Xbox’s Phil Spencer Plans to Fix the Windows/Microsoft Store for PC Gamers

It is fair to say that Windows 10 hasn’t lived up to its promise, especially for PC gamers, thanks to the lacklustre adoption of the DirectX 12 API, the OS’ often buggy updates and the many criticisms of the Windows/Microsoft Store and the store exclusive UWP games that are contained within.    

Perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of this console generation is the start of Microsoft’s Xbox Play Anywhere program, which promises to release all future first-party Xbox games on both PC and Xbox platforms, with cross-save functionality and the ability to purchase the game digitally on one platform and play it on the other. Sadly the downsides of the Windows/Microsoft Store has prevented these games from becoming as popular as they could be.

Right now the installation procedure of Microsoft Store games is often buggy and the games on the storefront don’t usually play well with overlays like MSI afterburner or gameplay recording programs like Radeon ReLive and Nvidia Shadowplay, all of which are instant turn-offs for hardened PC users, not to mention how difficult it is to navigate the storefront itself. 

At last weekend’s X018 event, Microsoft’s head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, stated that they are committed to PC gaming and he has plans to take a bigger leadership role in the Windows’s Store’s development. Hopefully, this will result in a better Windows Store in time, one that PC gamers will eventually find comparable to Steam, GOG and EA Origin in time, if not better. 

     I think we’ve got a ton of work to do on Windows, Windows is something I’m very committed to, I’ve heard the feedback about our Store. I’m going to take a bigger leadership role on what’s going on with the Windows Store, make it really tailored to the gamers that we know want to see the best from what we have to offer.

 

  

Microsoft has been investing heavily into the future of both PC gaming and their Xbox platform, acquiring new developers to expand their exclusive games library while expanding in extensions to DirectX 12 like DXR (DirectX Raytracing) and DirectML (DirectX Machine Learning), both of which will enable future games to take advantage of the new hardware capabilities that are offered by modern graphics cards. 

With Windows/Microsoft Store has a long way to go before gamers will be able to trust it, though at least now we know that Microsoft is taking the store’s development seriously, as until now the storefront has been mostly filled with anguish and disappointment. 

You can join the discussion on Phil Spencer’s plans to fix the Windows/Microsoft Store on the OC3D Forums.