After an initially rocky start – Yeah, let’s charge PC gamers to play online! Why would they be upset that they have to pay for something that was always free before? – Microsoft’s Games For Windows – LIVE has been steadily gaining traction with developers and publishers, even if many gamers have still been lukewarm to the service. News comes to us today from GDC that new features are inbound.

Piracy is probably one of the biggest issues facing PC gaming today. Microsoft announces GFWL will be adding new anti-piracy measures: zero-day protection and server-side authentication attempt to curb pre-street date piracy along with requiring online authentication for online play.

New marketplace APIs allow publishers to develop in-game stores to allow better delivery of add-on content, rather than making the process disjointed, removing the player from the gamespace. The addition of better roaming features let gamers save updates to personal information on their cloud-based Live account from any compatible, online Windows PC.

“This update and other features currently in development represent a tipping point in the evolution of Games for Windows – LIVE as a leading online PC gaming network,” said Ron Pessner, general manager of Games for Windows – LIVE. “In the coming months, we will continue to deliver on our promise to provide gamers and publishers with the industry’s best connected gaming experiences through the LIVE service.”

However, will this actually make gamers excited about the service? It remains to be seen, although new features are always nice, right?