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[Louis Cyphre]

Although I will happilly point out that this is actually wrong.

It's been shown numerous times with wide ranging data analysis that a lot of people who play games on consoles, also play games on PC.

Here's a study from 2016: http://www.polygon.com/2016/4/29/11539102/gaming-stats-2016-esa-essential-facts

Now, ar ethe majority playing console-like games on PC? I doubt it, but there you go - there certainly isn't this huge distate for the possibility of gaming on a PC even from console gamers.

My wife plays Candy Crush on her laptop so I guess in your eyes she's a PC gamer.

 

[LukasTaves]

Look above. And of course they would want to spin for developers, they need to sell those people on the Windows Store too.

OK, I don't understand your point then. How can people play a Xbox anywhere game on pc and not be on pc?

 

[ezodagrom]

A very clear case of tales from your ass, no offence.

Considering we can't look into the rendering thanks to UWP, hinting we could fix the streaming or frametime issues without even having a peak at the rendering is a lot of fud.

I said "possibly" for a reason. Of course we don't know if it would have happened or not, for all we know maybe no one would even care about looking into it, but at the very least there would have been chances of that being possibly fixed by fans, if it wasn't for UWP.

 

[Quazar]

To be fair it also costs 2x as much, they don't need as many subscribers

But yeah, I doubt XBLG goes free especially now Sony charges for it. I wish journalists would ask them why it's paid on Xbox and free on PC and actually put pressure on them. We all know why but MS can't exactly say that

Yep that's the idea. They're charging twice as much for game pass. I would assume there would be DLC revenue increase through this as well. I could see MS dropping gold eventually when gamepass takes off, hitting Sony directly. Will be hard to say why they charge on Xbox and not PC after awhile.

 

[Papacheeks]

Focus on console if they wanna compete with PS4. Focus on PC if they wanna scale down to do a software publishing only.

^

Most sensible post right now.

I hate to say it but Play Anywhere has been shit. And unless they are going to overhall how it works which we've seen or heard no traction on, feel it's best to let it die.

Unless they get considerable budget increase to re-design/re-launch the PC initiative I feel in it's current state it's hurting the brand rather than strengthening which was what it was suppose to do.
Right now, you don't have a good reason to own an xbox let alone buy a scorpio. Bets multipats, no one really cared. No one went out and bought PS4 pro to play battlefield one, titanfall 2. Sure there were some sales, but cheaper xbox one s and PS4 slim were dominating sales charts.

Even though Horizon makes a great case for a PRo I don't see ton's of people buying 4K TV's and Pro's in droves to play it.

Right now Xbox's biggest issue is it's a brand/ console with no identity or soul. Xbox 360 had a soul, it was play your games with a friend on your couch or online. XBox one is what? Play your old library, play online or play on your PC?

And play what exactly? Same franchises that are now showing huge fatigue?

At this point they need a reboot not in console but in identity. And that's something software does more than hardware. Give people a reason to care about xbox, putting it on PC just gives them a reason not to care about a box or it's ecosystem. I don't see PC people praising the xbox experience on PC. Let alone caring about it.

It is Games for Windows live all over again only it's part of the actual OS and tied to a shitty App like store.

 

[Matt]

OK, I don't understand your point then. How can people play a Xbox anywhere game on pc and not be on pc?

MS never said 20% of the players play on PC.

20% of the player time is a misleading statistic as well. Players who are committed enough or care enough to actually use the Windows Store are more likely to spend more time with the game, skewing the numbers.

 

[LukasTaves]

Those are distribution mechanisms for PC games. That's perfectly fine. Microsoft is trying to change (and is in a position to succeed, if we are really unlucky) what the PC platform is.
Also, I'm not your average gamer. Generally, my objections are based on very specific long-term concerns.

It's a huge difference. Look at Nier:Automata: thriving injection-based modding scene. No need to work around Denovu, it's not a hindrance to this at all. (Don't get me wrong -- it is a concern for long-term preservation, but by the time that becomes acute it's usually cracked)

If you do, then you should understand why, from my perspective, it really is worse than nothing.
I had far fewer problems with MS in the decade they didn't care about PC gaming at all than now when they ostensibly do.

