2019 is about to be a very exiting year for Xbox and Windows 10 gaming if we believe recent comments from Xbox boss Phil Spencer. Last year, we’ve heard the exec promise to fix the Windows 10 Xbox app and bring Xbox Game Pass to PCs, and the head of Xbox has now teased some upcoming PC gaming announcements at E3 2019 in an interview with PC Gamer.
“Delivering great gaming experience to PC players is critically important to the future of Xbox and gaming at Microsoft,” Spencer said, adding that Microsoft has a “responsibility to invest in new ways we can benefit the PC player to help ensure they stay at the center of the experience.”
It’s true that nearly five years since the launch of Windows 10, the Microsoft Store still pales in comparison to what a company like Epic Games managed to do with its new PC games store in a much shorter amount of time. The same can be said about the Windows 10 Xbox app, which is still bogged down by a confusing UI and general sluggishness.
“I know we’ve talked quite a bit over time about what we want to deliver for the player on PC, but at E3 this year, and throughout 2019, you’ll begin to see where we’ve been investing to deliver across Store, services, in Windows and in great games. It’s just the beginning,” said Spencer.
Making the Microsoft Store an inescapable destination for serious PC gamers should definitely be one of the company’s first priorities. However, beyond some much necessary UI and UX improvements, the most exciting news could be the ability to run Xbox games natively on Windows 10. This is apparently something that Microsoft has started testing with State of Decay: Year One Edition on recent Windows 10 19H1 Insider builds, and the perspective of bringing native Xbox gameplay on the desktop OS could definitely be a game changer.
