r/GFWLive Apr 21 '25

[Fix Inside] GFWL 2025 Mega Thread – 0x80151906, Multiplayer, Achievements

42 Upvotes

🟢 UPDATE — April 25, 2025:
GFWL profile login and new PCID registration are working again!

The activation servers are back online — you can now log in, create new profiles, and play without getting the 0x80151906 error. This works on fresh installs and clean systems.

⚠️ Still, it's a good idea to save your working PCID + CD-Key pair or use backup tools, in case the servers go offline again.

Why this matters

If you still care about Games for Windows LIVE (GFWL) for multiplayer, achievements, or just nostalgia — this post is for you. Since April 2025, the GFWL activation servers for new PCIDs are no longer responding. That means any fresh install, new system, or new machine can't log into their profile anymore — you're hit with the classic 0x80151906 error and stuck. But there's a fix — and it works. There are three types of GFWL game activation:

  • Legacy (5x5) — Classic titles with offline-friendly keys. These work with a trick.
  • 🟡 Legacy (Per-Title 5x5) — Similar to above, needs testing per game.
  • SSA (Server-Side Activation) — These are tied to your MS account directly and cannot be bypassed.

Compatibility Table

Game Title Activation Type
007: Quantum of Solace ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon - Enhanced Edition ❌ SSA
Age of Empires Online ❌ SSA
AFL Live 🟡 Legacy (Per-Title)
Batman: Arkham Asylum ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Batman: Arkham City ❌ SSA
Battle vs. Chess ❌ SSA
Battlestations: Pacific ✅ Legacy (5x5)
BioShock 2 ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Blacklight: Tango Down ❌ SSA
BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Bulletstorm ❌ SSA
CarneyVale: Showtime ❌ SSA
Colin McRae: DiRT 2 ❌ SSA
Crash Time 4: The Syndicate ❌ SSA
Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition ❌ SSA
Dark Void ❌ SSA
Dead Rising 2 ❌ SSA
Dead Rising 2: Off the Record ❌ SSA
DiRT 3 ❌ SSA
F1 2010 ❌ SSA
F1 2011 ❌ SSA
Fable III ❌ SSA
Fallout 3 ✅ Legacy (5x5)
FlatOut: Ultimate Carnage ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Fuel ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Game Room ❌ SSA
Gears of War ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Gotham City Impostors ❌ SSA
Grand Theft Auto IV ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Halo 2 ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Hour of Victory ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet 🟡 Legacy (Per-Title)
Iron Brigade ❌ SSA
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Legend of the Galactic Heroes ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Lost Planet 2 ❌ SSA
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Colonies Edition ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom ❌ SSA
Microsoft Flight ❌ SSA
Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection 🟡 Legacy (Per-Title)
Ms. Splosion Man ❌ SSA
Operation Flashpoint: Red River ❌ SSA
Osmos ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Red Faction: Guerrilla ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Resident Evil 5 ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City 🟡 Legacy (Per-Title)
Rugby League Live 🟡 Legacy (Per-Title)
Section 8 ❌ SSA
Section 8: Prejudice ❌ SSA
Shadowrun ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Republic Heroes ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Stormrise ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Street Fighter IV ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Street Fighter X Tekken ❌ SSA
Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition ❌ SSA
Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends 🟡 Legacy (Per-Title)
The Club ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Toy Soldiers ❌ SSA
Tron: Evolution 🟡 Legacy (Per-Title)
Universe at War: Earth Assault ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Vancouver 2010 ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Virtua Tennis 4 ❌ SSA
Viva Piñata ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II ✅ Legacy (5x5)
Where's Waldo? The Fantastic Journey ❌ SSA
World of Goo (2008) ✅ Legacy (5x5)

Instructions

Download from here: 👉 this tool

Steps:

  1. Run the program as Administrator
  2. Click "Fix Key Error"
  3. Launch any GFWL-enabled game
  4. When asked, enter the CD-Key shown in the tool
  5. Wait until the profile logs in successfully
  6. Minimize the game, return to the tool
  7. Click "New PCID"
  8. Return to the game — you're now online with a new PCID

4. FAQ

💬 “I still get 0x80151906, your program sucks”

→ Make sure you're running it as Administrator.
→ If still broken, go to regedit
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Software\Microsoft\XLive
Check if the PCID value is correctly set to:
14120210262240770816 (that's c3f5106be2afbb00 in hex)
If not, set it manually.

💬 “When will games marked as 'Testing' work?”

→ When kind folks share their working CD-KEY + PCID pairs. If you can help — contact me below.

💬 “What is PCID and how does GFWL activation work?”

→ PCID is a unique ID for your computer that GFWL uses to check if a CD key has already been activated on that system. If the combination of your PCID + CD key was previously activated, the game will launch normally. But if it wasn't — GFWL tries to activate it online. And since the servers are now offline, new activations no longer work. That's why using an already activated PCID helps bypass the issue.

💬 “If I already have a working GFWL game installed, do I still need to use the fix? What happens if I reinstall Windows or upgrade hardware later?”

