Blizzard: Microsoft Pays Lip Service to PC Gaming
Microsoft prefers supporting Xbox. Weird.
Paul Sams
Echoing statements made by Blizzard's senior VP of design, Rob Pardo, the company's chief operating officer, Paul Sams, has laid into Microsoft regarding PC gaming.
Speaking at GDC Paris recently, Pardo had said, "With Microsoft, I think they have a bit of lip service with PC gaming. They have their own game system now, so I don’t think it’s really in their best interest to support [PC]."
Sams - albeit rather confusingly - supports his VP. He told an interviewer, "Well, their (Microsoft's) gaming focus is very much on the [Xbox] 360. And that makes sense, cause they’re a hardware manufacturer as well as a software developer. And so they’ve got a lot of money and investment tied up in that system.
"I think similarly to Rob, is (sic) that it would be great if they put more emphasis on the Windows operating system, certainly probably (again sic) the most prominent operating system in the world. Even more so than console boxes.
"And they own and operate that system, so having them put more energy and effort against it – and they would say that they are, but I think that there’s more that can be done."
All that's not to say, however, that Sams doesn't understand where Microsoft is coming from. "It makes sense to me, what they’re doing, they’re putting their energy and focus against the 360. That’s where their huge R&D dollars are that they have to earn out on and that’s where I think their gaming bread and butter is right now."
What he ought to be saying is that Microsoft needs to recoup a lot of cash with its Xbox business, while all it stands to gain from PC gaming is a few Games for Windows Live subscriptions and maybe (if it's really lucky) a few upgrades to Vista.
While it is lamented by some that PC gaming does not have anyone to promote it in the same way that consoles do, one of its strengths is that it's an open platform. Not everyone would like to see Microsoft wading in further than it already has.
Source: Gamasutra
Speaking at GDC Paris recently, Pardo had said, "With Microsoft, I think they have a bit of lip service with PC gaming. They have their own game system now, so I don’t think it’s really in their best interest to support [PC]."
Sams - albeit rather confusingly - supports his VP. He told an interviewer, "Well, their (Microsoft's) gaming focus is very much on the [Xbox] 360. And that makes sense, cause they’re a hardware manufacturer as well as a software developer. And so they’ve got a lot of money and investment tied up in that system.
"I think similarly to Rob, is (sic) that it would be great if they put more emphasis on the Windows operating system, certainly probably (again sic) the most prominent operating system in the world. Even more so than console boxes.
"And they own and operate that system, so having them put more energy and effort against it – and they would say that they are, but I think that there’s more that can be done."
All that's not to say, however, that Sams doesn't understand where Microsoft is coming from. "It makes sense to me, what they’re doing, they’re putting their energy and focus against the 360. That’s where their huge R&D dollars are that they have to earn out on and that’s where I think their gaming bread and butter is right now."
What he ought to be saying is that Microsoft needs to recoup a lot of cash with its Xbox business, while all it stands to gain from PC gaming is a few Games for Windows Live subscriptions and maybe (if it's really lucky) a few upgrades to Vista.
While it is lamented by some that PC gaming does not have anyone to promote it in the same way that consoles do, one of its strengths is that it's an open platform. Not everyone would like to see Microsoft wading in further than it already has.
Source: Gamasutra
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