More Xbox games to be available on Windows 10
Yoo Woo-jong, director of Microsoft Korea’s Consumer Channel Group, speaks during a press conference at the company’s office in central Seoul, Monday. / Courtesy of Microsoft Korea
By Yoon Sung-won
Microsoft is pushing to blur the boundaries between its Xbox gaming console and Windows 10 operating system.
Showcasing new titles of its much-sought-after franchises such as racing game “Forza Horizon 3” and third-person shooter game “Gears of War 4,” the company said it will continue to allow gamers to play more diverse titles either on the Xbox or Windows 10 OS.
“This year has great meaning to Microsoft Korea’s Xbox business as we have been pushing to expand the gaming experience from Xbox console devices to personal computers with Windows 10,” said Yoo Woo-jong, director of Microsoft Korea’s Consumer Channel Group, during a press conference here, Monday.
Game series such as “Forza Horizon” and “Gears of War” were previously available exclusively on Xbox consoles. The exclusive titles have been considered a strong sales point for the console in competition with Sony’s PlayStation.
In February this year, however, Microsoft released a new service concept called Xbox Play Anywhere, in which users can play Xbox games they have purchased either on the consoles or on computers running Windows 10.
“We are fully committed to make Xbox One’s exclusive titles playable on Windows 10 systems,” said Zeph Stuart, head of Microsoft’s Xbox Asia and Windows Gaming Asia. “We give more options to gamers on which platform they play depending on their tastes.”
With Xbox Play Anywhere, Microsoft may expand sales of Xbox-compatible game titles even to those without the console. At the same time, the company can encourage users of old versions of Windows to upgrade to Windows 10.
“The goal is to attract more gamers to experience Xbox titles,” said a spokeswoman at Microsoft Korea. “But that does not necessarily mean a negative impact on the sales of Xbox consoles.”
Microsoft showcased a new Xbox console device named “Xbox One S,” as a sequel to Xbox One. As it’s 40 percent smaller than its predecessor, Xbox One S supports the latest display technologies including 4K ultra high-definition and high dynamic range.
The company also introduced its next-generation gaming console device tentatively dubbed Project Scorpio. The new device, which will feature stronger hardware specifications including an octa-core processor and a faster graphic processing unit, will be fully compatible with the Xbox series, Microsoft said.