→ If the game is already working and you can log into your GFWL profile — you're fine for now. But the moment you reinstall Windows, change hardware, or move to a new system, GFWL will try to activate again — and fail, because the activation servers are gone. That’s why it’s critical to back up your current PCID and CD-Key while everything is still working. The tool in the guide lets you use old pre-activated combos — but only if you’ve saved them in time. Think of it as “immunizing” your game before it breaks.

💬 “Why do I have to keep entering the key, will it be easier someday?”

→ Yes, a better solution is being worked on by BlackAnt02.
For now, this is the best we’ve got.

💬 “How long will GFWL last?”

→ No one knows. Could be a week. Could be 10 years. Use it while it's up.

5. Contacts

Got stuck?

🔹 Telegram: e8200 🔹 Reddit PMs: u/HeleusHere 🔹 Discord: notusu


r/GFWLive May 05 '23

GFWLive has been reopened

15 Upvotes

The subreddit had previously been restricted so that only approved users could post. As of today the subreddit has been changed to public/open which means anyone can now post or comment.

This subreddit is intended to assists users with games using the Games for Windows Live service. Please make sure your post is GFWLive related.

I have also added a subreddit wiki that you can find under the menu tab at the top of the page. This wiki includes useful information such as a list of games that use GFWL, links to these games subreddits, and a link to useful forums.

If you have any issues posting to or questions about this subreddit then send a mod message and I will address your concerns.


r/GFWLive 15d ago

I'm screwed, aren't I?

5 Upvotes

I opened gfwlam and unlocked some bugged achievements, only to find out my save files were corrupted the next time I opened the game. Can I fix my files somehow or do I have to use another one's files?


r/GFWLive 21d ago

Czy pakiet startowy 99 Nights jest nadal dostępny?

2 Upvotes

Cześć wszystkim, chcę dokładnie wiedzieć, co się stało z pakietem startowym w 99 Nights in the Forest. Czy wciąż można go zdobyć w grze, czy może deweloperzy całkowicie go usunęli? Jeśli nadal tam jest, jak mogę się do niego dostać? Dzięki!


r/GFWLive 22d ago

GFWL Overlay not working!

1 Upvotes

I did everything, clean reinstall of GFWL, patches, patched versions of GFWL, custom xlive.dll and that overlay its not appearing, I cant enable autosave on DiRT 2 it always give me "GAME SAVE ERROR". Someone ever had this problem? I searched about a solution and got absolutely nothing :/

I didn't had this issue on Windows 10, currently using Windows 11 LTSC. Maybe I'm missing something?


r/GFWLive 24d ago

Lost Brothers

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24 Upvotes

r/GFWLive 26d ago

Dead Rising 2/OTR - Restoring GFWL from Steam

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37 Upvotes

Every source I find says you need the disc to access GFWL anymore, but I managed to get it working with the Steam version again. If you bought through Steam back in the day and still have your key, then this will get you up and running again. If you don't have a key, you can still play offline and sync your achievements by logging into another online GFWL game.

1) Make sure you have GFWL setup already, there are other guides for that. Then download the game from Steam.

2) Move the game files to either:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Capcom\Dead Rising 2
C:\Program Files (x86)\Capcom\Dead Rising 2 Off The Record

3) Delete xlive.dll, steam_api.dll, and DR2_install.vdf

4) Download and extract the patch (DR2, OTR); these are straight from Microsoft so no funny business. You can't run setup.exe normally because it won't find the install registry keys.

Instead, open command prompt and run this command:

<setup.exe file path> /f <game folder>

My example, using the patch extracted to Downloads for Off The Record.

C:\Users\USER\Downloads\tu10000083_10000183\Content\setup.exe /f C:\Program Files (x86)\Capcom\Dead Rising 2 Off The Record

5) Set your PC clock back to 2013. Only needed once to bypass date verification.

6) Now launch the game exe from the game folder. The game will launch and look like Steam, but the GFWL overlay should pop up and ask for your sign-in/key. If you have no key, just close the overlay at that step and it should let you play. You can create a desktop shortcut for easier launching in the future, and set your clock back to normal.

I own DR2 on disc so I only personally confirmed this works with Off The Record, but I don't see why it wouldn't work with vanilla DR2. Furthermore I'm 90% sure DLC won't work, as it originally came from the GFWL marketplace and had its own verification and file structure. But the game retains some of its Steam identity, so maybe the patch somehow leaves the Steam DLC identifier intact.


r/GFWLive 27d ago

The Club (2008) 75 %‑off on Steam until 9/10 July

16 Upvotes

From what I understand, legacy 5×5 product keys from one GfWL game can be used to activate other games that also use legacy keys.

In which case, The Club is currently on sale on Steam for 75 %‑off (AU$4.74 where I am). Which seems like a great opportunity to acquire and stash away an unused, clean, legitimate product key for (re)use later on other games (eg Halo 2, World of Goo, GTA IV, Gears of War etc)?


r/GFWLive Jun 15 '26

resident evil raccoon city help

1 Upvotes

i need help. i have the resident evil raccoon city games for windows code and disc. i cant get it working. i download the games for windows live app and it just says connection issue. i got re5 playable because of steam but I'm having problems with this one. any advice ??


r/GFWLive Jun 08 '26

Crazy fun fact: Gears 3 dedicated servers were GFWL "games" with their own gamertags

27 Upvotes

Randomly found this old GDC talk from Microsoft Game Studios talking about how they setup dedicated matchmaking, and around 9:30 they talked about GFWL!

