E3 '07: Microsoft talks Games for Windows

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--Who wouldn't trade the warm summer sun for a face-to-face interview with Microsoft's top executives from the Games for Windows group in a hotel suite? Some questions weren't meant to be answered, but many of ours were, by global director of the Games for Windows group Kevin Unangst and general manager of Games for Windows - LIVE Chris Early.

Both executives talked up Windows as a gaming platform with tons of upsides--despite the less-than-ideal launches of this year's two Vista games, Shadowrun and Halo 2. Unangst cited a recent survey held by Microsoft that stated 10 million surveyed Vista owners consider themselves "gamers," compared against healthy sales of Vista in excess of 40 million copies this year. There have already been several Games for Windows titles announced at E3 (including recently unveiled console ports of Viva Piñata and Gears of War), and the executives estimate that, including support from third-party studios such as Massive, Funcom, and Relic Entertainment, there should be about 60 top-flight PC games on store shelves by Christmas, including the likes of World in Conflict, Age of Conan, and Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts.

Early reaffirmed the publisher's commitment to Windows gaming as a platform, reiterating that Microsoft has made "significant investments" into not only marketing games at retail outlets, but also providing strict certification to increase game functionality (such as a requirement on GFW-branded PC games to support the Xbox 360 controller) and providing free software development kits for any developers that care to jump on board (as well as promoting the kits at developer-focused events such as the company's GameFest event). The executive mentioned that Epic has actually adopted Games for Windows - LIVE code directly into the Unreal engine, such that future products developed with Unreal technology should have a leg up on Windows compatibility. Early also mentioned that Microsoft is "absolutely working" with other studios to incorporate the technology into their engines.

Apparently, in addition to featuring five new chapters and a game editor, the Windows version of Gears of War will feature full DirectX 10 support and Games for Windows - LIVE support--as Epic's Cliff Bleszinski mentioned at the recent Microsoft press conference--for both Vista and XP computers. In other words, a Windows XP version of Games for Windows - LIVE has now been created and can be integrated into existing XP games, provided that game studios take the time and effort to retrofit their titles.

On the topic of online games, Microsoft seems to be holding firm on Games for Windows - LIVE as it stands, complete with free "silver-level" and paid "gold-level" services. Unangst conceded that Halo 2's and Shadowrun's online launches were less than auspicious, and that the gold and silver designations seemed to thin out an already-thin online audience for each game. However, the executive affirmed that he was confident that with Vista's current adoption rate, a new set of DirectX 10 graphics cards, and with "about four to five new high-end DirectX 10-capable laptops out there," that "critical mass" would build up around Vista adoption for games to help populate online servers. Early then stated that he still feels that the silver service, compared to other PC online services out there, "still comes out on top" because of its suite of services, including friends lists and voice chat, and reaffirmed that GFW - Live games' option to run dedicated servers is one of primary ways that Microsoft is using to address the issue of isolated players spread across different servers.

Regardless, both executives affirmed that Microsoft is very supportive of the PC as a game platform, and that the company is "extremely happy when PC games sell well, even when they're not Games for Windows-branded," such as World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade, since successful games drive stronger adoption of the platform, regardless.