There's a thriving scene for injection and nodding on uwp, it's not impossible just needed to reimplement some stuff.

Also for creators update Ms now allows a uwp app to run at a system level with full trust. They still don't allow such apps on the store but now in theory anything a win32 app can do so can a uwp (and in practice I believe it's true as well, as they now allow the entire win32 api set to be called by uwp apps even for non centennial apps).

 

[Dinjoralo]

-snip-

Ding ding ding. You'd think there is absolutely no way a massive corporation like Microsoft could lack the talent, money, awareness, anything that they'd need to make this store work, make these versions work, but no. Each big step they've made on trying to make the Windows Store look good, they've screwed up. UWP comes out with PC games lacking many features PC gamers want. GoW UE comes out as what I'm pretty sure is the first big, Microsoft-published UWP game, it's a busted mess. Quantum Break comes out as the first big Play Anywhere title, it comes out on Steam months later running better for a lot of people. They've lost every first impression they've had.

 

[Tecnniqe]

MS never said 20% of the players play on PC.

20% of the player time is a misleading statistic as well. Players who are committed enough or care enough to actually use he Windows Store are more likely to spend more time with the game, skewing the numbers.

Are you feeling just as dizzy as me from all this spinning?

 

[Matt]

Are you feeling just as dizzy as me from all this spinning?

Yeah, MS is certainly adept at Press Speak.

 

[eXMomoj]

Keep it going.

Gives me absolutely no reason to pick up the Xbox One or the upcoming Scorpio since I have a great gaming PC.

 

[LukasTaves]

MS never said 20% of the players play on PC.

20% of the player time is a misleading statistic as well. Players who are committed enough or care enough to actually use the Windows Store are more likely to spend more time with the game, skewing the numbers.

It's a hard metric to give when it's likely some of that can play those games on both.

For instance 99% of my play time is on Xbox, but I have some of the play anywhere games installed on my laptop for when I'm on a trip and want to play them.

Your last point seems a bit of a reach, what metric do you have that points a Windows store gamer is more invested in the game compared to a Xbox user?

 

[Matt]

It's a hard metric to give when it's likely some of that can play those games on both.

For instance 99% of my play time is on Xbox, but I have some of the play anywhere games installed on my laptop for when I'm on a trip and want to play them.

Your last point seems a bit of a reach, what metric do you have that points a Windows store gamer is more invested in the game compared to a Xbox user?

It would be an easy statistic to give. You just need to say "% played on PC," not "% exclusively played on PC."

And I actually do have some data on the player time front, but it's also actually just a common occurrence. When titles are released on both more mainstream and more niche platforms, the copies sold on the niche platforms usually tend towards higher engagement numbers.

 

[Hari Seldon]

MS is in a tough spot. They want people to use the app store, but there isn't too much they can do to force the change.

Corporate software isn't going to use an app store. Pro consumer grade software are mostly transitioning to SaaS and aren't going to use the app store. Regular pc software has long gone open source for virtually everything. And for the people who just "internet" they use their phones.

So that leaves games, but MS already has a dedicated gaming box and they gutted all of their pc studios in order to support that years ago. PC gamers aren't going to use the store for the handful of long in the tooth console franchises that they still have.

Really the only way MS is going to force the store down people's throats is to moneyhat the fuck out of everyone like they did to break into the console business in the first place, but they don't seem to have the stomach to go down that expensive ass road.

 

[Trago]

I still don't get why they are being stubborn about making their games available on Steam and doing away with UWP. Hell, a Win32 option would work for me.

 

[Matt]

I still don't get why they are being stubborn about making their games available on Steam and doing away with UWP. Hell, a Win32 option would work for me.

Because pushing the Windows Store is more important to them than just selling games.

 

[Trago]

Because pushing the Windows Store is more important to them than just selling games.

But they are failing at that. If they are going to push their software on the Windows Store, then what is stopping them from employing features that the PC community wants that UWP lacks?