Very cool, wonder how many others games did this (the presenter says others did it in the Q&A but perhaps not to the scale GoW3 did)


r/GFWLive May 27 '26

Resi 5 GFWL cd key giveaway. First come first serve.

8 Upvotes

I bought a GFWL copy of Resident Evil 5 from a second-hand charity shop. No idea if it works, as I already have the game on Steam. Wanna give it away rather than leave it unused.

First to message me gets the CD key.

*CLAIMED*


r/GFWLive May 25 '26

GTA IV (PC) GFWL

7 Upvotes

Hello, has anyone downloaded the GFWL version on Internet Archive? If so what did you do to get it to run on Windows 11? I get it to launch and it starts for about 2 seconds crashes and then pop ups: GTA IV FATAL ERROR: Invalid resource detected - Please re-install the game

Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks!

Also, I do have the physical copy, just haven't received my disk drive yet.


r/GFWLive May 25 '26

Problems with IDs and passwords that don't make sense!

1 Upvotes

I'm having trouble logging in with my account, and I haven't seen anyone specifically mentioning this issue.

I installed GFWL here on my Windows 10 using the offline installer, which was gfwlclient.msi and xliveredist.msi.

Everything was fine up to that point.

I launched my original Resident Evil 5 from Steam using the code that makes it use the GFWL version instead of the new one. I entered my account, and the profile downloaded normally and was online. After that, I launched Fallout 3, which I had purchased from the old version of Steam to get the achievements for that game, but I noticed that GFWL went offline, and then I kept getting ID and password errors.

After I went back to Resident Evil 5, I couldn’t log into my account online anymore; it kept giving me the same ID and password error. I checked the network status option, and it said the IP address wasn’t recognized and UPnP wasn’t working either. I wonder if this is related or not?

And yes, I already tried using the app password that Microsoft offers for older systems like the Xbox 360, for example, but it didn’t work.


r/GFWLive May 24 '26

Bioshock 2 DLC

9 Upvotes

Does anyone know how to get the Bioshock 2 DLC?


r/GFWLive May 23 '26

Any archives of Dead Rising 2 DLC?

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26 Upvotes

Installed my disc and got the game online, but I've been unsuccessful in finding a way to get DLC back. I bought the ninja pack back in the day, would be a shame to have to play without it.


r/GFWLive May 22 '26

Looking for GTA IV trainer that can give money online on V1.8

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0 Upvotes

r/GFWLive May 22 '26

Looking for GTA IV trainer that can give money online on V1.8

0 Upvotes

as the title says, needs to work in V1.8 of GFWL


r/GFWLive May 17 '26

Looking for partner to do Fable 3 coop achievements

3 Upvotes

Need help with coop in Fable 3. Can give you every weapon for 50 weapons achievement in return


r/GFWLive May 15 '26

Si The Orange Box se hubiera lanzado oficialmente con GFWL

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3 Upvotes

r/GFWLive May 15 '26

Gears of Wars and Hour of Victory MP Achievements

3 Upvotes

if you can, contact on xbox:GGLCHPCHPBIV95


r/GFWLive May 11 '26

Garry's Mod (PC) CD key

0 Upvotes

r/GFWLive May 10 '26

GFWL stuck at "Downloading Profile"

6 Upvotes

Hi. I'll to keep it as short as possible.

Basically I've been trying to log into GFWL when playing Colin McRae DIRT 2. So far I've managed to pull up the app using the home button, but when I try to sign in with my Xbox account which according to google is a viable method I get stuck at "Downloading Profile". I even went as far as leaving it overnight, but apparently I can't connect at all.

Important details:

  1. I'm using a CD key that steam gave me, I believe after they pulled the game out.

  2. Windows 11.

  3. I don't have access to my original GFWL account since I used an email created before the email verification era, so I'm entering my current Xbox credentials which allegedly should work, yet I'm stuck at "Downloading profile. This might take a few minutes."

  4. Short Windows Live password and Net Framework 3.5

Is anyone aware of a solution or maybe a way to recover my old profile by finding my nickname?


r/GFWLive May 09 '26

I plan on playing GFWL discs on my old PC, would I have to face any obstacles or can I just download the client, insert the game and play immediately?

16 Upvotes

r/GFWLive May 04 '26

Cd keys used

6 Upvotes

I have ordered dirt 3 and dirt 2 gfwl and they are used am i gonna be able to install and play them or im gonna have troubles with already used cd keys ?


r/GFWLive Apr 20 '26

Where can I redeem these games

7 Upvotes

I bought bunch of brand new physical copies of old GFWL version games with activate code but it seems can't be activated on steam. So the question is where can I redeem these games?