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Microsoft: Continuing Our PC Gaming Journey in 2021 and Beyond

KyoZz

Tag, you're it.
1920x1080.jpg


We’ve talked often about our “player-first” approach to gaming over the last few years.
In the past, that may have meant different things to different people, especially for those who identified strongly with being a console gamer, a PC gamer, or a mobile gamer.
If you were to walk the (virtual) halls at Xbox today, I think you’d find that to us, the idea of the “player” has come to mean someone who plays many kinds of games on many different devices.
PC gaming is part of this; “player first” has to apply for PC, as well, and to that end we’ve been making investments across the PC gaming ecosystem to ensure that PC is a key part of how people can play games.

Summary:
Starting on August, the developer share of Microsoft Store PC games sales net revenue will increase to 88% (from 70%)
Halo Infinite will support multiplayer cross-play and cross-progression when it releases
Great community’s response and solid numbers for GamePass
Committed to bring more games from publishers and developers across the industry into the Xbox Game Pass for PC
Only four months into 2021, and they already added 100 titles into Game Pass
Microsoft is also bringing
DirectStorage technology on Xbox to PC


The blogpost in itself:

Building Communities Around Games, Not Devices

A big part of our role as a platform holder and game publisher is to connect players with games no matter where they play.
Over the last 18 months we’ve launched games on PC like Age of Empires II and III DE, Gears Tactics, Wasteland 3, Minecraft Dungeons, and Microsoft Flight Simulator, many of which topped the Steam charts at launch.
We’re looking forward to delivering more PC content, including Age of Empires IV, later this year. Whether they are new genres for established franchises, the next iteration of a classic favorite or the evolution of a storied PC brand, we’re making games that PC gamers love to play.
We know many of you play across more than just your PC, including on Xbox and mobile. That’s why we’re excited to announce Halo Infinite will support multiplayer cross-play and cross-progression when it releases later this year.
That means if you’re playing on PC, you can play with your friends on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. It also means that your multiplayer customization and progress will follow you across all platforms.

Halo Infinite


We have been working closely with the PC community to ensure that Halo Infinite offers a premier PC experience, including highly desired features such as support for ultrawide and super ultrawide screens, triple keybinds, a wide variety of advanced graphics options and more.
We want to make sure that Halo is serving the PC community. We’re also using the cloud to make console gaming accessible on even more PCs.
While not meant to replace native PC gaming, Xbox Cloud Gaming allows Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members to play over 100 console games on a wide range of computers, from lower-spec, entry-level machines to older devices that otherwise couldn’t handle games that require more power.

Halo Infinite



Creating Experiences Tailored to PC Gamers

We believe it’s important that players have a choice in where they purchase games and we want to make accessing content even easier.
We know that the PC community uses multiple storefronts, which is why we also brought Sea of Thieves, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Age of Empires I, II, and III: Definitive Edition, and Forza Horizon 4 to Steam.
There are also millions of people opting to use their Xbox Game Pass membership to play. We launched Halo: The Master Chief Collection at the end of 2019 on the PC as part of Xbox Game Pass for PC; since then, over 10 million players have played it, with the vast majority of them being brand new to the franchise.
We’re encouraged by the community’s response, and we continue to bring more games from publishers and developers across the industry into the Xbox Game Pass for PC library.
We’re only four months into 2021, and we’ve already added 100 titles, including award-winning Bethesda games and brand new PC games, and we partnered with Electronic Arts to make EA Play a part of Xbox Game Pass for PC and Ultimate memberships at no additional cost.
More than 50 leading device partners, including Acer, ASUS, Lenovo, MSI and Razer, are offering Xbox Game Pass for PC with qualifying devices, giving gamers around the world access to the library.
We regularly work on features and functionality that improves and/or allows for a more customized experience like Xbox Game Bar.
We’re also bringing more quality-of-life improvements to PC gamers, including improved install reliability and faster download speeds over the next few months. We look forward to sharing more details on that soon.


Helping Developers Deliver Exceptional Experiences

Game developers are at the heart of bringing great games to our players, and we want them to find success on our platforms.
That’s why today we’re announcing that we’re updating our Microsoft Store terms for PC game developers. As part of our commitment to empower every PC game creator to achieve more, starting on August 1 the developer share of Microsoft Store PC games sales net revenue will increase to 88%, from 70%.
A clear, no-strings-attached revenue share means developers can bring more games to more players and find greater commercial success from doing so. You can read more about this new revenue share and our work with developers from CVP, Head of Game Creator Experience and Ecosystem Sarah Bond.
We empower developers to decide how to deliver their work based on their creative vision. Developing for PC was a priority for Microsoft Flight Simulator last year, using the help of Azure AI, machine learning, Azure Cognitive Services, and Bing Maps to bring the entire planet to life. .
We’re also looking forward to releasing Age of Empires IV this fall, which modernizes the iconic RTS franchise for new and returning players with the first all-new title in the last 10 years. We’re building on our history in PC gaming with the addition of inXile entertainment, Obsidian and Bethesda to our development teams – bringing their world-class talent and heritage into the Xbox team.

