Windows 10 and Gaming

Last week’s launch of Windows 10 was a huge moment for Microsoft, Xbox, our fans and all of our partners. It’s been humbling to see the incredible response. With Windows 10 our objective was to ensure that the games and services you play today work great and get even better.

This week, Team Xbox is in Cologne, Germany to participate in gamescom, a game expo that brings together nearly 400,000 passionate gamers, developers, publishers and industry professionals. Last week, the Xbox team visited Shanghai for ChinaJoy. It’s been an inspiring two week journey around the globe visiting two of the largest, most vibrant game expos in the world.

The incredible energy and participation surrounding these two shows demonstrates the diversity, innovation and growth of our games industry, which fuels one of the largest, most dynamic software categories in the world. From ChinaJoy to gamescom, it’s clear that we are all here with a shared purpose – to take the art and technology of gaming to a whole new level.

At gamescom this week, we’ve showcased new Windows 10 technologies and unveiled an exciting line-up of games coming to Windows 10.
DirectX 12 is a prime example of how we’ve architected Windows 10 to be the best Windows ever for games. More than one hundred partners are developing with DirectX 12 to create the best-looking games for Windows 10 devices, including Epic Games, Stardock, Square Enix, and more. Yesterday we showcased a tech demonstration from director Tabata-san and the Final Fantasy 15 team at Square showing the incredible realism that Direct X12 and Windows 10 make possible.

For gamers, Windows 10 provides a unique platform to help unify game experiences, giving everyone more ways to play and more people to play with. Our vision is to deliver the games you want, an easy connection to the people you want to play, across any device.

The very foundation of our industry is the fun and enjoyment we all get from great games, from Candy Crush to League of Legends and the thousands of other games available on Windows. As the head of Xbox, one of the best parts of my job is helping developers realize their visions and share their creations with the rest of the world. With 1.5 billion people using Windows today, Windows offers an unprecedented audience for artists, whether they be a two person studio or a 100 person team. Minecraft was launched on Windows by a single developer and it is now enjoyed by more than 100 million fans.

Speaking of games, at gamescom we are proud to show off our own lineup of games coming to Windows 10 including Halo Wars 2, Fable Legends, Killer Instinct, Gigantic and more than 30 independent games we’ll have here at gamescom.

With the global community of gamers as our motivation and inspiration, we’ve never felt a greater responsibility to help move the art form of gaming forward during this new chapter for our industry.