Vapourware Microsoft want to get into PC gaming again

[J1M]

The thing Microsoft did for gaming this year was buy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xamarin and open source their libraries. Essentially reviving XNA via monogame.

EDIT: That means you can take your XNA game and port it to other platforms without paying royalties.

Isn't it too late? Pretty much everything is on Unity now.

Unity sits on top of those same libraries.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

http://www.pcgamesn.com/call-of-duty-infinite-warfare/cod-infinite-warfare-windows-store-steam

Microsoft refund COD: Infinite Warfare Windows Store buyers due to low player count
Update November 7, 2016: Microsoft might not have been the ones who decided COD: Infinite Warfare players on Windows Store couldn't play with Steam owners, but Activision's decision means they've been forced to hand out refunds.

One player bought the special edition so they could play Modern Warfare Remastered with their friend on Xbox One, but they soon realised Cross-Play didn't work on the title. To make things worse, after looking for a game of Deathmatch, the remaster showed there was only one more person looking for a game on Microsoft's online platform. Yep, there were two players in the world looking for a game at the time.
Speaking to Motherboard, the redditor in question spoke about his little brother's experience with Microsoft. “It was very easy,” redditor hayz00s said in a private Reddit message. “He said they were very courteous and didn't give him any trouble trying to get the refund.”

Activision are yet to comment on the decision that could potentially be a factor in why their latest is the weakest COD PC launch since Black Ops.

Update November 3, 2016: Microsoft have released a statement to say that this decision was Activision's to make, and has nothing to do with Microsoft or the Windows Store.

In a reply to Windows Central, a Microsoft spokesperson said, "We support cross-play between devices and platforms for partners who want to enable it."

We reached out to Activision earlier, so hopefully they clear the decision up soon.

Original Story November 3, 2016: If you're thinking about getting COD: Infinite Warfare on Windows Store, don't. Why? Because if you do, you'll be forced to play with the (no doubt much smaller) playerbase on that platform. Windows Store versions of the sci-fi shooter will only let you play with other people who bought on Microsoft's retail platform.

That means you won't be playing with anyone on Xbox One, but that's probably because of the differences between the platforms. Mouse and keyboards vs controllers might sound fun to us, but I doubt console players would be too happy. That's understandable.

The fact you can't play with people who have purchased on Steam though? That's a deal-breaker. It's a shame, because it would be good if another digital distribution platform gave Steam a bit of competition, but restrictions like this really hurt Windows Store's reputation.

The news comes from Activision's support site, via Reddit, where a FAQ clearly states: "You can only play these titles with other users of Windows 10 on Windows Store." That goes for PC platforms and Xbox One.

 

[hpstg]

Microsoft is PC gaming. The best APIs and the best general use OS suitable for gaming is theirs. I can't understand how they managed the hard part (being the whole platform), yet they seem incapable to create a proper implementation of an app store.

Unless they pull a Microsoft and back out after spending billions of dollars, they will probably have both a competent delivery system, and proper titles.

Since the anniversary Update the Xbox is basically a Windows system that delivers UWP apps in the living room. The platform is no longer the Xbox, it's Windows. That's good because it means crossplay and no need for extra purchases, as well as less console "exclusives", which are the cancer of modern gaming.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Microsoft today isn't the same Microsoft that made Windows what it is.

 

[Outlander]

Microsoft today isn't the same Microsoft that made Windows what it is.

Yes, they need to go back to this:



Will never happen, though.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Well, you can make fun of Steve Ballmer or Bill Gates all you want, but there's no question Windows was fucking boss through the entire 90s. It is still the only viable operating system for gaming purely because of that legacy, despite all attempts by modern Microsoft to destroy their own product.

 

[Excidium II]

I guess if you count MSDOS.

 

[hpstg]

Microsoft today isn't the same Microsoft that made Windows what it is.

Microsoft had stayed the company that made Windows what it is, for so long, that they lost all the tech trains they could lose. Also on the technical level, Windows 10 is their best release by far, and it's even following a rolling release model like a Linux distro.

EDIT: Something I just read, relating to my previous comment. It looks like the Scorpio will play preexisting UWP PC titles. It will essentially behave like an x86 computer with Widows 10 and the store.

Well, you can make fun of Steve Ballmer or Bill Gates all you want, but there's no question Windows was fucking boss through the entire 90s. It is still the only viable operating system for gaming purely because of that legacy, despite all attempts by modern Microsoft to destroy their own product.