We’re proud to empower all developers with the platform and services they need to execute their vision and provide exceptional experiences on PC.
We introduced DirectX 12 Ultimate to both Xbox Series X|S and PC; coupled with the newly announced DirectX 12 Agility SDK, this enables incredible graphics experiences, like ray tracing, for an even larger set of PC gamers.
We’re taking the work we did with our Auto HDR technology on Xbox to PC gamers, which is currently being tested with over 1,000 DirectX-based games.
We’re also bringing DirectStorage technology on Xbox to PC, which means vastly reduced load times and more expansive and detailed virtual worlds.


The Future of PC Gaming is Brighter than Ever

We know that we still have a lot of work to do, but based on the response from both PC gamers and PC game developers, we think that we’re headed in the right direction for this community with the investments we’re making.
We have never been in a better position as an organization to deliver for PC gamers, with Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda developing content for both PC and Xbox, the Windows and DirectX teams creating technologies that empower developers and provide PC players with features that specifically take advantage of PC hardware, Xbox Game Pass for PC featuring games for every type of PC gamer with Xbox Game Studio games coming on day one, and the ongoing evolution of the Xbox app and Xbox Game Bar.
We’ll continue listening to the community to ensure we’re delivering on our promises, and respecting how players choose to play. This is especially true as we head into the second half of 2021, when our work across the entire PC ecosystem has the potential to come together in a way that propels the industry forward and brings great games to more gamers around the world.

 
Last edited:

Schmick

Member
Already being discussed here

 
Last edited:

KyoZz

Tag, you're it.
Already being discussed here

Woops, searched for Microsoft and find nothing. This explain why thx
 

Bridges

Member
If they are really "Building communities around games, not devices" I would really appreciate Xbox ports of their recent PC-only games like Age of Empires. Even if you still have to use M+K to play, it'd be nice to have the option. On the other hand they've been very good about getting their Xbox games all over to PC.
 
If they are really "Building communities around games, not devices" I would really appreciate Xbox ports of their recent PC-only games like Age of Empires. Even if you still have to use M+K to play, it'd be nice to have the option. On the other hand they've been very good about getting their Xbox games all over to PC.
I'm pretty sure an AOE4 port is coming. Dunno about the others.
 

sainraja

Member
People get very salty if there's more than one MS thread on the front page at a time, unless it shits on them
Ah, the victim card....you do realize you are saying this in response to there being two threads regarding MS? And the person you were responding to was only stating that this thread has more information compared to the other one. Not that he had an issue with there being two.

You guys gotta give it a rest. It's not a war. Stop playing the victim. It's not you against the world.
 
Last edited:

Unknown?

Member
If they are really "Building communities around games, not devices" I would really appreciate Xbox ports of their recent PC-only games like Age of Empires. Even if you still have to use M+K to play, it'd be nice to have the option. On the other hand they've been very good about getting their Xbox games all over to PC.
If that quote were true how come they aren't supporting any PC that isn't running their operating system?
 

EDMIX

Member
1920x1080.jpg


We’ve talked often about our “player-first” approach to gaming over the last few years.
In the past, that may have meant different things to different people, especially for those who identified strongly with being a console gamer, a PC gamer, or a mobile gamer.
If you were to walk the (virtual) halls at Xbox today, I think you’d find that to us, the idea of the “player” has come to mean someone who plays many kinds of games on many different devices.
PC gaming is part of this; “player first” has to apply for PC, as well, and to that end we’ve been making investments across the PC gaming ecosystem to ensure that PC is a key part of how people can play games.

