Was Skyrim ever going to use Games For Windows Live?

The news that Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will definitely use Steamworks rather than Games For Windows Live has shot around the Internet today, but (and with the greatest of respect to those reporting the story) it doesn’t appear as if Skyrim was ever going to use GFWL.
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That hasn’t stopped the rumour of GFWL rubbishness afflicting the next Scrolls Elder Scrolls game (that is confusing, isn’t it?), resulting in the Elder Scrolls Twitter stating that ‘We can confirm today that we're using Steamworks for Skyrim’

The confusion came from the promotion picture for Skyrim, where the PC version was placed behind the Xbox 360 and PS3 boxes. The Games For Windows logo was showing and many people worried that the word ‘Live’ might be on the end. However, the Games For Windows logo features on a lot of game boxes and merely means… actually, I’m not sure what it means, or guarantees and implies. That the game doesn’t run on Linux and Mac?


Anyway, the point is, this logo is harmless and does not mean you have to use GFWL. Moreover, the Games for Windows Live logo is larger, with the Live bit underneath the word Games. It’s easy to spot, and therefore avoid when possible, as these images show:


Quite why Microsoft insists on such stringent online authentication and activation procedures on the PC and is so much more relaxed on the Xbox 360 is beyond me – piracy is as much of a problem on console as on PC and yet it’s PC gamers that have to suffer the counter-measures. Anyhoo, hope the above helps when you’re out shopping, or looking at future cross-platform release photography!

Check our GamesCom 2011 news hub for all the information from Cologne this year.