I don't know how you could call DX12 or WDDM 2.0, or giving them basically for free for a year, "destruction" of their product. Widows are an even bigger monopoly today, it's just that the traditional PC market keeps shrinking compared to all the rest.

 

[anvi]

They just did what they should have done 10 years ago... get the same OS on phones, tablets, and PC's. It made no sense not doing that but they finally got around to it and did a decent job. Windows has always been the home of hardcore gaming, it has the most games and the best games. Also MS has a lot of really good hardware. They did really well growing that part of their business. I just wished they kept a PC gaming division alive and didn't squander it on console style crap.

 

[hpstg]

They just did what they should have done 10 years ago... get the same OS on phones, tablets, and PC's. It made no sense not doing that but they finally got around to it and did a decent job. Windows has always been the home of hardcore gaming, it has the most games and the best games. Also MS has a lot of really good hardware. They did really well growing that part of their business. I just wished they kept a PC gaming division alive and didn't squander it on console style crap.

You have to see it as serving a niche. At this moment the whole system has a lot of rough edges, but projected in the next five years, anyone could have the "good" parts of the console experience, and my guess is that Microsoft would be more than happy to leave the more hardcore crowd servicing to Steam.

 

[Melcar]

It's always fun to re-watch all those old infomercials about all the weird and cool stuff (for those days) MS had cooking up that never really materialized for whatever reason.

 

[anvi]

They just did what they should have done 10 years ago... get the same OS on phones, tablets, and PC's. It made no sense not doing that but they finally got around to it and did a decent job. Windows has always been the home of hardcore gaming, it has the most games and the best games. Also MS has a lot of really good hardware. They did really well growing that part of their business. I just wished they kept a PC gaming division alive and didn't squander it on console style crap.

You have to see it as serving a niche. At this moment the whole system has a lot of rough edges, but projected in the next five years, anyone could have the "good" parts of the console experience, and my guess is that Microsoft would be more than happy to leave the more hardcore crowd servicing to Steam.

They must cut themselves at night when they think about Steam. That could have been MS. And yea Steam has PC gaming pretty sewn up. But MS could make some games of their own. They had some good ones in their time.

 

[J1M]

When Microsoft puts the most recent Halo game on PC you will know they are serious about "wanting to get back into PC gaming". Until then, their words can be safely ignored.

 

[anvi]

Unreal Tournament >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Halo anyway.

 

[Rahdulan]

You have to see it as serving a niche. At this moment the whole system has a lot of rough edges, but projected in the next five years, anyone could have the "good" parts of the console experience, and my guess is that Microsoft would be more than happy to leave the more hardcore crowd servicing to Steam.

I don't think that's really going to work until you get some platform compatibility between Steam and Windows Store for multiplayer games. Weren't there some shenanigans recently about Infinite Warfare refunds on Windows Store because it's just so dead and you can't play with others playing it on PC aka Steam? And this wasn't some no-name indie game so you'd expect special treatment.

 

[Spectacle]

You have to see it as serving a niche. At this moment the whole system has a lot of rough edges, but projected in the next five years, anyone could have the "good" parts of the console experience, and my guess is that Microsoft would be more than happy to leave the more hardcore crowd servicing to Steam.

I don't think that's really going to work until you get some platform compatibility between Steam and Windows Store for multiplayer games. Weren't there some shenanigans recently about Infinite Warfare refunds on Windows Store because it's just so dead and you can't play with others playing it on PC aka Steam? And this wasn't some no-name indie game so you'd expect special treatment.

That was apparently a deliberate decision by Activision though, there's no technologial barrier to keep steam and winstore players from playing together. CDProject's Gwent game alllows it.

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.pcgamer.com/tim-sweeney-microsoft-uwp-is-still-woefully-inadequate/

Tim Sweeney: Microsoft UWP is still 'woefully inadequate'
The initial controversy around Microsoft's UWP has faded, but Tim Sweeney still isn't happy with it.

Tim Sweeney is still mad, but you'd never know unless you asked him about the potential threat of Windows becoming a closed platform. On the loud Game Developer's Conference expo floor on Wednesday, we spoke about the Unreal Engine, what's pushing the technology of games forward, and, of course, Universal Windows Apps. Sweeney made big waves last year with an editorial decrying Microsoft's move with UWP, and continued to criticize it throughout the year. Since then, Microsoft has released several UWP games on Windows, but little has changed with the Windows Store since Sweeney's original criticism.

