated regarding third-party DRM and titles currently using Games For Windows Live and titles that are planning on switching off of the service when it eventually shuts down next year on July 1st.
I don't know why this issue isn't a heck of a lot bigger than it is, but take note that any game that does not remove or patch out the Games For Windows Live DRM authentication system for its single-player content will render the game completely and entirely unplayable. I'll circle back around to the importance of this issue later, but for now, the list of games being patched from GFWL to Steamworks are below, courtesy of the PCGamingWiki.com.
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Enhanced Edition
Bioshock 2
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Game of the Year Edition)
Batman: Arkham City (Game of the Year Edition)
F1 2010
F1 2011
Fallout 3
DIRT 3
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Colonies Edition
Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II
I'm sure many of you are wondering where the rest of the games are, but that's it. We had previously confirmed that Batman and Bioshock 2 were being treated for the cancerous DRM tumor known as GFWL, but there are a ton of games that are still using and supporting the failed and miserable digital rights management security system.
Lost Planet 2, Flatout, Fuel, The Club, Red Faction Guerrilla and Kane & Lynch: Dead Men are but a few titles still using GFWL and there seems to be no plans on making a change as of the writing of this article.
[[ br. ]] Resident Evil 5 or Grand Theft Auto IV? I guess people are just inclined to not uninstall the game and make sure that you always keep it handy on a spare hard drive?
I mean, it's safe to say that Rockstar not patching out GFWL on GTA IV (while currently failing to announce the very obvious PC rendition of GTA V) almost comes across as one of the biggest slap-in-the-face tactics to the PC audience yet.
Now I know some of you are thinking “But, but, but, they have until July 1st, 2014. They don't have to announce or fix anything right now!” which is true, except it makes it a heck of a lot easier for gamers who paid for the products to feel more at ease knowing that they aren't about to get screwed over by a giant corporation because they're deciding to take their ball and go home... just like they did with the Family Share Plan.
In the meantime games using the GFWL setup such as Street Fighter X Tekken, Bulletstorm or Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition has their PC fanbase biting their nails and hoping a fix comes sooner rather than later.
For console gamers -- they're able to sit back and laugh it off because they don't have to worry about this, for now. But every game not listed to get a Steamworks conversion is a game that will no longer be playable once the GFWL servers shutdown for good. Yes, it means you cannot install and play the game anymore once the servers are finito. Does that sound familiar? It should, because that's what Microsoft was going to do with the Xbox One's Azure licensing service. And after a decade or so of milking the cows, Microsoft could pull the same stunt and leave all you poor Xbox fanboys (and fangirls) out to dry. You really should be thanking Sony and the hardworking people behind the #NoDRM campaign for saving the Xbox brand.
Anyway, PC gamers aren't out of the woods yet, and while some titles are being converted off the abomination that is GFWL, some games still haven't received the treatment yet and given the near anti-PC culture of some companies, it looks like some games may not only forgo the conversion they deserve, but they'll also be out of a conversion that they need.