I'd be willing to bet that activity of the store would increase if UWP wasn't restrictive.

 

[Papacheeks]

But they are failing at that. If they are going to push their software on the Windows Store, then what is stopping them from employing features that the PC community wants that UWP lacks?

I'd be willing to bet that activity of the store would increase if UWP wasn't restrictive.

Which is why so many threads exist right now on the current state of xbox.

Games sell consoles. Something XBox use to be about a long time ago.

 

[marciocdb]

I still don't get why they are being stubborn about making their games available on Steam and doing away with UWP. Hell, a Win32 option would work for me.

UWP is a big evolution when comparing to Win32... that's not the problem since it can also be sold at Steam.

Microsoft wants to have their own ecosystem, specially with 1st party games.

 

[Papacheeks]

UWP is a big evolution when comparing to Win32... that's not the problem since it can also be sold at Steam.

Microsoft wants to have their own ecosystem, specially with 1st party games.

Unfortunately doing that Mid generation is something that's not a smart plan. If they had launched it early on when the console launched it would have given it more time to develop and evolve.

Now they are trying to shove their games on a store that's really meant for apps not full AAA games.

 

[KonradLaw]

I also find asking microsoft for PC-centric titles or offering services that go beyond (again, what publisher with a storefront does this?), why should Microsoft be ask for more when it has only promised so far to publish their typically console exclusive games on PC.

Because they own a lot of classic PC IPs. if they can't be bothered to make PC exclusives they should sell those IPs to somebody who gives a damn.

Also..Activision and Ubisoft do release PC exclusives from time to time.

Heck, it's sad that Sony has gotten rid of SOE, because while they still owned that studio you could make fun that Sony supports pcgaming with exclusives more than MS does

 

[Shari]

Those are distribution mechanisms for PC games. That's perfectly fine. Microsoft is trying to change (and is in a position to succeed, if we are really unlucky) what the PC platform is.
Also, I'm not your average gamer. Generally, my objections are based on very specific long-term concerns.

It's a huge difference. Look at Nier:Automata: thriving injection-based modding scene. No need to work around Denovu, it's not a hindrance to this at all. (Don't get me wrong -- it is a concern for long-term preservation, but by the time that becomes acute it's usually cracked)

If you do, then you should understand why, from my perspective, it really is worse than nothing.
I had far fewer problems with MS in the decade they didn't care about PC gaming at all than now when they ostensibly do.

I agree with injection-based modding, that's shit and while I understand your implication in the subject I hardly see that as a deal breaker, and I have a hard time believing that for you it is (to the point of saying better not have anything at all), which leads me to those long-term concerns, can you be more specific?

I'd like to know to what extent you are concerned with this MS attempt since they're right now the smallest fish in the tank, dwelling in archaic standards and waaay behind in the PC market. I find that OK since they deserve to be there and I dont know how they could be a threat to the ecosystem since, ok, they have the money, but they dont have neither the users or the software to make a significant shift in the market.

So yeah, if you care and you've got the time I'd like to read your long-term concerns since I only see the immediate benefit of MS trying.

There's a thriving scene for injection and nodding on uwp, it's not impossible just needed to reimplement some stuff.

Also for creators update Ms now allows a uwp app to run at a system level with full trust. They still don't allow such apps on the store but now in theory anything a win32 app can do so can a uwp (and in practice I believe it's true as well, as they now allow the entire win32 api set to be called by uwp apps even for non centennial apps).

I find the modding on UWP a hard process so far, I don't know if it can be streamlined but I understand why is seen as non-existent.

Your second point is really interesting, I wasn't aware. Thanks for sharing.

Because they own a lot of classic PC IPs. if they can't be bothered to make PC exclusives they should sell those IPs to somebody who gives a damn.

Also..Activision and Ubisoft do release PC exclusives from time to time.

Heck, it's sad that Sony has gotten rid of SOE, because while they still owned that studio you could make fun that Sony supports pcgaming with exclusives more than MS does

I find hard to relate to this sense of entitlement. I do not wish for pc exclusives, they have no value to me, I just care about getting as many games as possible so its hard for me to relate.

