Tuesday, February 26th 2019
Microsoft May be Closer Than Ever to Importing Xbox Games Infrastructure to PC
In a report via Ars Technica, it seems that Microsoft is actually inching ever closer to having PCs powered by Xbox games (and Xbox servers). After the company pushed some free copies of State of Decay to a limited number of beta testers for its upcoming Windows 10 updates (and asking for feedback on the game's behavior), a number of users tried (and managed) to dig deeper.
It seems that Microsoft used the Xbox's distribution services instead of the usual Game Store ones for distributing State of Decay, which would mean a tight integration of its console distribution platform and its Windows PC one. Furthermore, the state of Decay files came in encoded on a proprietary, Xbox-bound .xvc file system. State of Decay, as it is being delivered, also tries to update the DirectX installation on the users' PC, which speaks of it being aware of some PC-specific requirements for it to be run, which wouldn't be present shouldn't that be the case. This is all part of Microsoft's GameCore initiative, which aims to build a common set of system services and APIs that allow for higher development integration between both the PC and Xbox platforms, lowering the coding barrier for games to run on both, and perhaps even enabling PCs to be recognized as equals to Xbox consoles when it comes to content distribution. Maybe we'll finally be able to get The Master Chief collection and... Red Dead Redemption in our PCs?
Source:
ArsTechnica
It seems that Microsoft used the Xbox's distribution services instead of the usual Game Store ones for distributing State of Decay, which would mean a tight integration of its console distribution platform and its Windows PC one. Furthermore, the state of Decay files came in encoded on a proprietary, Xbox-bound .xvc file system. State of Decay, as it is being delivered, also tries to update the DirectX installation on the users' PC, which speaks of it being aware of some PC-specific requirements for it to be run, which wouldn't be present shouldn't that be the case. This is all part of Microsoft's GameCore initiative, which aims to build a common set of system services and APIs that allow for higher development integration between both the PC and Xbox platforms, lowering the coding barrier for games to run on both, and perhaps even enabling PCs to be recognized as equals to Xbox consoles when it comes to content distribution. Maybe we'll finally be able to get The Master Chief collection and... Red Dead Redemption in our PCs?
42 Comments on Microsoft May be Closer Than Ever to Importing Xbox Games Infrastructure to PC
They gonna cap all the FPS to 30 or 60 when they export them to PC?
Did i forget to mention Age Of Empires?
The thing is even my opinion is heavily convoluted because Microsoft themselves act more as a publisher when it comes to PC whereas they make a lot of stuff for Xbox. Its not like in the late 80s and early to mid 90s when Microsoft had multiple development studios just for the PC under its wing, We had flight sims and mech warrior and so many more franchises and IPs i probably cant even remember.
Microsoft dont care about the PC platform. Its been proven so many times. Once in a blue moon some big shot from microsoft will come out, say how they done the PC platform dirty and they want to try to fix that, make amends and make PC gaming great again. Makes a few promises, reaffirm their commitment and support for the PC platform. swears on God, swears to Jesus, Mary and the Holy Ghost that he will make PC gaming great again.... 6 months later, that same guy retires with a suitcase full of money and there is nothing to show for all the promises he made and I highly doubt there was anything done at all.
Fluff pieces and bones aplenty. Microsoft can keep throwing bones for dogs to chase when it suits them but this dog here has vaulted the fence and is long gone. I dont think im the only one that ignores whatever microsoft has to say when it comes to PC gaming and just carries on with life.
Too many empty promises.
Valve is not (really) a developer anymore, but while it is far from perfect, Steam is still the best distribution system on the PC.
Ms can go shove it.
Trying to download F7 wound up using over 250gb of data to install a 70gb game for me.
Until Microsoft figures out how to make windows 10 and the Microsoft store function at least as well as a Russian F2P game client I wont be buying anything.
Oh by the way, how's Continuum going for ya... and all those other attempts at integration and One Windows. I still remember the first thing to turn off after a Windows 10 install was the Game DVR function.
This attempt was dead before it even got finalized. MS is once again on a push nobody wants. Xbox gamers don't care because it adds nothing to them and PC gamers don't want it because they only stand to lose. The console barely even has exclusives, who the hell cares.
Its pretty funny seeing Microsoft and their furious attempts to get 'gaming' in order. They're like a drunkard on the way home, and still haven't arrived. Maybe they'll meet their old Nokia friends along the way, and be careful, that's Kinect you're almost stepping on!
If they include cross platform play with their Keyb/Mouse enabled exbexers then I am all for it
Gaming Community First :)
I for one would like to play my PC game with my friends that have it on Xbox. Lots of people would like not to have two systems in their house for just that purpose.
As for "games that are created specifically for PC". Laughable.
As for the games/content itself: PC is still the platform with the highest number of true exclusives. And what's more, the vast majority won't even run proper on a console. Ironically the Xbox platform stands to lose a big part of the playerbase because you can get a gameplay advantage playing the same game on the PC. You get cheats, mods, free to choose peripherals, and quite often cheaper games too.
So you can laugh all day... your loss. Its a very shallow world on the console, I'm not sure if that's something to be proud of.
*Insert whatever you want here.