Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox, announced this morning that Microsoft will be pursuing a few directives when it comes to the Windows experience and gaming. While more details have been promised for their E3 conference, here are the three takeaways Phil talked about this morning.
- Game Pass is coming to PC. This is not surprising, the Game Pass on Xbox is now two years old and has been relatively well received by gamers. For a monthly fee, PC gamers will have a rotating catalogue of games to download and play. If they wish to purchase the game, they will receive a 20% discount from the Windows store. No titles have been shared but it was confirmed that Day One Microsoft games would be available via this service just as they are on the Xbox.
- Microsoft games will come to Steam (and other storefronts). The Windows store on PC has long been maligned as a bastion of inefficiency by many who have been forced to use it. Which is a bit odd, as Windows dominates the home computing market when it comes to gaming. The only game mentioned at this point to hit Steam will be the Master Chief Collection of Halo, but do expect more titles (and more storefronts) to be announced.
- Supporting Win32 on Windows 10. Per Phil Spencer, “We recognize that Win32 is the app format that game developers love to use and gamers love to play, so we are excited to share that we will be enabling full support for native Win32 games to the Microsoft Store on Windows. This will unlock more options for developers and gamers alike, allowing for the customization and control they’ve come to expect from the open Windows gaming ecosystem.“
Check out the entire statement here. More details will be given at Microsoft’s E3 briefing on Sunday June 9th.
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