Windows 8 will not be heavily focused on gaming

So a lot of blogs (including mine) have been reporting that Windows 8 will be the operating system that refocuses PC users on gaming.

According to Techradar:

A relaunched Games for Windows marketplace was a recent fillip, but it is the hiring of Rahul Sood, the founder of gaming computer brand Voodoo PC and previously an outspoken critic of the Redmond company’s attitude towards PC gaming that underlines what TechRadar has been told about Windows 8.
“Windows 8 will represent a real new push into PC gaming,” the source told TechRadar. “Gaming will be a key component for the whole OS.”

I think that there are a few things that may be at play here.

1. This may just be an idea at this point. One that some unnamed source is pushing to TechRadar. Ideas get voted up or down and tons of ideas get voted down routinely.
2. I have no doubt that Rahul Sood has been hired by Microsoft and they are hoping that he may have some ideas that MIGHT add some pep to the gaming components of Windows 8. If and what he does remain to be seen. Not a done deal in terms of talent fit and innovation delivery.
3. Gaming may have some value on the tech street but has little to no business value. Microsoft is a corporate giant. No CTO ever approved an operating system because it played games better than it’s predecessor. If they want the majority of corporate consumers to wait for Windows 9, making the focus of Windows 8 gaming is the way to go.
4. Most PC’s at this point have what they need to play most games. Graphics cards are embarrassingly cheap, ram is cheaper, the average PC is fast and cheap. No one has explained exactly what it is that is missing from the PC hardware stack in terms of gaming. I believe that the only SUBSTANTIAL changes that Microsoft need to make on the gaming side is on the software portal side like Valve’s STEAM. That would require minimal integration at the OS level to make that happen.

Like most things Windows 8 at this point, I believe that the Windows 8 gaming story was just that, a speculative story.

I will say it again (for the 50th time) – Windows 7 has been a wild success, Microsoft will need to make a really strong case for deploying Windows 8 anytime soon. The ability to capture a video game market doesnt sound like a strong case to me…

But what can I say, no one can predict what Microsoft will do these days…