Microsoft is Now Treating Windows 10 Gaming and Xbox as Equals

Over the years, Microsoft has been guilty of neglecting PC gamers and focusing too much on their Xbox brand. Even measures designed to please the PC gaming community ended up being disastrous and causing a fractured relationship. Thankfully, Microsoft’s new management and Xbox chief, Phil Spencer have acknowledged the incredible nature of PC gaming and launched a new unified strategy with releases across Xbox, PC and mobile devices. This open philosophy is to be commended and I’m pleased to see Microsoft finally seeing PC and Xbox as equally important.

Throughout today’s press briefing, this was clear as Microsoft announced their new “Play Anywhere” initiative. This allows gamers on both Xbox One and PC to play against each other and many games will even support cross-play on iOS devices. Not only that, once you’ve purchased any title for the Xbox One, a free Windows 10 version will be provided and vice versa. Additionally, all your achievements, save progress and more will be synced to your Microsoft account. This means you can pick up from where the game left on another device and never be interrupted by family members during an intense gaming session. By the looks of things, Xbox exclusive now means Windows 10 too, and the concept of major games being only offered to Xbox One owners appears to be a thing of the past.