Microsoft is not the only company that has dead IPs in the backyard. You could say the same of ubisoft for BG&E (not anymore lol) or Prince of persia. Or Ea's Dungeon Keeper. We have lots of examples.

 

[ezodagrom]

So yeah, if you care and you've got the time I'd like to read your long-term concerns since I only see the immediate benefit of MS trying.

When it comes to long term concerns, you just have to look at GFWL.
Other than a few exceptions, the great majority of GFWL games were either converted to other services (such as Steamworks) or aren't sold at all anymore.

 

[Shari]

When it comes to long term concerns, you just have to look at GFWL.
Other than a few exceptions, the great majority of GFWL games were either converted to other services (such as Steamworks) or aren't sold at all anymore.

So you're telling me that not wanting MS to publish their own games on PC is on the fear that we won't be able to buy them in the future? What about the concern of not being able to buy them at all?

GFWL was shit mainly because how screwed third party games like arkham or bulletstorm. That is not going to be the case because the only exclusives to the MS Store are Microsoft games, literally everything else has been published on Steam, albeit with a exclusivity period. Even Quantum Break.

the biggest long-term concern would be microsoft locking the entirety of windows development behind their own tools, EULAs, certification, and distribution platforms with no alternatives.

while it's true that UWP has very slowly gotten slightly more open since it was introduced there is every reason to fear this kind of outcome if it gains a big enough marketshare and people leave win32 behind.

Yeah about that.... This is also happening within the company: https://opensource.microsoft.com/

And the bolded is a BIG if considering they're the last horse in the race so far in the market and they dont have a bigger lineup than their competition in terms of software. Can happen down the road? Sure, but they're nowhere close to that, for obvious reasons.

 

[aeolist]

the biggest long-term concern would be microsoft locking the entirety of windows development behind their own tools, EULAs, certification, and distribution platforms with no alternatives.

while it's true that UWP has very slowly gotten slightly more open since it was introduced there is every reason to fear this kind of outcome if it gains a big enough marketshare and people leave win32 behind.

 

[TyMiles2012]

Absolutely! Play Anywhere has let me play on Xbox or PC, whichever I feel like. Then I'll play on my laptop when I'm not home.

the biggest long-term concern would be microsoft locking the entirety of windows development behind their own tools, EULAs, certification, and distribution platforms with no alternatives.

while it's true that UWP has very slowly gotten slightly more open since it was introduced there is every reason to fear this kind of outcome if it gains a big enough marketshare and people leave win32 behind.

There's also this though. I'm hoping it doesn't screw over Steam for stuff I only want to play on PC.

 

[VincentMatts]

I feel like the play anywhere stuff will definitely hurt their console sales but then again, im not sure the people buying PC games are the ones buying consoles. So it might not in the end.

I like the play anywhere stuff even though i dont use it a lot since my PC is old. But its nice to know that if one day i decided to upgrade, all those games will work without losing any of the progress. So definitely a plus 1 from me.

I like their efforts so far. Theyre working for gamers instead of working for only the console gamers and that, ultimately, is never a bad thing.

 

[aeolist]

Yeah about that.... This is also happening within the company: https://opensource.microsoft.com/

And the bolded is a BIG if considering they're the last horse so far in the market and they dont have a bigger lineup than their competition in terms of software. Can happen down the road? Sure, but they're nowhere close to that, for obvious reasons.

first off, different parts of microsoft have always worked in perpendicular or even opposing directions. the existence of an open source initiative for some of their software means nothing, especially when they can apply whatever kind of licensing they like.

second, i agree that UWP is doing poorly right now and thus locking down the windows platform isn't an imminent reality. this is why i would like UWP to continue to fail. i think microsoft is an inherently monopolistic and abusive company that will do whatever it can to squeeze out competition and rent seek as soon as they've done so, therefore i don't really care if some of the steps they take in order to gain their monopoly are good for consumers in the short-term.

