IGN has word from Microsoft explaining the absence of PC gaming news at E3, in spite of the staggering support they are throwing behind their "Games for Windows" program that has so taken the gaming world by storm. Kevin Unangst of the Games for Windows program describes the show as "the battle of the consoles," as if somehow this is unrelated to the fact that they seem to be de-emphasizing PC games. IGN also points out they've discovered that Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II will have "gold" level Games for Windows matchmaking support for free out of the box. They question why they learned this from Relic's community site, rather than a Microsoft announcement, getting the following response: "Don't confuse a focus on the console at E3 with a lack of news or impending announcements coming from us on the Windows side. E3 fundamentally is a console show and do you want to compete and rise above the din or do you want to go on the cadence that we think is important to communicate that out." While Kevin has "nothing to announce yet" about whether the premium fee is to be dropped from the GFW program, the explanation of what's going on with the Dawn of War sequel implies this may be the case:

It was important when we talked to Relic that they be able to bring that full, unapologetic multiplayer experience to their gamers. They wanted to announce the game coming to Games for Windows – Live at E3, so we have a relationship with them and that's what we worked out. You'll continue to see movement from us on this front relative to what else we may be doing with Games for Windows – Live sooner than later.