Microsoft recently made a surprise announcement. Quantum Break’s PC version, which was so far being sold only on Windows Store, will also appear on the Steam store. Not only that, but the game will also no longer be exclusive to Microsoft’s premier operating system Windows 10—it will also be playable on Windows 7. This leads to two interesting conclusions.
The first is that Microsoft is no longer interested in keeping its games exclusive to Windows 10 (and Windows Store), and the second is that more Microsoft-published games may be coming to Steam in the future.
What could have caused this surprising change of heart on the part of Microsoft, who has so far made sure its game releases promote their latest and (arguably) greatest operating systems, be it Windows Vista back in the day, or Windows 10 today. Could the release outside of Windows Store be influenced in part by concerns about Microsoft locking down the Windows ecosystem? Or perhaps the gaming-related concerns levelled at Windows Store-exclusive games have convinced Microsoft to change its mind?
