Vapourware Microsoft want to get into PC gaming again

[tormund]

I have a hard time imagining how someone can see MS's pumping of Windows Store and Windows 10 as a legit PC GAMING FUCK YEAH situation after all we know and have seen so far...

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.pcgamer.com/microsoft-sh...he-result-of-learning-to-ship-pc-games-again/

Phil Spencer: Microsoft is “learning to ship PC games again”
Xbox boss says they're still getting the hang of Windows 10 publishing.

"We gotta earn it," said Xbox head Phil Spencer, speaking to PC Gamer during E3on Tuesday about Microsoft's push to publish games on Windows again. "I know our Quantum [Break] launch wasn’t the best launch we had."

It's a bit of an understatement. The launch of Remedy's Quantum Break on Windows 10 wasn't a complete disaster, but an inconsistent framerate and other ugly graphics flaws definitely hurt it. We called it "a disappointing PC port" in our review. But Spencer, who spoke to us at some length about Microsoft's shaky start to Windows 10 game publishing, says it wasn't for lack of trying.

"Remedy said the same thing, we’ve said the same thing: I wanted to do a better job with the initial launch of Quantum Break on PC," said Spencer. "It wasn’t a motivation thing. I wouldn’t stand up and talk about things like Xbox Play Anywhere or show a full lineup that’s coming to Windows if I was going to try to short on our support there, and not be all in. We will make mistakes going forward as well. It’s part of being, I think, human."

According to Spencer, part of the problem was adding Windows 10 as a platform part way through Quantum Break's development, which helps explain why Microsoft has opted to leave Halo 5 as an Xbox One exclusive and focus onHalo Wars 2, which was planned for Windows 10 from the start.

But Quantum isn't the only game to struggle on Windows' new platform: Gears of War Ultimate Edition also had a rough launch, and that was a remaster of an old game, not a brand new Remedy blockbuster. When asked what's causing these launch problems, Spencer said plainly that Microsoft is "learning to ship PC games again."

"I started when we were basically a PC developer," said Spencer. "I go back to like Deadly Tide, Fury Cubed, all that, you know, Midtown [Madness], Age [of Empire] games. When we shipped the original Xbox, for better or for worse, frankly, we focused almost the entire organization on doing console games, and that’s 15 years ago, and the team’s built a lot of muscle of what it takes to build and ship console games. And we started a couple years ago—I’ve been in this job two years—so we started a couple years ago, I wanted to get back to PC gaming."

The process of re-learning PC publishing, and the stumbles so far (including criticism of the Universal Windows Platform), hasn't slowed Spencer and Microsoft down yet. Gears of War 4, Scalebound, Forza Horizon 3, and the rest of the first-party Microsoft lineup shown at the Xbox E3 conference are releasing on Windows 10. And that's along with new cross-buy functionality, which they're calling Xbox Play Anywhere, and cross-platform multiplayer. "You don’t have to buy two copies of Gears of War to play on your PC and your console, your saved games move back and forth, co-op stuff moves back and forth, you can play with people—cross-play, cross-buy, all that stuff supported," said Spencer. "So I’m just going to let you decide where you want to go play."

That even applies to Microsoft's biggest franchise, Halo. While there's no plan to develop Halo 5 for Windows, Spencer makes it very clear (without actually saying it) that the next Halo will release on Windows 10. Based on his statements, we're confident that Halo 6, or whatever it ends up being called, will be a PC release. With all that money and effort going into Windows 10 gaming, I have to assume—or at least hope—that we'll see major improvements to the Windows Store and the technical quality of the games released on it over the next two years. It'd be a shame if Microsoft wasted apparently good intentions on poor ports and a restrictive platform. (And it'd be extra nice if MS published its games on GOG as DRM-free Win32 applications, too, but we also wish every mosquito would spontaneously drop dead and that's probably more likely.)

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-boss-confirms-more-steam-releases-coming-disc/1100-6440958/

Xbox Boss Confirms More Steam Releases Coming, Discusses PC Struggles
"I don't think Valve's hurt by not having our first-party games in their store right now."

