You might remember that earlier this year Epic's Founder and coding legend Tim Sweeney spoke against Microsoft's supposed attempt to lock down the PC ecosystem in Windows.
Microsoft then tried to assuage his concerns at Build, where they said that the Universal Windows Platform won't be locked down to the Windows Store. However, it seems like Tim Sweeney still isn't convinced about Microsoft being honest about this. Speaking with Eurogamer, he praised some of their recent moves (such as their recent decision to bring Xbox games on Windows 10) but admitted he's still wary of their position on the PC ecosystem.
I still have this concern. I think Windows 10 is by and large a great operating system, and it's great that Microsoft is running its own store and providing another alternative outlet for game sales, and it's great that they're doing all their games to support both Xbox and PCs, they're doing a lot of positive things. My concern remains that Microsoft is holding the option of using its power of monopoly to force consumer PCs into their store and out of other competing software sources. Microsoft has said a lot about the topic, but they haven't committed that they'll maintain Windows as an open platform - and they've made moves that'd make it very easy for them to foreclose on the whole consumer PC industry, by flipping a few knobs on their operating system that block the installation of third-party sources. I remain concerned about that possibility, but I'm not a general Microsoft critic.
However, Tim Sweeney then added that the dialogue between him and the Microsoft team is still ongoing, which suggest that we haven't heard the last on this topic.
In related news, at least Sweeney can be very happy of the Unreal Engine's success: Epic announced yesterday in a press release that over 2 million developers have now chosen to use Unreal Engine 4. That's half a million more than the number released at GDC 2016, just four months ago.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
