If ever there was an argument to be made against either Cross Platform Play or Microsoft’s UWP initiative, this one is it. Sea of Thieves’ PC version has come under attack by hackers, which is never a good thing in a multiplayer game, since it ruins the experience for everybody. Unfortunately, given that this is a cross platform game, that means that the ruining of the game isn’t just contained to PC—it’s spilling over to the Xbox One version of the game as well.

The worst part here is that UWP is supposed to be a sealed, clamped down file format that doesn’t allow tinkering—this is why PC gamers lose advantages like modding with UWP versions of games. But clearly, this isn’t stopping hackers—as always, the honest gamer ends up being on the losing side because of this.

Given that Sea of Thieves is still in its infancy, something like this could end up being catastrophic if Rare doesn’t address it right away. The studio has confirmed to Kotaku that it will be looking into these claims—hopefully they nip the problem in the bud.

Microsoft are currently working on the Xbox Scorpio, their next console, which is due to launch in Holiday 2017. Unlike the relatively disappointing PS4 Pro, the Scorpio seems to be a beast of a machine- it was unveiled at E3 as ‘the most powerful console ever made,’ and with a 6TFLOP GPU, it looks like Microsoft will deliver on that vision.

And now, Windows Central seems to have more information on exactly how they will do it. Citing insider sources, Windows Central claims that the Scorpio will become the centre for first party game development, for all Microsoft games on Windows 10 PCs and Xbox One (the same tools will also be extended to third parties, of course). Any game that is created for the UWP PC platform will run on Scorpio in 4K natively, including older games that are already out- which means that titles like Gears 4 and Forza Horizon 3 will run in 4K on the device, as well as any new titles that are released in UWP format.

The Scorpio can mimic a standard Xbox One at a hardware level, so essentially, developers can now simply target a Scorpio for development, make games for it, and then test them across multiple configurations (the Scorpio configuration and the Xbox One configuration) on the Scorpio itself- essentially, on the development end, the Scorpio will become the nexus of Xbox Play Anywhere.

With that said, the Scorpio will have exclusive VR games that will simply not be compatible with existing Xbox One systems, which are too weak to run it. Scorpio is also slated to run on the Xbox One OS, though again, with some alterations and additions for VR.

All of this sounds incredibly exciting to me- and if this is what Microsoft are pushing with the Scorpio, then I’m all for it. I cannot wait for the details to be confirmed as we near Scorpio’s launch a year from now.

Tim Sweeney, the founder and CEO of Epic Games, isn’t known to be a big fan of Microsoft and especially their UWP initiative on Windows 10. He’s been very critical of the entire concept in the past, claiming that Microsoft are trying to monopolize PC games development by making it a closed platform- and in a recent interview with EDGE (via Gamespresso), he once again spoke out against Microsoft, and what he perceives to be their intentions.

“The trouble started when Microsoft began shipping some PCs and regular Surfaces that were so locked down that you couldn’t run Win32 apps; you could only run apps that had been bought from their store,” Sweeney said. “That is a complete travesty. With Windows 10 they removed some more capabilities. They’ve been able to do this via some sneaky PR moves. They make a bunch of statements that sound vaguely like they’re promoting openness, but really they’re not promising anything of the sort.”

Sweeney then explained why he thinks what he does.

“The risk here is that, if Microsoft convinces everybody to use UWP (Universal Windows Platform), then they phase out Win32 apps. If they can succeed in doing that then it’s a small leap to forcing all apps and games to be distributed through the Windows Store. Once we reach that point, the PC has become a closed platform. It won’t be that one day they flip a switch that will break your Steam library – what they’re trying to do is a series of sneaky manoeuvres. They make it more and more inconvenient to use the old apps, and, simultaneously, they try to become the only source for the new ones.

“Slowly, over the next five years, they will force-patch Windows 10 to make Steam progressively worse and more broken. They’ll never completely break it, but will continue to break it until, in five years, people are so fed up that Steam is buggy that the Windows Store seems like an ideal alternative. That’s exactly what they did to their previous competitors in other areas. Now they’re doing it to Steam. It’s only just starting to become visible. Microsoft might not be competent enough to succeed with their plan, but they’re certainly trying.”

