Microsoft’s Xbox corporate vice president Phil Spencer has stated that the devices and services giant has a renewed focus on PC gaming. This news comes on the heels of the DirectX 12 announcement.
Speaking about Valve during the Games Developer Conference (GDC) a few days ago, Spencer stated that Microsoft now has a renewed focus on PC gaming, after focusing so much on the Xbox platform. “In a lot of ways they’ve [Valve] focused more on PC gaming than we have, and for me that’s something inside the company that we’ll have a renewed focus on – Windows and PC gaming inside of Microsoft is definitely happening – you saw the DX12 demos here and you will see more from us over the summer,” Spencer stated.
During GDC, Microsoft unveiled DirectX 12, the next generation version of Microsoft’s DirectX gaming API. DirectX 12 will work in some form across all of Microsoft’s platforms, which coincides with Microsoft’s “one” direction of having tablets, computers, and games consoles with the same operating system. DirectX 12 has been redesigned to be faster and more efficient than ever before, boosting overall performance.
Games for Windows Live, on the other hand, is rumored to be shutting down in July of this year, but Microsoft is still discussing it internally. “We’ve got to make sure we’ve got a thoughtful plan that supports the people that currently have games on Games for Windows Live. It’s a conversation we’re having,” Spencer stated.
Games utilizing DirectX 12 aren’t scheduled to be released until the holiday season next year, but that doesn’t mean the devices and services giant wont be teasing us. Microsoft, along with Turn 10 Studios, showcased Forza 5 running on Windows with Direct3D 12 at 60FPS. Take a look at the video embedded below for your viewing pleasure.
