"It's time for us to talk about gaming on Windows" - Head of Microsoft Xbox Division
- Thread starter Gimpymoo
- Start date
When it comes to gaming Microsoft should cut their looses.. put their games on Steam and be done with it.
No way will Gabe ever sell to Microsoft, his thoughts on the new versions of windows are well documented. He is doing everything he can to make gaming possible on multiple platforms.
He's doing a pretty good job too.. SteamOS, SteamBox, Steam Mac / Linux support. Steam now has 63 pages worth of games for SteamBox / Linux alone, not including Mac stuff.
Times are changing.
No way will Gabe ever sell to Microsoft, his thoughts on the new versions of windows are well documented. He is doing everything he can to make gaming possible on multiple platforms.
He's doing a pretty good job too.. SteamOS, SteamBox, Steam Mac / Linux support. Steam now has 63 pages worth of games for SteamBox / Linux alone, not including Mac stuff.
Times are changing.
Associate
- Joined
- 13 Nov 2007
- Posts
- 2,427
Well Windows 10 is rumoured to be free for Windows 8 users.
So that would be welcomed.
Windows 10 will also be monetised in a completely different way to previous OSs - so I don't know how much you should welcome it. Ofc, getting the OS for free is a plus and I would still be willing to pay for it to get at the DX12 and other optimisations that are inevitably going to be part of the overall package.
What he really means is Valve + Sony has stolen a lot of market share away from MS so the only way they can claw some of it back is to appeal to PC gamers again (good luck with that)
XB1 is a disaster. Win 8 is not far behind.
However, tying it to Windows 10 will not win them any new fans methinks as they obviously never learned from:
Vista
GFWL
Games For Windows Marketplace
DX10 Vista Only
MS need to buy Valve & Steam that is IMO the ONLY way they are going to make any progress in PC gaming but there is more chance of Gabe selling to Goggle than MS I cannot see him selling out he is already rich & does not need the money does he!
Don't be such a drama Queen. The Xbox One isn't a disaster, and neither is Windows 8.
I wouldn't call it a disaster but the Steam survey sums it up nicely:
Windows 7 64 bit: 47.68%
Windows 8.1 64 bit: 23.49%
Windows 7: 11.35%
Windows 8 64 bit: 5.63%
Windows XP 32 bit: 3.93%
Windows Vista 64 bit: 1.28%
Windows Vista 32 bit: 0.75%
Windows 8.1: 0.57%
Windows 8: 0.36%
Windows XP 64 bit: 0.23%
Windows 10 64 bit: 0.16%
Rest are Mac/Linux based operating systems.
Windows 7 64 bit: 47.68%
Windows 8.1 64 bit: 23.49%
Windows 7: 11.35%
Windows 8 64 bit: 5.63%
Windows XP 32 bit: 3.93%
Windows Vista 64 bit: 1.28%
Windows Vista 32 bit: 0.75%
Windows 8.1: 0.57%
Windows 8: 0.36%
Windows XP 64 bit: 0.23%
Windows 10 64 bit: 0.16%
Rest are Mac/Linux based operating systems.
I'd say that looks good for win8.1, there's no major need to upgrade, from a gaming perspective, from 7 to 8.1, but nearly 25% have.
The key thing Microsoft have to nurture and protect is the dominance of directX over openGL. With one of the 2 major consoles being linux based now, Microsoft have a choice: continue to do everything to keep directx the most popular platform for high end gaming or lose to linux.
If they continue to **** on the PC platform then linux will win and Microsoft will be in serious trouble.
Where does it point out that 25% came from windows 7 users, it says nearly 25% of users are using 8.1 which could have come from anywhere.
Got to love the way people are hating on GFWL and the like and yet are praising steam, they are just the same, a front end for your gaming collection.
Just because Steam is the most popular front end of its type, it is still a front end.
If Microsoft can get their new front end to work well then I don't see a problem with it.
Oh and I've just launched Steam, what a surprise it needs to update itself, and then I have to login.
Just because Steam is the most popular front end of its type, it is still a front end.
If Microsoft can get their new front end to work well then I don't see a problem with it.
Oh and I've just launched Steam, what a surprise it needs to update itself, and then I have to login.
Caporegime
- Joined
- 8 Jan 2004
- Posts
- 32,868
- Location
- Rutland
The difference was at the time GFWL was flaky and rarely had anything worth buying or sensibly priced.
Steam was panned on release but stood the test of time.
Steam was panned on release but stood the test of time.
This is the key thing in my opinion. DirectX has been a real strength for MS and is even more important now. Windows dominance comes from three areas:
1) Business users.
2) Home users.
3) Enthusiasts and gamers.
The home market has now fractured and many people are moving to a tablet or a Mac. Business use is still strong but increasingly applications are moving to web based solutions so there is no overriding reason why a Mac, Linux or ChromeOS can't replace Windows in the business domain in a few years (admittedly not yet though).
That leaves the enthusiast and gamer market. Many people now game on consoles. Most people don't really "need" Windows and just want to run games. So with an increasing number of games available on Linux and SteamOS Windows will become increasingly under threat.
I'm not predicting Windows decline quite yet. But Mantle and OpenGL could undermine gaming on Windows and Microsoft need to keep DirectX relevant.