Microsoft’s drive to strengthen its presence in the PC gaming scene has been admirable in recent years. On top of having been following the mandate of launching all first party titles day and date on PC and Xbox One simultaneously for the past couple of years, they’ve also recently brought titles such as Sunset Overdrive, which was exclusive to Xbox One at launch, to PC as well.
According to Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft’s gaming division, that focus on PC gaming is something that is going to continue to grow in 2019. Recently, while speaking with GamesIndustry, Spencer gave his thoughts on what’s in store for both Xbox One and Microsoft’s PC gaming drive for Windows 10.
He started, of course, with talking about Xbox. “[2019] will be a great year for games,” said Spencer, echoing earlier recent comments. “I’m excited for what we have coming including Crackdown 3, Ori and the Will of the Wisps and Gears 5 as well as the incredible line-up of games from the industry that will look and play best on Xbox One. While we continue to advance our position on the console, you’ll see Xbox show up in more ways to gamers on all devices.”
Spencer then moved on to talking about Microsoft’s role in PC gaming, and how they plan on expanding their presence on that front even further in 2019. “As I’ve said before, we feel we can play a bigger role delivering for PC gamers on Windows,” he said. “We haven’t always had great focus or consistency with our approach to gamers on the PC. The PC gaming ecosystem is incredibly vibrant and successful so it starts with us asking ourselves what role we can play and what we can add for both gamers and developers.”
A look at Microsoft’s lineup for PC games slated for launch in 2019 shows that they do have solid plans for the platform. Aforementioned titles like Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Crackdown 3, and Gears 5 are of course due out on PC next year as well, but on top of those, there’s also Gears Tactics, which is also coming out on PC, while Age of Empires 4, under development at Relic Entertainment, might also launch next year. Something else to be considered is that Microsoft recently acquired inXile Entertainment and Obsidian Entertainment, both of whom have historically been PC-centric studios primarily.