 

[ezodagrom]

So you're telling me that not wanting MS to publish their own games on PC is on the fear that we won't be able to buy them in the future? What about the concern of not being able to buy them at all?

GFWL was shit mainly because how screwed third party games like arkham or bulletstorm. That is not going to be the case because the only exclusives to the MS Store are Microsoft games, literally everything else has been published on Steam, albeit with a exclusivity period. Even Quantum Break.

After GFWL, they don't deserve the benefit of doubt, and with the Windows Store/UWP, they haven't done anything to deserve trust.
I'm not gonna be paying 70€ for games tied to an inferior restricitive platform, especially when before Windows 10 released, they were just fine with releasing games on Steam, which even had Steamworks features.

Thankfully UWP/Windows Store is pretty much a failure, if it was more successful, I'm sure they would try to push third parties to release games on it exclusively. We already saw some third party games being timed exclusive there even.

 

[Trago]

After GFWL, they don't deserve the benefit of doubt, and with the Windows Store/UWP, they haven't done anything to deserve trust.
I'm not gonna be paying 70€ for games tied to an inferior restricitive platform, especially when before Windows 10 released, they were just fine with releasing games on Steam, which even had Steamworks features.

Thankfully UWL/Windows Store is pretty much a failure, if it was more successful, I'm sure they would try to push third parties to release games on it exclusively. We already saw some third party games being timed exclusive there even.

What gets me is that they are still trying with the Windows Store despite it not doing anything for them really. Like clearly nothing will turn the tide.

 

[Yawnny]

Huh, PS4 pro already able to get some native 4k games.

Xbox One S sure as hell can't

 

[RdN]

Play Anywhere is one of the few good things that came out of Microsoft this gen.

I hope they continue to push it.

 

[NahaNago]

Such a complicated question that erupts fanboyism on both sides. Honestly i feel they should just team up with valve and make a "pc" that they call xbox. This would meld Microsofts push for windows on xbox,still keep the xbox brand name for marketing purposes, and give the next xbox a massive library right at the start .

 

[4Tran]

MS is in a tough spot. They want people to use the app store, but there isn't too much they can do to force the change.

Corporate software isn't going to use an app store. Pro consumer grade software are mostly transitioning to SaaS and aren't going to use the app store. Regular pc software has long gone open source for virtually everything. And for the people who just "internet" they use their phones.

So that leaves games, but MS already has a dedicated gaming box and they gutted all of their pc studios in order to support that years ago. PC gamers aren't going to use the store for the handful of long in the tooth console franchises that they still have.

I feel that this is right on the money. Microsoft is perfectly willing to sacrifice gaming to see the Windows 10 Store succeed, so it's a foregone conclusion that they're going to prioritize it over giving value to Xbox through making true exclusives.

But they are failing at that. If they are going to push their software on the Windows Store, then what is stopping them from employing features that the PC community wants that UWP lacks?

I'd be willing to bet that activity of the store would increase if UWP wasn't restrictive.

It doesn't matter if Microsoft is having a hard time selling the Windows 10 Store because the Store is more important to them than their entire console business. As such, they're going to commit all available resources to get it to work.

Such a complicated question that erupts fanboyism on both sides. Honestly i feel they should just team up with valve and make a "pc" that they call xbox. This would meld Microsofts push for windows on xbox,still keep the xbox brand name for marketing purposes, and give the next xbox a massive library right at the start .

That would be a terrible idea because it'd ruin Microsoft's long term goals.

 

[Mass Effect]

Such a complicated question that erupts fanboyism on both sides. Honestly i feel they should just team up with valve and make a "pc" that they call xbox. This would meld Microsofts push for windows on xbox,still keep the xbox brand name for marketing purposes, and give the next xbox a massive library right at the start .

Explain how this helps Microsoft or Valve. One of them is inevitablely going to come out the loser depending on how that hypothetical partnership goes.

Their philosophies are at odds with each other.

 

[Acorn]

Sure, why not? They benefit from both even if it isn't to the extent they want on pc.