Of course, there are many points of contention in what he says- Microsoft never sold PCs which ran only Windows Store apps, they only sold tablets- and of those, none of them were running Windows 10 or even Windows 8, but Windows RT, an OS long since abandoned. He ignores that the only reason for such a lockdown to even exist in the first place was that Windows RT was for ARM devices, and Win32 apps and software, coded for x86 hardware, couldn’t run on that. And of course, there is the point that the bulk of his argument is predicated on doomsaying, wild predictions with no basis in reality that have not yet come to pass.

On the whole, then? Definitely, Microsoft need to be kept an eye on, and the UWP initiative leaves a lot to be desired. But Tim Sweeney’s fears on the matter remain unfounded and baseless.

A lot has been written about this, and there are enough compelling arguments on both sides that the discussion is fated to remain relevant for a good while now. However, that is not what I wanted to talk about today. Today, instead, I wanted to follow a different line of reasoning that I have seen since Microsoft’s E3- there seems to be, you see, a small, but outspoken, group of PC players who believe that Microsoft’s move to PC marks the end of dedicated console gaming as we know it, and that Sony would, as a result, do well to start putting their exclusives on PC as well.

The arguments I usually hear are simple- those who wish to purchase a console to play their games will continue to purchase a PS4 to play Bloodborne or Uncharted, while others, who would like the best possible experience for their games, will simply purchase them on PC. What would be the harm here? Sony would be opening up their games to a much wider install base, and therefore stand to gain a lot in terms of software sales.

"There seems to be a small, but outspoken, group of PC players who believe that Microsoft’s move to PC marks the end of dedicated console gaming as we know it, and that Sony would, as a result, do well to start putting their exclusives on PC as well."

This argument, however, is fallaciously simplistic, and does not account for one very simple thing- Sony have no reason to put their games on PC. Microsoft making a move to consolidate their PC and Xbox gaming efforts makes sense from their perspective. They have to sell not just Xbox, but more importantly, at least to the company’s long term plans and future, they need Windows 10 to take root. They need their UWP initiative to take off. They need the Windows Store to become popular. The success of all of these is tied, in some part, to PC gaming. By putting their own games on PC, Microsoft may even in the short term be damaging the prospects of Xbox a little bit (although it is unclear if they are- maybe there is a substantial market for people interested in Microsoft’s games, but not interested in PC gaming in any capacity), but they are entrenching their long term strategy, bolstering and reinforcing it.

On the other hand, Sony gain nothing from putting their games on PC- Windows is not their OS. They don’t have an OS. By putting games on PC, Sony lose out on hardware sales they gain from sales of PS4 as a result of their exclusives, they lose out revenue, thanks to having to share it with whatever storefront they put their games on, they lose out on their own network and services revenue, because PS+ is no longer a necessity to play their games (and trying to have a paid subscription for video games on PC doesn’t work, as Games for Windows Live demonstrated), and finally, by losing hardware sales, their third party licensing revenues are diminished too. It’s a lose-lose situation for them all around.

The counter argument: they can make their own storefront on PC, and not necessarily put their games on Steam or Windows Store. And sure, they can do that. That still doesn’t address all the other loss of revenue they suffer. Even if they manage to not have to split revenue with a storeholder by having their own store, they do lose out on hardware revenue, they do lose out on network and services revenue, and they do lose out on third party licensing revenues, as a result of lower PS4 sales. It is hard to believe that revenue from increased sales thanks to a PC install base would be enough to cover all three of those other losses, especially now that Sony sell their hardware at a hefty profit. And unlike Microsoft, Sony can’t even justify the loss of immediate revenue by pointing to intangibles such as a long term gain- unlike Microsoft, Sony don’t have anything to gain by having their games on PC.

"Sony gain nothing from putting their games, such as Bloodborne, on PC."

Another variant of this argument I often hear is that Sony should only put their games on PC after a few years- so, let Uncharted and Bloodborne be exclusive to PS4 for 3-4 years, and then put those games on PC after that. This line of thinking argues that these games will have already sold the bulk of consoles they are supposed to sell by this point- anyone interested in buying a PlayStation console to play these exclusives has done so 3-4 years down the line, and if they haven’t, then they are not likely to ever. So it is in Sony’s best interest to extract further revenue by putting those games on PC, and opening up a new line of revenue from them, long after the other lines of revenue mentioned above are exhausted.

This is a sounder argument than the previous one- but it is still fallacious. Simply because if one were to know that Sony’s games will be eventually coming to PC regardless, then there would be those people who would simply decide to wait it out a few years, and buy those games on PC, instead of buckling and buying a PS4 to play them. This would lead to the same problems as in the previous scenario- Sony lose out on revenue from hardware, licensing, and network and services.

