When Windows 8 launched late last year, it brought with it several casual titles spanning many of the popular genres one would associate on mobile platforms. Now, however, Redmond is ready to kick things up several gears when it comes to gaming.
Going forward, Microsoft wants to focus on core games — the ones that defined PC gaming in the past.
The Executive Vice President of Microsoft Studios, Phil Spencer, talked about this in an interview, admitting that the company lost its way a bit in supporting Windows games. However, it is ready to return to core PC gaming now:
“You’ll see us doing more stuff on Windows. We probably have more individual projects on Windows than we’ve had in 10 years at Microsoft Studios.”
He further revealed that while the company had pretty much covered the casual market with the launch of Windows 8. The modern platform, by the way, launched last year with some 30 gaming titles developed by Microsoft Studios.
Details on what is in store were not shared, but it is reasonable to expect some high profile Xbox exclusives to make appearance on the PC platform — Halo 3, Gears of War, among others.
And maybe even a return to classic RTS and strategy franchises, like the ever popular Age of Empires series, pictured above.
While Xbox Live is integrated in the latest versions of Windows, albeit in the Metro environment, it is not actually available on traditional desktop. With the Games for Windows Live service about to be disbanded in the coming months, there are opportunities enough for Microsoft to make some moves.
Not to mention, having some of these AAA titles exclusive to Windows 8.1 may in fact entice even more people into upgrading to the new platform.
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Although the desktop will go away one day, I think x86 in the background is here to stay for a while. There will still be people developing full x86 PC games. I’m sure that down the line some could be replaced with a Metro-type version, but even a steam type experience would still require x86 in the background.