Summary:
Starting on August, the developer share of Microsoft Store PC games sales net revenue will increase to 88% (from 70%)
Halo Infinite will support multiplayer cross-play and cross-progression when it releases
Great community’s response and solid numbers for GamePass
Committed to bring more games from publishers and developers across the industry into the Xbox Game Pass for PC
Only four months into 2021, and they already added 100 titles into Game Pass
Microsoft is also bringing
DirectStorage technology on Xbox to PC


The blogpost in itself:

Building Communities Around Games, Not Devices

A big part of our role as a platform holder and game publisher is to connect players with games no matter where they play.
Over the last 18 months we’ve launched games on PC like Age of Empires II and III DE, Gears Tactics, Wasteland 3, Minecraft Dungeons, and Microsoft Flight Simulator, many of which topped the Steam charts at launch.
We’re looking forward to delivering more PC content, including Age of Empires IV, later this year. Whether they are new genres for established franchises, the next iteration of a classic favorite or the evolution of a storied PC brand, we’re making games that PC gamers love to play.
We know many of you play across more than just your PC, including on Xbox and mobile. That’s why we’re excited to announce Halo Infinite will support multiplayer cross-play and cross-progression when it releases later this year.
That means if you’re playing on PC, you can play with your friends on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. It also means that your multiplayer customization and progress will follow you across all platforms.

Halo Infinite


We have been working closely with the PC community to ensure that Halo Infinite offers a premier PC experience, including highly desired features such as support for ultrawide and super ultrawide screens, triple keybinds, a wide variety of advanced graphics options and more.
We want to make sure that Halo is serving the PC community. We’re also using the cloud to make console gaming accessible on even more PCs.
While not meant to replace native PC gaming, Xbox Cloud Gaming allows Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members to play over 100 console games on a wide range of computers, from lower-spec, entry-level machines to older devices that otherwise couldn’t handle games that require more power.

Halo Infinite



Creating Experiences Tailored to PC Gamers

We believe it’s important that players have a choice in where they purchase games and we want to make accessing content even easier.
We know that the PC community uses multiple storefronts, which is why we also brought Sea of Thieves, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Age of Empires I, II, and III: Definitive Edition, and Forza Horizon 4 to Steam.
There are also millions of people opting to use their Xbox Game Pass membership to play. We launched Halo: The Master Chief Collection at the end of 2019 on the PC as part of Xbox Game Pass for PC; since then, over 10 million players have played it, with the vast majority of them being brand new to the franchise.
We’re encouraged by the community’s response, and we continue to bring more games from publishers and developers across the industry into the Xbox Game Pass for PC library.
We’re only four months into 2021, and we’ve already added 100 titles, including award-winning Bethesda games and brand new PC games, and we partnered with Electronic Arts to make EA Play a part of Xbox Game Pass for PC and Ultimate memberships at no additional cost.
More than 50 leading device partners, including Acer, ASUS, Lenovo, MSI and Razer, are offering Xbox Game Pass for PC with qualifying devices, giving gamers around the world access to the library.
We regularly work on features and functionality that improves and/or allows for a more customized experience like Xbox Game Bar.
We’re also bringing more quality-of-life improvements to PC gamers, including improved install reliability and faster download speeds over the next few months. We look forward to sharing more details on that soon.


Helping Developers Deliver Exceptional Experiences

Game developers are at the heart of bringing great games to our players, and we want them to find success on our platforms.
That’s why today we’re announcing that we’re updating our Microsoft Store terms for PC game developers. As part of our commitment to empower every PC game creator to achieve more, starting on August 1 the developer share of Microsoft Store PC games sales net revenue will increase to 88%, from 70%.
A clear, no-strings-attached revenue share means developers can bring more games to more players and find greater commercial success from doing so. You can read more about this new revenue share and our work with developers from CVP, Head of Game Creator Experience and Ecosystem Sarah Bond.
We empower developers to decide how to deliver their work based on their creative vision. Developing for PC was a priority for Microsoft Flight Simulator last year, using the help of Azure AI, machine learning, Azure Cognitive Services, and Bing Maps to bring the entire planet to life. .
We’re also looking forward to releasing Age of Empires IV this fall, which modernizes the iconic RTS franchise for new and returning players with the first all-new title in the last 10 years. We’re building on our history in PC gaming with the addition of inXile entertainment, Obsidian and Bethesda to our development teams – bringing their world-class talent and heritage into the Xbox team.

We’re proud to empower all developers with the platform and services they need to execute their vision and provide exceptional experiences on PC.
We introduced DirectX 12 Ultimate to both Xbox Series X|S and PC; coupled with the newly announced DirectX 12 Agility SDK, this enables incredible graphics experiences, like ray tracing, for an even larger set of PC gamers.
We’re taking the work we did with our Auto HDR technology on Xbox to PC gamers, which is currently being tested with over 1,000 DirectX-based games.
We’re also bringing DirectStorage technology on Xbox to PC, which means vastly reduced load times and more expansive and detailed virtual worlds.


