If you regularly download games from the Windows Store, you’re probably no stranger to the problems plaguing Microsoft’s virtual shop. Certain titles, like the recently released Rise of the Tomb Raider, are riddled with issues when placed next to their Steam counterparts. This has got some PC gamers rather hot under the collar, but at least Phil Spencer is promising a brighter future.
Will upcoming PC games play nicer with the Windows Store? Here’s hoping.
The Head of Xbox has done quite the job of putting out all those toasty, toasty PR fires the Xbox One suffered during its first year or so on release. With a renewed focus on delivering quality titles, rather than making the console a vaguely redundant media box, Spencer has won many a fan.
He’s now extending this charm offensive towards Microsoft’s goal of delivering better service to Windows gamers. In response to an impassioned article about the sad state of the Windows Store version of Rise of the Tomb Raider, the exec posted the following:
@BigMouthGamer We know lists like this include features PC gamers want to see from us, we appreciate the feedback and have plans to improve
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) February 26, 2016
Turns out, Lara’s non-Steam PC port has a litany of issues, highlighted in this post. The game can’t support SLI or Crossfire setups, VSync is forced to on, while Borderless Fullscreen Mode is also always in effect. Clearly, it’s not an ideal conversion.
Unless you’re dead against lining Gabe’s pockets with more delicious coins, I’m not quite sure why you’d plump for the Windows 10 version of a triple-A PC title over the Steam equivalent. Nevertheless, here’s hoping future Windows Store releases are blighted with less problems than Croft’s recent quest.
Last year, Spencer admitted the company’s efforts to improve the Windows Store experience for PC gamers weren’t quite up to task. “I can tell you definitively that our team has never committed more resources to making Windows better for game developers and gamers, and that means any gamer on Windows 10, regardless of storefront or device,” he said last June.
There could be more news on this issue next month at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Microsoft is hosting a session called “The Future of Xbox Game Development for Windows.” Keep at least two digits crossed the Redmond giant announces some Store fixes at GDC.
Thanks, Gamespot.