Or, you know, they could code it into the application themselves, they could use Impulse Reactor's no-middleware approach or you could just use XFire.
Except for the part where Impulse Reactor is middleware, just like Steamworks. It's clearly stated right in the documentation.
Xfire is a hack at best and that's up to the XFire team to implement. Besides, if Gears of War doesn't have one-click join capabilities via XFire I don't see how on earth they'd be able to do the same with Bulletstorm which also doesn't use dedicated servers by the sound of it.
I would consider GFWL a step up from Gamespy. But it is not nearly as satisfying as Steam in my book. It's very disappointing to see this rumor since there was a big fuss made about Epic offering complementary Steamworks integration with all UDK/Engine licenses a while back.
So if this indeed is a false rumor and the game comes to Steam and retail w/o any signs of GWFL how many of you will actually give up panicking and get the game? Just curious.
Possibly. I've been on the fence about this game since a few trailers ago. This kind of tips me onto the "no thanks" side, but I'm willing to buy it if it does show up on Steam (even with GFWL) and the reviews are favorable. It's certainly never been on my Day 1 purchase list (although February is a lot less cramped now that Portal 2 and Deus Ex are delayed) though.