Appearing on GameSpot sister site Giant Bomb's E3 livestream tonight, Xbox boss Phil Spencer talked about Microsoft's efforts in the PC gaming space. He started off by discussing one of PC gaming's biggest players, Steam, and how Microsoft will release more of its games on it.

"I look at Steam today, it's on an incredible growth trajectory. It's a massive force in gaming; a positive force. I think it will be bigger a year from now than it is today. And five years later it will still be bigger again," he said. "I look at Valve as an important [independent software vendor] for us on Windows. They are a critical part of gaming's success on Windows. I don't think Valve's hurt by not having our first-party games in their store right now. They're doing incredible well. We will ship games on Steam again."

Also in the interview, Spencer stressed that, while Microsoft will put some of its future games on Steam (he didn't say which ones), he is also committed to further building out Microsoft's own Xbox store on PC. "I want to build a store; there's no doubt about that," he said.

Microsoft's PC game releases on the Windows Store haven't all gone too well, Spencer admitted.

"They all haven't gone swimmingly. Some of them have gone well," he explained. "Forza 6 Apex did well. Quantum Break wasn't our best PC release. Killer Instinctdid well on PC. Gears of War Ultimate Edition was OK--we definitely learned there."

Speaking generally about Steam, Spencer added, "There's going to be areas where we cooperate and there's going to be areas where we compete. The end result is better for gamers."

Some Microsoft-published games on Steam include Age of Empires II HD andOri and the Blind Forest. One game that's not there is Quantum Break--Valve isn't missing out, Spencer said. "I think they're doing fine without Quantum Break in their store," he explained.

Additionally, Spencer addressed some of the concerns people, including Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney, have about Microsoft's Universal Windows Platform.

"There's still definitely concern that UWP and our store are somehow linked in a way that is nefarious. It's not," he stated.

Sweeney previously accused Microsoft of monopolizing PC development with the Universal Windows Platform. In the interview tonight, Spencer said he is on good terms with Sweeney, calling him a close friend and someone he speaks with frequently.

One other interesting thing to note from the interview was that Spencer revealed he demonstrated the new, more powerful Xbox Scorpio console to Valve higher-ups.

Just sad at this point TBH

 

[Hoaxmetal]

I don't think Valve's hurt by not having our first-party games in their store right now.

Nobody is hurt by not having failures like Quantum Break in their store.

 

[tormund]

http://www.pcgamer.com/microsoft-sh...he-result-of-learning-to-ship-pc-games-again/

Gears of War Ultimate Edition was OK--we definitely learned there."

OK in a BS "it was a valuable lesson" way, instead of "it sold OK" way? Because I saw even less talk about it than about QB, not to mention that it was released some time after console version and it was panned as godawful port...

 

[taxalot]

Microsoft will have a hard time to get back into PC Gaming considering PC gaming wants more and more out of Microsoft.

Gabe Newell was right from the start. Better Steam than Windows Store. It's good, at least, that the XBOX isn't doing so good.

 

[Metro]

Why doesn't this guy get he isn't going to compete with Steam. Especially after the debacle that was GFWL. Sales of these new games with one year Windows Store exclusives will be mediocre. It's not about 'hurting Valve' it's about pissing off your consumer base.

 

[Metro]

They're just regurgitating the previous two articles. I'm sure it'll be a year delay before a Steam release.

 

[tormund]

Or they'll still keep "big" exclusives on Win Store, and use Steam for smaller games like Ori and maybe more remasters of older MS-published PC games...

 

[LESS T_T]

I also bet on smaller and PC-centric games. While AAA and console-centric games could turn out a profit with XBone sales, "indie" games like Ori could not survive without Steam.

 

[Metro]

I doubt they could keep something like Dead Rising 4 off of Steam. Capcom wouldn't be stupid enough to sign a contract like that.

 

[Atlantico]

I'd rather buy games from the Windows Store than Steam any day. Windows Store offers way way better customer service, sandboxing and don't require a dumbass client to play.

