One would think that Microsoft wouldn’t really want to facilitate competing marketplaces but the company says that it intends on doing just that. Microsoft confirmed today that it’s committed to supporting competing stores for PC games, saying that it will now be distributing more Xbox Game Studios titles through Valve’s Steam game store.
Microsoft has traditionally distributed these titles through Xbox Live only for both Windows and consoles. However, the company says that it now wants to give players more choice in the platforms they want to get their games from, which will why it will let them purchase its games on PC from Steam.
“Our intent is to make our Xbox Game Studios PC games available in multiple stores, including our own Microsoft Store on Windows, at their launch. We believe you should have choice in where you buy your PC games,” Xbox chief Phil Spencer wrote in a blog post.
Microsoft acknowledges that millions of PC gamers prefer getting their games from Steam and it has heard feedback from them that they would like more choice. Spencer added that Microsoft will continue to add over 20 Xbox Game Studios titles on Steam, beginning with Gears 5 and all Age of Empires I, II, and III: Definitive Editions.
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