And yes, there would be a substantial number of people who would opt to just wait. Unlike the bulk of console gaming, where sales and mindshare are ephemeral, PC gamers are content to wait for a game they want to play, rather than buying it right now, and playing it right now. Years of Steam sales, and late ports, serve as both evidence, and justification, for this- PC gamers won’t decide to spend an extra $400 to play Bloodborne now, when they can wait it out a few years, and just get it on PC, in a superior form (simply by virtue of the game being on PC) at that. And of course, all of this still sidesteps the central point: unlike Microsoft, Sony have nothing to gain by putting their games on PC. Unlike Microsoft, who would sacrifice some short term revenue for some long term gains, Sony would be gaining short term revenue, but sacrificing long term gains. Fewer and fewer people would be willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a new PlayStation if they knew that their favorite PlayStation exclusives were all going to end up coming to some other platform in a few years anyway. Sony would lose out on the integrity and halo of the PlayStation brand, and they would also end up with greatly diminished hardware and network related revenue in the process, especially since PlayStation is central to many non gaming related initiatives for Sony, such as TV, streaming, and network infrastructure.

"Fewer and fewer people would be willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a new PlayStation if they knew that their favorite PlayStation exclusives were all going to end up coming to some other platform in a few years anyway."

But wait, some smartass reading this person says, rushing to the comments section to type out a retort furiously. Sony already are putting games on PC! Both, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and Helldivers were put by them on Steam! Take that! It’s very clear none of my counterarguments seem to apply after all!

To which I only ave to say, hypothetical reader: if you really, truly, believe that Helldivers or Rapture were selling any PlayStation consoles, or that they have the same standing as a high budget, 90+ Metascore retail exclusive from From or Naughty Dog, then, my friend, I have a bridge in Brooklyn that I want to sell you.

There is a possibility that, many years into the future, there is no place for dedicated console hardware, and that at that point, Sony are forced to adopt a hardware agnostic strategy for their gaming initiatives- but if and when that time comes, then this will be a viable argument to make. As it stands right now, consoles are selling, and no company is gaining more from console sales than Sony is. They would be foolish to rock the boat right now.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

It’s the age of cross-platform releases for Microsoft with Quantum Break and Gears of War: Ultimate Edition available on both Windows 10 and Xbox One. Future titles in the Forza series and ReCore are expected to follow but older titles haven’t been completely ruled out either.

According to NeoGAF user Enter the Dragon, Sunset Overdrive will be heading to PC. The user himself was very confident about the same, saying he had a “very, very solid source” and wasn’t opposed to moderators verifying him for the same. On a scale of one to 10 with regards to how much he could be trusted, he stated, “Ten out of ten.”

He also revealed that the game will support UWP or Universal Windows Platform and that there was, “No idea about release. I’m hoping to see it drop this E3 but that’s my speculation there.”

Sunset Overdrive was rumoured to be heading to PC many moons ago via an incorrect listing of sorts. However, this apparent insider makes sure to reiterate that his source is “a real live person”.

Thoughts on the same? Let us know below and stay tuned for more information.

The PC version of Gears of War: Ultimate Edition was an utter and complete mess when it launched, exemplifying all that is bad about Microsoft’s push for PC gaming via Windows 10 and the Universal Windows Platform. The PC version was so bad that it lacked some very basic options- such as a V-Sync toggle, or unlocked framerate. And owing to the closed down nature of UWP, there was no way for mods to fix the game, either.

Well, at least Microsoft themselves have added at least some of the missing functionality to the game. The new update comes in the wake of the new update for the OS itself, which allows UWP apps to gain the kind of functionality that legacy Win32 apps have had for years.

The full patch notes for the game’s update follow:

• Added v-sync toggle to video options. Toggle ‘off’ to not be limited by your monitors refresh rate.
• Added frame rate limit selector to video options. Use to reduce your frame rate if you are getting too much tearing, or choose unlimited to let the game render as fast as possible. Note: This option is best used with v-sync off. With v-sync on, it will force the game onto a refresh interval (render every refresh, every second refresh, etc.).
• Added anisotropic filtering setting to video options.
• Added FPS counter toggle to video options.
• Fixed a bug where post processing could become disabled.
• Fixed a bug where PSO’s could be created on the fly instead of read from the cache, causing hitches.

Gears of War: Ultimate Edition is available now on Windows 10 PCs and Xbox One.