 

[00ich]

But they are failing at that. If they are going to push their software on the Windows Store, then what is stopping them from employing features that the PC community wants that UWP lacks?

I'd be willing to bet that activity of the store would increase if UWP wasn't restrictive.

I don't think it has much to do with the store. It seems to me that Microsoft's game output just gets swept away under the constant deluge of PC exclusives on steam, origin etc.
What makes good advertisement for Xbox does little on Windows 10, because there are no coordinated release schedules from a limited set of developers you can carefully divide the public attention on. There are no press conferences that set the schedule for the release year.
Microsoft is wasting it's last momentum, they should stop immediately.

 

[dr_rus]

If MS wants me to continue buying their games they should continue releasing them on PC. If they want me to buy their console for exclusive games it has then they'll have to produce a lot more than the usual IPs sequels each 2-3 years.

 

[LukasTaves]

the biggest long-term concern would be microsoft locking the entirety of windows development behind their own tools, EULAs, certification, and distribution platforms with no alternatives.

while it's true that UWP has very slowly gotten slightly more open since it was introduced there is every reason to fear this kind of outcome if it gains a big enough marketshare and people leave win32 behind.

The entire process of developing right now on uwp can be done with open licenses, the same pretty much all open source software are.

Not a MS specific eula, the Apache License for open source software, used in their open source compiler for instance.

Same for the certification process, you can either use a 3rd party certificate provider or you can provide your own (but in that case for a clean install on other people's pcs you have to elevate to system level which invokes the use, so you can easily install the certificate).

So you can follow the guidelines and get a clean install at user level or you ask for the user to trust you and elevate to system level (which is how all win32 applications are installed today)

So unless they go back in what they already have done and lock it up, right now it's already open in the sense you are completely free from MS to develop and publish it.

 

[LukasTaves]

MS is in a tough spot. They want people to use the app store, but there isn't too much they can do to force the change.

Corporate software isn't going to use an app store. Pro consumer grade software are mostly transitioning to SaaS and aren't going to use the app store. Regular pc software has long gone open source for virtually everything. And for the people who just "internet" they use their phones.

So that leaves games, but MS already has a dedicated gaming box and they gutted all of their pc studios in order to support that years ago. PC gamers aren't going to use the store for the handful of long in the tooth console franchises that they still have.

Really the only way MS is going to force the store down people's throats is to moneyhat the fuck out of everyone like they did to break into the console business in the first place, but they don't seem to have the stomach to go down that expensive ass road.

You pretty much outlined why Ms needs uwp.

They can't force consumers to their store, but they control the Xbox development tools and those are changing to uwp.

They failed to support Windows Mobile but the strategy was the same, have developers creating applications to those platforms and those can be easily brought to pc to the point the developer would just do it.

It so explains Ms current focus for enterprise with Windows Mobile, they want to use work as a Trojan horse same way they did for Windows itself. They are adding many enterprise oriented features to their store as well.

Whether they succeed or not remains to be seen, but finally having a universal platform to tackle all the different possible devices is exactly the move for them if they want to have a foot on the consumer space.

 

[Lister]

My wife plays Candy Crush on her laptop so I guess in your eyes she's a PC gamer.

Isn't she? Or do we discount the people who only buy a console for that Dance game or Rockback from being console gamers? If she played a mobile game is she not a mobile gamer if she's not playing the current clans of clans stupid clicker game? No true scotsman?

To her, the idea of playing games on a PC instead of or in addition to consoles isn't this big brain block. She might or might not be interested in the idea of getting a GPU or picking up a PC capable of more demanding games. But the concept isn't alien to her, as was implied, and given that she ALREADY plays games on a PC, she is probably not dead set against doing so as was also implied being true of most console gamers.

 

[dcx4610]

I think Microsoft should push PC even more. Unless you are a gamer, if people buy laptops or computers these days, it's usually Macs. Step foot into a college campus and be depressed. They really need to bring people back and using Xbox can help.

The Xbox app on PC should be the literal interface of the Xbox One. Every game you get on the XB1 should be available through the app on PC and they could even go as far as to selling an external disc drive for physical games. The Xbox console should be for people who want an easy solution but they should push that your PC/laptop is already an Xbox if you have the right hardware.

