Although in recent years, Microsoft has reduced its support for PC gaming, with its emphasis on Xbox, Windows 8, and Windows Phone, and has even often actively antagonized PC gaming, one needs to remember that there used to be a time when Microsoft was leading the charge of PC gaming- they were the ones who first gave developers a set of standardized APIs for their games with the DirectX toolset, and an OS to run them on, with Windows.
They were the ones who standardized controller support for PC gaming with their bid to make the 360 controller the de facto controller for PC games. And they also gave us many PC game classics, such as Age of Empires, Rise of Nations, Zoo Tycoon, and Midtown Madness.
Phil Spencer, who heads Microsoft’s Xbox division, probably recognizes Microsoft’s rich legacy with PC gaming, because he took to his Twitter to explicitly state that Microsoft needs to be doing more for PC gaming.
“Steam is a great place to sell Win32 games. We acquired the [Rise of Nations] IP for future work; I’m a big fan of the franchise,” Phil Spencer said, also opening up the possibility for a future Rise of Nations game.
“I agree that Microsoft needs to up our gaming presence on Windows. Part of my Xbox role is to bring back our Windows gaming focus,” he added.
Microsoft has openly stated that it does not plan on competing with Steam, rather opting to support it (as they have with the recent re-releases of Age of Empires II, Age of Mythology, and now Rise of Nations). Spencer may be referring, therefore, to a revival of Microsoft’s PC gaming IPs, such as the Age of Empires, Rise of Nations, and Zoo Tycoon. Considering how I actually grew up on these games, that would make me very excited for sure.