It used to be that Games for Windows Live was a heavy weight, dragging down whatever game it latched onto. Now, with the service's shutdown thought to occur next July, that weight has putrefied, like a rotting carcass, steaming from the heat of some great games. As you may have guessed, I'm not sorry to see it go. I'm definitely not sorry if it means existing GfW Live games issue updates that swap it out for a more palatable service. That's what Bioshock 2 has just done: ditching Microsoft's problematic client for Steamworks. As an added bonus, the previously GfW Marketplace exclusive Minerva's Den DLC is now also available on Steam, and has been given to existing Bioshock 2 owners for free.
The Steamworks switch means a few things, of varying degrees of importance. Steam achievements are now active, as is full controller support. More significantly, retail keys have been added into the Steam database, meaning owners of a physical copy can pop in their CD Key and register the Steam version. Make the switch and you'll automatically be given all the existing multiplayer DLC packs too.
If you don't yet have Minerva's Den , widely regarded as one of the better DLC campaigns in existence, you can grab it from the Steam store. Both it and Bioshock 2 are currently 50% off in this weekend's 2K sale . With the sale rolling through different games each day, there's a good chance the game will receive an even bigger discount later in the weekend.
Elsewhere in the campaign to kill Games for Windows Live dead, the PC Gaming Wiki has been tracking which games have confirmed or even actioned its removal. So far, both Arkham games are beta testing removal of GfW Live and SecuROM, while Dawn of War 2 and its Chaos Rising expansion will likely be stuck with it, due to THQ's demise.
