Microsoft: E3 is a console show and the wrong place to talk about Windows games

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by Radu Tyrsina 

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Microsoft: E3 is a console show and the wrong place to talk about Windows games

We were wondering why Microsoft focused so much on the Xbox during the E3 2014 event. Windows and Windows Phone games were no where to be seen. Now we have an answer from Microsoft’s Xbox boss Phil Spencer.

“E3’s a retail show,” Spender stated. “It’s a retail show, it’s a console show, so it didn’t really feel like the right place for us to talk about Windows, but Windows and gaming on Windows is critical to Microsoft’s success.” So there you have it. Gaming on Windows is a vital component of the company’s gaming strategy, but E3 wasn’t the right place for it.

“I’m head of gaming at Microsoft,” Spencer said. “When we’re doing gaming strategy, gaming focus inside the company, that’s my job. I think in a lot of ways, you could argue gaming on Windows has never been more healthy in that the biggest of the big franchises, League of Legends, World of Tanks, those things dwarf a lot of what we’re doing in this console space in terms of users and monetization. They’re all on PC.”

Spencer adds that E3 is a console show and Xbox is the gaming brand. Because of the Xbox, Microsoft can fill an entire arena and get millions of people to watch and care about the brand. The company announced a plethora of new games for the Xbox One console, including Sunset OverDrive, Halo 5, and more.

Spencer didn’t go into details about when we might see some Windows-related gaming announcements. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Radu Tyrsina

Radu Tyrsina Shield

Radu Tyrsina has been a Windows fan ever since he got his first PC, a Pentium III (a monster at that time). For most of the kids of his age, the Internet was an amazing way to play and communicate with others, but he was deeply impressed by the flow of information and how easily you can find anything on the web. Prior to founding Windows Report, this particular curiosity about digital content enabled him to grow a number of sites that helped hundreds of millions reach faster the answer they're looking for.