But Unangst and GFW are currently working to build upon the branding further with Games for Windows - Live, which adds Xbox Live-like console functionality to PC games with the implementation of Achievements, persistent Gamertags, friends lists, matchmaking, and for some games such as 2007's Shadowrun, cross-platform gameplay between PC and Xbox 360. But since the service's unveiling in March 2007, only a few games have been released with Games for Windows - Live functionality.

Meanwhile, Valve Software has been making big strides in the area of multiplayer and community PC features with its 15 million account-strong Steam service, which is also a digital distribution platform. Is GFW - Live already being outclassed before it even has a chance?

"I think Valve is doing some really interesting things with the Steam service," Unangst, a Steam user, concedes. "They've been active a lot longer than we have. Steam's been out for five years. People are judging our efforts much too early. If you look at the year-one reviews of Steam, they were not glowing at all. It takes a while, but Valve is doing good work, they're investing, they're doing some exciting things.

moscallout"Certainly, there's room for both Steam and Games for Windows - Live."/moscallout"...People underestimate the amount of work that is required to develop a system like that."

Unangst also believes that multiple services focused on delivering a better online PC gaming service can co-exist in harmony.

"Certainly, there's room for more than one. There always has been...There's no preclusion that says you can't use both services...That's what's great about the PC. It's an open platform."

There's no set date as to when GFW - Live will begin rolling out more features, such as a standalone frontend (games like Shadowrun require you to be in-game to access GFW - Live features), although there are more games on the slate that will support cross-platform play, Achievements and other features of the in-progress service, as Microsoft continues to invest in the program.

What of the PC gaming Renaissance?

The challenges surrounding PC gaming require game makers, publishers, retailers and consumers to adapt. That adaptation, in more theatrical terms, may be driving the PC gaming "Renaissance" that former Microsoft gaming honcho Peter Moore mentioned back in 2006, Unangst says.

"If you look at what's happened in the last year-and-a-half, I think we absolutely are at the forefront of a PC gaming Renaissance," he says, "whether it's the new business models, the revenues that are being generated, the explosive growth in PC sales and online activity, Microsoft's investments in a set of quality standards for PC titles or the consistent look and feel at retail for games. All of those things didn't exist two years ago.

"We are at the start of that Renaissance and continue to make progress."