The specter of Microsoft’s previous attempts to support PC gaming looms large over their newest and freshest attempt, which is their push for PC gaming with Windows 10. The last time, they tried to establish their own storefront for PC gaming via Games For Windows Live, propping it as an alternative for Valve, launching a crappy and broken product that tried to charge users, was sub par, and ultimately abandoned, leaving a host of broken games in its wake.
That is not what they are trying to do this time. This time, it seems like all they want to do is play nice with Valve.
Speaking to PC Gamer,Microsoft’s Kevin Unangst, senior director for PC gaming “We are not intending to compete with Steam. If anything, we want Steam to be even more successful – they’ve done great things for PC gamers in terms of having a single store.
“Over time do we want more developers to come over to our store and offer it in addition to Steam? Absolutely. Is competition good for people? Absolutely. But our goal right now isn’t to do anything else other than support Steam and help it run great on Windows 10.”
I guess that’s a noble goal for now, though one has to wonder- will that change if and when the Windows Store begins to gain traction?