Games for Windows Live error locks some users out of online profile, saved games

Games for Windows Live users have been experiencing problems connecting to the service's servers, leaving some unable to access their online profiles. It's an unusual situation, because the much-loved GfW Live is normally so reliable, and definitely not something we recently described as "one of the most ill-conceived and poorly executed pieces of software it is possible to install on your PC."

It's not entirely clear which games are affected, although complaints on the ~~Games for Windows~~ Xbox forums seem to span the full range of Live enabled titles, including Dark Souls, Age of Empires Online and Super Street Fighter IV. Aside from barring access to the online portion of games, the error also blocks players from loading saves for games with encrypted files, such as Dark Souls and Arkham City.

Microsoft acknowledged the issue last Friday, saying that users may be experiencing the following issues:

Cannot connect on their account on a game that worked previously
Other users can use their account on the same PC without issues
In the Games for Windows Marketplace, under view game keys may be getting "An unknown error has occurred."

Yesterday, Microsoft posted a possible fix, but admit that they are still looking to resolve the error for all users.

"Some users are reporting success by running the following four commands in an admininstrator command prompt (right click on the command propt and select run as administrator)

- bitsadmin /reset

- ipconfig /flushdns

- netsh int ip reset

- netsh winsock reset

then restarting their computers, starting their game up and selecting "Sign-in with another account" and re-entering their log-in information."

Thanks, VG247 .

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.