So I asked him what he thought. Had Microsoft assuaged any of his concerns with the platform? If not, what would it take?

"Well, I should be very clear," Sweeney said. "The thing that I feel is incredibly important for the future of the industry is that the PC platform remains open, so that any user without any friction can install applications from any developer, and ensure that no company, Microsoft or anybody else, can insert themselves by force as the universal middleman, and force developers to sell through them instead of selling directly to customers. I’ve been selling games directly to customers since 1991 when I was mailing out floppy disks, and when you take that power away suddenly you have onerous certification processes, you have a distribution monopoly that tends to move towards an advertising-centric sales model.

"Look at the experience of searching for a game on iOS now: the advertisements for the games you’re not searching for appear before the actual stuff you’re looking for, and it’s a real shame that we’ve let closed platforms get to that point. And we have a very small set of free platforms open now—there’s Windows, there’s Linux—and we’ve got to do everything we can to defend them."

Sweeney balanced his criticism by saying that the UWP technology itself is neutral, calling it "a safer set of APIs for Windows" and saying that "if Microsoft would absolutely commit itself to making UWP available, in the long run, in as open a way as Win32 is today I think it would be a positive thing for the industry. We’d support it in that case."

Microsoft has improved UWP since its initial rocky launch with Tomb Raider and Quantum Break. It added support for G-Sync and FreeSync and unlocked framerates. Gears of War 4 ran fantastically on PC and shipped with a huge range of options.

But some of the larger concerns remain. Microsoft cited protection from malware and other malicious code being injected into games as a benefit of UWP's safer sandbox. That safety comes at the cost of making games harder or impossible to mod without built-in developer support, however. And anecdotally, I've used mods in many, many games, but I don't think I've ever gotten a virus from one.

Sweeney called malware "an excuse."

"All of the things that Microsoft can do to make Windows more secure, they can do without forcing everybody to sell their stuff through their store," he said. "And so, all of these claims that they’re forcing people into the Windows Store and adding friction to non-Windows Store software purchasing, it’s just a lie when they say that they’re doing that to secure users. Those are two completely separate issues that they’re only conflating because it’s the only possible excuse they can use for their efforts. But yeah, UWP is a very, very long way from being able to support the kind of openness and flexibility of PC games today.

"Modding is one issue, being able to load code by modders into your process and have that become part of the game experience. It’s a fairly complex ecosystem. And also the ability to run tools, the Unreal Editor, Photoshop, Microsoft Visual Studio, or even Microsoft Word—none of those apps run on UWP. Microsoft Word does not run on UWP. It’s not even in the fucking Windows Store, because the Store and the UWP foundations are not capable of supporting that level of app.

"So, they’re trying to force this thing on the industry and it’s woefully inadequate for the tasks they’re trying to serve it for. What it has worked well for are these small apps like the Twitter client, or the Dropbox visual client, which are mobile levels of app functionality, as opposed to desktop levels of app functionality."

Microsoft comments on UWP

Microsoft hasn't yet moved all of its games to the Universal Windows Platform, and has allowed some partners to release games on PC through Steam and other stores. Quantum Break, for example, got a Win32 release on Steam not long after it first released the Windows Store. Ori and the Blind Forest and Rise of the Tomb Raider are available on both. But it's true that, so far, we haven't seen Universal Windows Apps distributed in any significant way outside the Windows Store.

On Thursday Microsoft gave me a demo of some changes to its Xbox software for Windows 10, and I asked about any recent discussions around UWP at Microsoft, and whether moddability and distribution outside the Windows Store were under consideration. Senior product manager Peter Orullian spent a few minutes chatting about UWP before we continued the demo.

Orullian pointed out that UWP is a nascent platform, while Win32 is a mature one that has its own problems. "The things that gamers want, developers want, we're going to inherit those from Win32. But it also comes with a bunch of benefits. One of the things with Game Mode is that while it's going to apply to both Win32 and UWP titles, on UWP because of the architecture, we know where the game starts and stops. So our ability to look at the file and optimize with Game Mode to provide performance benefits is much greater than Win32 where it's kind of chaos inside the package."