Going forward, I think the Scorpio should be an actual mini PC running Windows 10 and the Xbox app. Why would you not want to tap into two markets instead of one while appealing to potential new users? Microsoft really needs a big advertising blitz and it could be big for them.

 

[Patchy]

The Xbone exclusive library is pretty poor. I say this as an owner.

I'd just concentrate on decent exclusives full stop.

 

[rrs]

Going forward, I think the Scorpio should be an actual mini PC running Windows 10 and the Xbox app. Why would you not want to tap into two markets instead of one while appealing to potential new users? Microsoft really needs a big advertising blitz and it could be big for them.

I feel this is going to be the end result of the crossbuy/play push, using xbox brand as a chance to wedge in between both steam and sony through scorpio enhanced games also requiring win10 support. As for the console itself, I doubt it will be an open windows box, at best locked to official console approved applications only.

The Xbone exclusive library is pretty poor. I say this as an owner.

I'd just concentrate on decent exclusives full stop.

yeah, this also needs to be fixed as being "the multiplat box" isn't alone going to win over more players with generations all but dead

 

[killatopak]

Too late to pull back now. They have to go all in.

 

[Neptonic]

I will get another FPS Halo game on PC before I die. That's all I want.

 

[petran79]

My wife plays Candy Crush on her laptop so I guess in your eyes she's a PC gamer.

Even online casino players are PC gamers

 

[Osiris397]

Obviously, IF their plan is to support developing a home console for the foreseeable future it's dumb, because skids and skids of people just cherry pick a few xbone titles to play on PC versus buying into/investing in the xbone console ecosystem, which decreases xbone software sales particularly for multi-platform games that are already on Windows. This further depletes the Xbone attach rate, which discourages developers pursuing Xbone as a target console platform and that's without MS cancelling certain exclusive 2nd/3rd party games 3/4 of the way through the process...multiple times.

Even if their goal is to eliminate the console, just have a digital games steam like storefront on Windows and build custom controllers...it's still dumb, but not as dumb. If MS is satisfied with pulling 25%-50% the 26M Xbone users to Windows (a guess) to buy xbox labeled games instead of Windows labeled games, to pay for online multiplayer monthly, for games with family sharing, for digital game rental etc. and they can micro-transaction it up maybe they catch a few thousand whales and it makes cents.

Ultimately I think the MS CEO just doesn't care about games and is probably fine with the xbox brand collapsing so they don't have to keep putting money into it.
To me it just seems like the LS boss just isn't really interested in maintaining a games division that's likely hemorrhaging cash from the company.

 

[NetMapel]

I think Microsoft should push PC even more. Unless you are a gamer, if people buy laptops or computers these days, it's usually Macs. Step foot into a college campus and be depressed. They really need to bring people back and using Xbox can help.

The Xbox app on PC should be the literal interface of the Xbox One. Every game you get on the XB1 should be available through the app on PC and they could even go as far as to selling an external disc drive for physical games. The Xbox console should be for people who want an easy solution but they should push that your PC/laptop is already an Xbox if you have the right hardware.

Going forward, I think the Scorpio should be an actual mini PC running Windows 10 and the Xbox app. Why would you not want to tap into two markets instead of one while appealing to potential new users? Microsoft really needs a big advertising blitz and it could be big for them.

Let's go one step further as I agree with you that the Xbox app on windows 10 could be expanded on. I have suggested this before, but I think Microsoft got a huge opportunity here to combine remote play with their windows operating system. Imagine Surface Pro, Surface Book, Windows Phone... etc in the future being able to remote play through wifi. I have better faith with Microsoft's ability to do a better remote play than Sony. They should make it so that the Xbox app will detect the computer spec and allow for full on game downloaded to the HDD if the computer is powerful enough. The tablet, laptop, phone... etc can do remote play since they won't be powerful enough to play those games.

 

[grosvenor_92]

I don't see why they can't continue to support both markets.