The Future of PC Gaming is Brighter than Ever

We know that we still have a lot of work to do, but based on the response from both PC gamers and PC game developers, we think that we’re headed in the right direction for this community with the investments we’re making.
We have never been in a better position as an organization to deliver for PC gamers, with Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda developing content for both PC and Xbox, the Windows and DirectX teams creating technologies that empower developers and provide PC players with features that specifically take advantage of PC hardware, Xbox Game Pass for PC featuring games for every type of PC gamer with Xbox Game Studio games coming on day one, and the ongoing evolution of the Xbox app and Xbox Game Bar.
We’ll continue listening to the community to ensure we’re delivering on our promises, and respecting how players choose to play. This is especially true as we head into the second half of 2021, when our work across the entire PC ecosystem has the potential to come together in a way that propels the industry forward and brings great games to more gamers around the world.


Good choice.

They should have never been treating their OS like second hand citizens. The entire "exclusive" thing with XB never even made sense. They basically abandoned the MS OS, to have a contest of exclusives with Sony...lost and had nothing to really show for it. I never understood it and from a business standpoint, it makes no sense what so ever.

Think about it like this.... lets say McDonolds is having a exclusive war with Burger King and Burger King says some shit like "in our restaurants we have this burger exclusive" and McDonalds also has their burgers frozen in Walmart, Target, Sams etc. It would be like them NOT putting that burger as a frozen store item to fight BK, who fucking doesn't have that deal.

What are they winning exactly? To see how little they can sell, limiting their own sales to fight a fight by a company with less platforms? Why? People shitted on Phil's prospective of putting their games on PC day and date, but imho its no different then Nintendo supporting 3DS or Sony supporting PSP or something.

IT IS THEIR PLATFORM. It makes zero sense to not support it simply cause Sony has a home console they put exclusives on.

Sony also doesn't have a PC OS to sell either that they own...... So Phil is looking at the bigger picture. Sure less XB will sell over time, but MORE SOFTWARE will sell for MS and more MS OS's will sell too, it simply never made sense for them to fight their own install base to try to beat PlayStation in home console sales.

Its clear thats simply never going to happen.

Sony and Nintendo have somethin with selling hardware that MS likely is never going to achieve, but they also have something with their PC OS that Sony and Nintendo can not achieve. So I'm glad something is seeing the bigger picture here and happy to see MS supporting their OS as they should. Just cause I don't plan to ever buy a XB, doesn't mean I won't buy MS titles or something. I happily own all MS OS and should have never been in a situation where the very platform MS owns, was not getting the majority of their actual titles.
 
Sounds like theyre retreating from consoles and trying to make a push for PC. Makes you wonder how Steam and to a lesser extent epic will respond to this.
Lol where did you get that they are retreating. Sounds to me that they are trying to cover all bases and get you into an ecosystem of play a where and continue your game. That's pretty good for me as I switch between my X, S and xcloud
 
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NickFire

Member
"A big part of our role as a platform holder and game publisher is to connect players with games no matter where they play."
"We believe it’s important that players have a choice in where they purchase games and we want to make accessing content even easier."

I predict that after all the press conferences are done on Starfield, these quotes will be recycled.
 
We know that the PC community uses multiple storefronts, which is why we also brought Sea of Thieves, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Age of Empires I, II, and III: Definitive Edition, and Forza Horizon 4 to Steam.

So why not bring Gears of War Ultimate edition and Gears 4 to Steam? Heck, remaster Gears 2 & 3 while you're at it and make a MCC-like collection.
 

EDMIX

Member
I hope they bring all XBOX games to PC and hopefully to PC Gamepass.

A worthy goal.

MS output on first party during their first gen is so small, getting all that on PC is pretty easy, 360 first party games I feel they'd have a lot to port over, but again...no where near as large as Sony or Nintendo, so I feel its 100% doable.
 
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Andodalf

Banned
If they are really "Building communities around games, not devices" I would really appreciate Xbox ports of their recent PC-only games like Age of Empires. Even if you still have to use M+K to play, it'd be nice to have the option. On the other hand they've been very good about getting their Xbox games all over to PC.

I don't think they're ready for KB/M only games on xbox. Maybe in a couple years.
 
LOL do you even game on PC?? Do you know what Games for Windows Live is? I don’t need to go to the future to know it won’t be what I want for PC gaming.
I think you need to come to the present as you're obviously living in the past, Games for Windows live? 😂 It doesn't exist anymore pal.
 

johntown

Banned
I think you need to come to the present as you're obviously living in the past, Games for Windows live? 😂 It doesn't exist anymore pal.
So why do you think what they are doing now will be any better? Almost no one on PC gets games from the Windows Store. Gamepass has some benefits but no mod support or being able to make changes to games bought is a big no for me.
 
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