So there are advantages that ultimately we gain with UWP, and on the Win32 side, the things you're able to do there are things we've already deployed or are actively investigating for future releases. And that's not a defensive statement. If you or your readers want to provide more feedback on elements of the UWP platform that they are seeing or enjoying as developers or gamers, that are part of Win32 that are gaps for us, we want to hear about it. I say that genuinely because I work on PC gaming at Microsoft."

What about Linux?

In response to the Windows 8 store, Valve began a big push for Linux as a more open alternative for PC gaming. That strategy culminated in SteamOS and Steam Machines, which have—look, I'm sorry, I just have to say it—lost steam. They still exist, and game engines today make it much easier to port to Linux than they did five or 10 years ago. I asked Sweeney if he thought Linux could really be a viable alternative.

"I think it’s important to recognize that Linux is actually the number one consumer device operating system in the world right now [through Android]," he said. "And so it is quite possible that it could take over consumer computers also. If you look most of the major apps are very close to being able to ship Linux support on par with Windows, and we’re just lacking maybe a few formative industry events to push us over the hill, such as these maneuvers by Microsoft."

Sweeney mentioned that both Unreal Engine 4 and Unity support the open Vulkan renderer, an alternative to DirectX, which is key for Linux support.

But Linux still has an approachability problem. "With Android, Google is the proprietor of this fixed version of it that is highly polished for consumers, makes it available to all the carriers and they distribute it. There’s no equivalent to that on PC, so the process of obtaining Linux is actually really, really tricky. That’s going to be a barrier to consumer adoption until something changes there … You really need something like the Android user interface shell to make it readily accessible by ordinary human beings."

 

[Melcar]

Android = Linux

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

I feel is incredibly important for the future of the industry is no company, Microsoft or anybody else, can insert themselves by force as the universal middleman, and force developers to sell through them instead of selling directly to customers. I've been selling games directly to customers since 1991 when I was mailing out floppy disks, and when you take that power away suddenly you have onerous certification processes, you have a distribution monopoly that tends to move towards an advertising-centric sales model.

What the actual fuck is that guy even talking about? Valve has PC market practically on lockdown, you have to go through them unless you are one of the big three. If you're not on Steam you might as well not exist. It's practically a functional monopoly by all possible definitions, but this weirdo seems not too even notice the actual fucking monopoly going on, but instead he keeps ranting about the deadly threat of Microsoft having their own distribution platform, that's currently being used by two people.

What the shit.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Steam is awesome while UWP is shit.

Case closed your honor.

 

[Atlantico]

I'm beginning to think Tim Sweeny has an obsession going on. If Microsoft was a woman Timmy would probably have had a restraining order against him already.

 

[hpstg]

Android = Linux

Android = Linux + Google's closed source Play Services. It's quite disgusting really.

I'm beginning to think Tim Sweeny has an obsession going on. If Microsoft was a woman Timmy would probably have had a restraining order against him already.

I won't even mention that he confuses UWP with the Store, which is like confusing .exe files with the MSI installer.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Steam is awesome while UWP is shit.

Case closed your honor.

Fuck that mentality, any competition to the monopoly is a good thing. Maybe competition from Microsoft can pressure Valve into hiring more staff, because right now Steam customer support for entire planet is handled by Gaben's dog.

 

[Ash]

Fuck that mentality, any competition to the monopoly is a good thing.

Are you sure about that? Lets not forget the last time competition happened on a major scale from MS we got the Xbox - the root of all decline. Before that the PC and console markets were swell. I'd rather MS continue what they are currently doing and not throw any more weight around. Minimize further damage.

While Valve have a DRM'd monopoly, the damage they have done is far less than that of MS.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Fuck that mentality, any competition to the monopoly is a good thing.

Are you sure about that? Lets not forget the last time competition happened on a major scale from MS we got the Xbox - the root of all decline. Before that the PC and console markets were swell. I'd rather MS continue what they are currently doing and not throw any more weight around. Minimize further damage.

While Valve have a DRM'd monopoly, the damage they have done is far less than that of MS.

Quite sure, yeah. And no, the last time competition happened on a major scale from MS we got GWFL, which was a spawn of satan. But that's Microsoft's problem, not mine. If they fuck it up again, and they probably will, people will ignore them, like they currently do, and nothing changes. If MS they don't fuck it up, Valve has to step up their game and everybody wins at the end.

Sweeneys fear-morgering is some deluded commie drivel of the highest order.