 

[GrainWetski]

I doubt they could keep something like Dead Rising 4 off of Steam. Capcom wouldn't be stupid enough to sign a contract like that.

They can't even keep it away from the PS4 by the looks of it.

Fans will be able to play 'Dead Rising 4' first on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC this December. It will remain a Windows 10 exclusive for the first 90 days and console exclusive on Xbox One for one year.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I'd rather buy games from the Windows Store than Steam any day. Windows Store offers way way better customer service, sandboxing and don't require a dumbass client to play.

 

[Metro]

I'd rather buy games from the Windows Store than Steam any day. Windows Store offers way way better customer service, sandboxing and don't require a dumbass client to play.

Windows Store doesn't require a client to play? Uh... Yeah it does, it's just that the client is baked into your OS... which you're required to use.

 

[Atlantico]

Windows Store doesn't require a client to play? Uh... Yeah it does, it's just that the client is baked into your OS... which you're required to use.

Calling the OS a "client" is way out there in La-la land.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Why doesn't this guy get he isn't going to compete with Steam.

People said the same thing about Uplay and Origin, tbh. Current Windows Store debacle is just your typical MS arrogance in thinking the world will throw themselves at their games if they just put them out there. But the fact is, you can't exactly blame big publishers for not wanting to pay 30% cut to middle-man. Steam is nothing to them but a burden, they don't need exposure when they can afford prime-time TV ads, and they don't need steam tools because they already have all that in place with XBL.

 

[Metro]

Windows Store doesn't require a client to play? Uh... Yeah it does, it's just that the client is baked into your OS... which you're required to use.

Calling the OS a "client" is way out there in La-la land.

Not at all. It might come as a shock to you but some people don't want to use Windows 10. I'd say it's far more draconian to tie your game to an OS than a platform. At least with Steam you can still use Windows 7/8 or even Linux in a lot of cases.

 

[Excidium II]

And it's not the OS but a program that comes with it. In essence, it's just bloat.

 

[Atlantico]

Not at all. It might come as a shock to you but some people don't want to use Windows 10. I'd say it's far more draconian to tie your game to an OS than a platform. At least with Steam you can still use Windows 7/8 or even Linux in a lot of cases.

No, no shock and you're right that Steam works on Windows 7 and 8, but Steam is a client needed to download and run any and all games on that platform - because Steam is a platform. That's how they look at themselves, it's no secret. Windows 10 supports the UWP API, the most common and easy way to acquire UWP apps is through the Windows Store, but it isn't needed to run them.

And it's not the OS but a program that comes with it. In essence, it's just bloat.

No it isn't. The Windows Store app is not needed to run any UWP apps. This is an API we're taking about. UWP apps can be sideloaded at will on Windows 10 if the developer allows it. Be a hater babe, but don't be a dumbass.

 

[Excidium II]

That's less bad.

 

[Aruil]

You can run Steam games without steam running as long as the developer allows it. Whether or not they consider themselves a platform is irrelevant.

I can download a game from steam, close it move the folder elsewhere uninstall steam and then run it perfectly fine. I doubt I can do the same with windows 10 games.

 

[BobtheTree]

I won't be buying Microsoft's games until they're on GOG.

 

[sullynathan]

You won't be buying them at all

 

[Lunac]

No, no shock and you're right that Steam works on Windows 7 and 8, but Steam is a client needed to download and run any and all games on that platform - because Steam is a platform. That's how they look at themselves, it's no secret. Windows 10 supports the UWP API, the most common and easy way to acquire UWP apps is through the Windows Store, but it isn't needed to run them.

And it's not the OS but a program that comes with it. In essence, it's just bloat.

No it isn't. The Windows Store app is not needed to run any UWP apps. This is an API we're taking about. UWP apps can be sideloaded at will on Windows 10 if the developer allows it. Be a hater babe, but don't be a dumbass.

You are one of those.... you own a Windows Phone don't ya....

...
..
.

 

[Metro]

So it's perfectly fine. Just have Windows 10 installed on one HD so you can buy games, download them on another HD and be able to play them on Windows 7/8/Linux/whatever. Awesome.