Quantum Break’s Steam Release Could Be the Start of a More Accepting Microsoft

An iceberg of frozen Steam.
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Walled Gardens and Boiling Frogs

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Tim Sweeney, Windows 10, monopolize, microsoft

Microsoft is not the only game publisher to have their own digital distribution system on PC. EA has Origin, Ubisoft has Uplay, CD Projekt has GOG, and Blizzard has Battle.net. Of these, EA and Blizzard keep their games exclusive to their own stores, while Ubisoft and CD Projekt are open to releasing games on Steam, apart from their own stores. Microsoft, which was formerly in the former camp, now appears to have slipped into the latter.

Microsoft, however, stands apart from its peers in the respect that it not only has its own online store, but also the operating system that commands the largest market share on the PC. Although game ports for Mac and Linux have increased and improved over the past decade (thanks partly to Steam), Windows continues to be the leading OS for playing games on. This puts Microsoft in an interesting – and possibly monopolistic – position.

The fear of Microsoft trying to create a monopolistic “walled garden” using the Windows Store has been voiced most loudly by the CEO of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney. Microsoft’s Universal Windows Platform (UWP), the major point of concern for Sweeney, is an application architecture introduced with Windows 10. Long story short, apps made with UWP can run on a Windows 10 desktop, Windows 10 Mobile devices ,and even Xbox One consoles.

Sweeney’s concern is expressed in this quote: “…it’s impossible to download UWP apps from the websites of publishers and developers, to install them, update them, and conduct commerce in them outside of the Windows Store.” His editorial was responded to by both Vice President of Windows Kevin Gallo and by the Head of the Xbox Division, Phil Spencer. Both Gallo and Spencer stated that UWP is an “open ecosystem” and “can be supported by any store”.

Sweeney spoke out against UWP once more in May, and brought boiling frogs into the picture, using the metaphor to describe how he thinks Microsoft will get people to adopt UWP. Later, in July, he pointed out how Microsoft began selling computers and tablets running Windows, but unable to run Win32 applications. Arguing that Microsoft intends to phase out Win32 applications altogether, he suggested a somewhat controversial theory: “Slowly, over the next five years, they will force-patch Windows 10 to make Steam progressively worse and more broken.”


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Author
Rahul Shirke
Rahul was a former freelance writer for Twinfinite back in 2016, focused predominantly on covering PC gaming news. It didn't matter whether it was a turn-based strategy title or a twitch shooter, he was on the job.