Quantum Break’s woefully broken PC port got some much needed attention from Remedy’s QA team today. Update 2 arrived on PC on Saturday and resolved a wide range of issues with the initial release, though we strongly feel that much of what the patch fixes ought to have been working from the get-go.

Perhaps the most significant change here is that upscaling is now optional: one of the biggest gripes with Quantum Break on PC is that it forced PC users to deal with the temporal reconstruction technique used on Xbox One. Temporal reconstruction is a performance optimization technique that reconstructs a single 1080p frame from multiple 720p frames with 4x MSAA applied.

This was crucial to maintaining a playable framerate on the Xbox One, but left PC users running the game at a muddy, sub-native resolution. Downsampling from a higher resolution was the only way to actually run the game at 1080p and above, but because 4x MSAA was baked in, the performance implications were appalling: personal testing with a 980 Ti saw framerates in the 30s when downsampling from 1440p. The new update also makes the game’s rather heavy-handed film grain an optional toggle. Have a look below for the full changelog.

General Fixes/Updates:

• Fixed issue where ambient sounds disappeared when mashing buttons during a cinematic
• Removed unnecessary loading screens showing up
• Updated credits
• World no longer visibly unloads after Jack lets Beth and NPC into the Swimming Pool front door
• Amy no longer remains still and without pathing towards gate in train yard
• Fixed Jack’s subtitles not showing in somecinematics
• Unlock descriptions for Will Diary 1 and Will Diary 2 are no longer reversed
• Fix for blinking lights, where flares would blink excessively bright after resuming from suspend mode
• Fixes for making Xbox Live integration more fault-tolerant
• Remedy logo fix*
• Fix for a rare bug that accidentally wiped progress after completing the game
• Fix for some TV screens sometimes showing a really grainy image
• Fixed circular progress bar alpha in the junction stats screen
• Fixed video playback not always ending if the video was synced to audio
• Fixed two rare instances of stalls when loading
• Fixed a rare crash with the video texture system
• Fixed crash in download menu when switching profiles
• Fixed “Waiting for install to complete” text not being localized when changing the language
• Game/story/collectible progress hero stats no longer display incorrectly when player has less than a percent of progress
• Fixed rare instances of cloud saves failing and causing loss of progress

Act Fixes/Updates:

• Act 1 Part 1: Fixed a rare instance of taxi being missing from the intro cinematic
• Act 1 Part 2: Fixed assets disappearing if players backtrack
• Act 1 Part 2: Fixed an issue where players could not kill the guard in the parking lot
• Act 1 Part 3: Fixed backtracking issues where some parts could unload
• Act 1: Fixed overlapping audio in opening cinematic
• Act 2 Part 1: Fixed Nick pathing issues
• Act 2 Part 1: You can no longer get underneath the puzzle at the security station
• Act 2 Part 2: First Chronon source renders properly
• Act 2 Part 3: Added collision on time machine corridor to prevent player’s accidentally falling to their death
• Act 2 Part 3: Fixed backtracking issues where some parts could unload
• Act 2 Part 3: Fixed rare NPC issues where Amy or Nick could be killed or block the door
• Junction 3: Fixed Hatch being hidden if the user skips a future vision too quickly
• Junction 4: Fixed flickering environment outside office building
• Act 5: Fixed last subtitle going by too quickly to read
• Act 5: Fixed missing line in Portuguese audio in a cinematic

Microsoft’s UWP initiative has been met with a lot of resistance, with high profile developers criticizing a perceived locking down of Windows. A lot of pressure has been placed on Microsoft, explicitly and implicitly, to share their vision for exactly what UWP is meant to be, so developers at least have some idea of where it is all going. And at GDC, Microsoft did just that.

Microsoft announced that they are working on a lot of problems with UWP- so, for instance, the lack of options with UWP apps, such as the inability to disable V-Sync or the ability to support G-Sync and freesync, are all problems that their developers are working on. Microsoft hopes to introduce and implement these features later this year.

Microsoft also stated that UWP will end up supporting all manner of devices- from Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs to tablets and smartphones, HoloLens, the Internet of Things devices. They acknowledged that the development, distribution, and updating procedures for applications on this full range of devices can differ, and they pledged to ensure that specific functionality for each kind of software was in place.

Microsoft do have their work cut out for them- this presentation definitely made UWP look better, yes, but a lot of concerns still went unaddressed. Let us hope Microsoft addresses those at its BUILD conference.