The Games for Windows Live store will accept either Microsoft Points or credit card as payment for its Games on Demand, which can be downloaded and installed "whenever you want, wherever you want." Currently the store sells only downloadable content.

"We didn't just want to create a cut-and-paste version of existing digital distribution services," said LIVE Engagement Services general manager Mike Ybarra in a press statement. "Our goal has always been to create a seamless online gaming experience for the Windows community, and Games on Demand is a great step toward that end."

The games lineup at launch will include Resident Evil 5, Red Faction: Guerrilla and Battlestations: Pacific, as well as GFWL-enabled editions of Osmos and World of Goo.

An updated version of Fuel Industries' robotic puzzler Tinker--previously released as an 'Extra' for Windows Vista Ultimate--will become a free GoD title to lure punters in.

Games on Demand made its debut on Xbox 360 in August with 24 games, a lineup which has been steadily expanded each week by titles both new and old.

"There's no question digital [distribution] will overtake physical," Xbox Europe marketing vice president David Gose said last year. Many PC digital distributors have reported significant growth--though exactly where they stand in relation to each other is disputed.