Fallout 3 finally removes Games For Windows Live requirement on PC

Fallout 3
(Image credit: Bethesda)

Fallout 3 has finally been freed from Microsoft's Games For Windows Live service.

Bethesda recently published a forum post to the Steam page of Fallout 3, notifying players that the game "no longer installs Games for Windows Live dependencies." Additionally, Bethesda advises those who already have Fallout 3 installed via Steam to uninstall and then redownload the RPG to take advantage of the new changes.

This is likely music to the ears of veteran Fallout 3 players on Steam. If you're unfamiliar with the service, Microsoft's Games For Windows Live was first introduced all the way back in 2007, as a way to provide PC players with Xbox-orientated achievements and social features that you would've found on the Xbox 360 at the time.

However, the service was never a huge hit with PC players. It meant dealing with a tiresome user interface over the years, and Microsoft would eventually take the service out behind the shed seven years after its debut in 2014, discontinuing it entirely. Since then, publishers and developers alike have uninstalled Games For Windows Live from their existing games on PC that originally bore the unpopular service.

Now though, a whole seven years after it was originally discontinued, Fallout 3 is finally free from the burdens of Games For Windows Live. To celebrate, why not boot up Fallout 3 once again and head back to the Capitol Wasteland., where you can visit local hotspots like the mutant encampment and the Brotherhood of Steel hideout?

For a look to the future of the Fallout franchise at large, check out our Fallout 5 wishlist guide for all the features we'd like to see from Bethesda's inevitable next game in the series.

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.