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"2009. I'll never forget it, It was the year when that grisly "Games for Windows Live" service was required to play games.
Soon after in 2015, the news was out to the whole world revealing that the game couldn't be played on Steam, and it was the fault of a secret viral experiment conducted by the international technological enterprise, Microsoft, and its GWL virus."

Almost 15 years have passed since its original release in 2009, and now; almost 10 years since its inclusion on Steam, Resident Evil 5 finally had its "Games for Windows Live" requirement removed with an update released on February 27th, 2023. RE5 still required to have the GWL service installed on PC, and without it the game wouldn't launch. Players who bought the game on Steam, or even those that had the original PC port from 2009 (as I do), should have stumbled into this issue when the service went defunct in 2014, a years before RE5's official re-release on Steam in 2015. Players still had options to bypass the GWL requirement, in the form of a mod to allow it to run, but it was still something the user had to go out of their way to fix. Now, with the Feb 27th update, Steam users can simply download the game and it boots without the previous GWL prompts and struggles.

RE5 not only got its GWL requirement removed, but it also re-introduced split-screen co-op into the game, a feature which wasn't available for PC. The changelog for RE5's update goes as follows:

- Removed Games for Windows Live support.
- Will support local split screen co-op.
- Some other minor bug fixes.

Some users report that new extra settings were added into the game's options, like the FOV settings from console re-releases, and being able to extend the in-game view when playing split-screen (instead of the letterboxed view).

The updates don't end there, though, as the original Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 6 also got updates available alongside RE5, seems like they all got released in the same update bundle (which I found out the hardway, when being kicked out of playing RE4 just for the update to download, and then to had my progress blocked due to not being able to launch it for using the HD version, having to redownload it). However, for RE4 not much documentation has been shared regarding what the update did specifically, as it seems RE4 only had its .exe modified, and users with the HD project might require to reapply the whole project again.

As for the black sheep of the bunch, RE6 seems to have gotten the largest update of the bundle, with around 300-400MB in size, and this one added around 15 tracks from the Digital Soundtrack, as well as new wallpapers, a digital artbook for the game in PDF (alongside other PDFs for the soundtrack as well), and an update to some of the game's language ARC files.

With all these updates, it might be worth jumping back into the Over-the-Shoulders trilogy of RE in preparation for the RE4 Remake.

 

[almmiron]

Now do Lost Planet

Absolutely agreed

 

[HellGhast]

Borderlands 3+2 and RE-5 are my all time favourite split-screen couch co-op games.

These games were practically meant for couch split-screen and I've never played any BL or RE without my niece around...good times.

 

[ZeroFX]

finally, also re4 never had gfwl

 

[impeio92]

I hope they do the same with Operation Raccoon City, that game seems fun with friends.

 

[AxlSt00pid]

So when will they fix Street Fighter X Tekken? I actually really like the game and I would love to be able to purchase it on steam...

 

[Xzi]

Why hasn't Steam done a mass "Games for Windows Live" removal across the board yet? Many games are still unplayable. I wasn't able to play Bioshock or GTA 4 for the longest time because of that GWL trash.

Because Valve isn't the developer or publisher of any of those games, and messing with others' code would set a bad precedent. I think this was one of the last games that still had it included, though, aside from maybe a couple whose devs are now defunct.

In general though I agree Valve should have stricter policies on the inclusion of third-party launchers in games sold on Steam. At best they're a minor annoyance, at worst they break Steam Deck compatibility or are a major blow to performance.

 

[guily6669]

And I thought you could simply instal games for Windows crap service in win10 and would work...

Anyway I definitely remember installing that service for some game quite a few years ago and played it well, or maybe it was cracked yet still needed the service, can't even remember lol.

Borderlands 3+2 and RE-5 are my all time favourite split-screen couch co-op games.

These games were practically meant for couch split-screen and I've never played any BL or RE without my niece around...good times.

Though LAN is miles better as long as you have a 2nd PC or a laptop.

 

[Lumstar]

Why hasn't Steam done a mass "Games for Windows Live" removal across the board yet? Many games are still unplayable. I wasn't able to play Bioshock or GTA 4 for the longest time because of that GWL trash.

The service's final "official" shut down hasn't happened yet. Microsoft retracted that statement about closing GFWL, back in 2014.

 

[CanIHazWarez]

I think the problem is not your save file, but rather Steam's save format.
Search around for the RE5 Trainer software, in it you should find an option to disable the checksum or the Steam file save structure, that's what's keeping your save file from being imported properly iirc.

Thanks, I'll give that a shot. Would I be able to run the game without the trainer once I save my progress in the new Steam version of the game, or do I have to always run it with the trainer (and if so, will it get me banned for using it in online co-op)?

 

[ShadowOne333]

Thanks, I'll give that a shot. Would I be able to run the game without the trainer once I save my progress in the new Steam version of the game, or do I have to always run it with the trainer (and if so, will it get me banned for using it in online co-op)?

You only have to do the trainer stuff once I believe, you just need the save check to be bypassed once, and once it detects it, you can disable it and let the game save itself again so it saves a proper checksum (I believe).
And no, this shouldn't get you banned, there's little to no check on RE5's servers if at all from what I know.

 

[HellGhast]

Though LAN is miles better as long as you have a 2nd PC or a laptop.

The best thing about couch co-op is being able to share the same screen and see what your partner is doing. You need a big TV though but it's hella fun.

You have no idea how often on RE-5, BL2 and BL3 I end up using my partner's screen and vice-versa. You have to experience it to know what am talking about.

 

[guily6669]

The best thing about couch co-op is being able to share the same screen and see what your partner is doing. You need a big TV though but it's hella fun.

You have no idea how often on RE-5, BL2 and BL3 I end up using my partner's screen and vice-versa. You have to experience it to know what am talking about.

I know what it actually is since that was the online on PS1, PS2, Xbox Original and Dreamcast though those later 2 had online but only tried it very little times on Dreamcast cause it would get too expensive fast on dial-up back then and Xbox needed the crap XBLive...

But I finished RES5 on Xbox360 with LAN via internet a couple times with a friend

 

[urbanman2004]

I was wondering why dafuq RE4-6 in my Steam library collection had updated today...

 

[SteveShannon]

Amazing move. But why bother with the outdated version when there will soon be a remake of Resident Evil 4? Still, it's good to get Microsoft Games for Windows Live out of the way now. It shouldn't have taken this long because there have been FOUR OS UPDATES since then. We are no longer using Windows 7 but rather Windows 11.