Microsoft introduces Game on Demand

Games for Windows LIVE gets a digital store with full games

Posted on Dec 3, 2009 - 4:57pm EST

Games for Windows Live will become a full-fledged distribution platform for full games from December 15 with the addition of 'Games on Demand', Microsoft has announced.

The Games for Windows Live store will accept either Microsoft Points or credit card as payment for its Games on Demand, which can be downloaded and installed "whenever you want, wherever you want." Currently the store sells only downloadable content.

"We didn't just want to create a cut-and-paste version of existing digital distribution services," said LIVE Engagement Services general manager Mike Ybarra in a press statement. "Our goal has always been to create a seamless online gaming experience for the Windows community, and Games on Demand is a great step toward that end."

The games lineup at launch will include Resident Evil 5, Red Faction: Guerrilla and Battlestations: Pacific, as well as GFWL-enabled editions of Osmos and World of Goo.

Games on Demand made its debut on Xbox 360 in August with 24 games, a lineup which has been steadily expanded each week by titles both new and old.

"There's no question digital distribution will overtake physical," Xbox Europe marketing vice president David Gose said last year. Many PC digital distributors have reported significant growth--though exactly where they stand in relation to each other is disputed.