During a San Francisco press event last week Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft’s Xbox division, talked about a strategy for software development that would see games being made universally compatible across platforms–Microsoft platforms, anyway.
This idea of “Universal Windows Applications” is one more step in Microsoft’s cross-platform strategy. It would allow them to ensure backwards compatibility with future Xbox platforms, and allow them to make more minor hardware revisions that wouldn’t necessitate a full console relaunch, essentially making the Xbox more like a PC.
And those similarities go both ways. As Xbox games are developed in a universal Windows environment, they’ll be more easily ported to PC, and vice-versa. Microsoft’s already started bringing many of their exclusive Xbox One franchises to Windows 10 users, and that’s a trend which will continue for the foreseeable future. Many are calling this a “unification” of PC and console hardware, but Spencer doesn’t like that read on the strategy.
In an interview with PC Gamer, Spencer said “I look at the work we’re doing on the platform as an enabler for us becoming relevant in PC gaming. I wouldn’t say our strategy is to unify, because when I hear ‘unify’ I worry a bit that people will interpret, my own teams included, ‘Hey, we just want to say a game is a game and all games should run everywhere.’”
He went on to add ”I look at the work we’re doing on the platform as an enabler for us becoming relevant in PC gaming. I wouldn’t say our strategy is to unify, because when I hear ‘unify’ I worry a bit that people will interpret, my own teams included, ‘Hey, we just want to say a game is a game and all games should run everywhere.’”
While Microsoft’s PC gaming initiatives have had a more than rocky history, the ever-changing habits of consumers and unprecedented growth of the PC gaming market means that executives and decision-makers will be forced to pay attention to the platform, and will have to make fundamental changes to their development strategy to stay alive in the market.
