*This article is based on several surveys that have been conducted. The opinions within are my own and not the views of entire Outerhaven staff*
Before Microsoft announced their Xbox Play Anywhere initiative, it was common for PC games to launch in one specific Digital market. When it came to 3rd party games, you got them on Steam. Where MS published titles would be sold in Microsoft’s Windows store, with the occasional title coming to Steam afterward. Though the latter usually resulted in most people choosing to pick up those titles in Steam since the Windows store tends to have issues that have been widely documented.
So for the most part, it was either or, when it came to purchasing titles. But now, we’re at a divide with the announcement that Resident Evil 7 will be coming to both the Windows store and Steam. Yes, at the same time! And while you’d think the decision to pick up the game would be easy, gamers are actually having a hard time deciding. Why do you ask? Well, both come with several positives, some that are too good to pass over.
Let’s take a look at both of those storefronts.
The Steam Option
Going the Steam route provides gamers will Steam cards, which can be collected, traded or sold, which puts some money back in their pocket. It also gives them bragging rights, which goes a long way. You also can’t discount that many gamers already have a huge library of games in their Steam library and would prefer to keep adding them there. I can attest to this having over 900 games in my Steam library. Steam also provides cloud storage saves, as well as family sharing which is huge for large gaming families. It also tends to be the cheaper option as you can purchase games that provide Steam keys from various locations; Green Man Gaming, CDkeys, Gamestop, Bestbuy and various other places.
There’s also a large community of gamers that frequent the Steam forums. Not to mention the developers that also are on the boards. This lets gamers communicate with the developers and vice versa.Speaking about communication, there’s even a built-in instant messenger that lets you chat with your friends and see then they’re online.
There’s also a trust factor at work here. Many gamers simply trust Valve and Steam when it comes to their library. They know that Valve more than likely wouldn’t be shutting down and taking their games with them. And finally, despite the rocky start, Steam has matured and has become the pinnacle of PC gaming storefronts. They even offer refunds now, which has saved many a gamer from being stuck with crappy games. I’m sure impulse buyers love that option. You’re also able to purchase music and videos via Steam.
The storefront interface has also come a long way and is perhaps the best one available anywhere. I’d go as far as to say that Steam has prompted others such as EA to update their own digital storefronts. Sure, it had its fair share of issues and their customer support could be better. Not to mention the features that have been added over the years, as well as the sales and seasonal activities.
A parting shot is that Steam even allows MAC and Linux gamers (yes, they exist) to pick up a game or two.
What about the Windows Store?
To be perfectly honest, the only thing that Microsoft has going for it in regards to the Windows store is Xbox Play Anywhere. Granting someone the ability to play their digitally purchases games on both their Windows 10 enabled PC and the Xbox One/Scorpio is fantastic. Keep in mind that Xbox Play Anywhere does not work for physical copies of games. Now, if I want to play at work or on the go with my laptop or one someone else’s computer, I can do so. No more worrying about taking my Xbox with me to conventions or other places. My game progression and saves carry with me and I love that.
Did you know that it’s also possible to share games via the Windows store? The functionally is there, though it’s buried and honestly, doesn’t get used enough. I’d say it’s probably a lot easier to setup compared to Steam’s family sharing plan as well. So it pains me when people don’t know about this and say that the Windows Store doesn’t offer this when it does. You can even stream your Xbox One games to your PC if you were so inclined to do so. Mind you I’ve only tested a handful of times and only locally. I can’t state how well it works if you needed to do this when you’re miles away from your Xbox.
There’s also Xbox Live integration, which lets you see your buddies even if they’re playing games on an Xbox 360 or Xbox One. Plus, since this is part of Microsoft’s ecosystem, if you happen to use Bing, you can earn reward points. Those reward points can then be exchanged for credit on both Xbox Live and the Windows store. So you can basically surf the internet and get free stuff, I don’t know who isn’t down for that.
That’s about it I’m afraid. This is where it starts getting messy, as the very nature and design of the store are what hurts it. It serves merely as a window into Microsoft’s own online store. Games aren’t handled the same as the apps are and the implementation of UWP (Unified Windows Platform) has been designed to restrict the user. Where on other places you can access the individual files of a game and modify them, you can’t here. So fixing things like frame rates, adding mods that can enhance your gaming experience simply isn’t possible.
You could argue that you wouldn’t find Microsoft published games anywhere else but the Windows Store. Except, you are now; Quantum Break, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and even Ori and the Blind Forest. Sure, you won’t find all of them but there’s more than enough to point out. On top of that, all of the games that are available via Steam and offer more features or simply run better. The Rise of the Tomb Raider is a good example of this. When it was released on the Windows store, it only ran in windowed mode which hampered the frame rate. I can only hope this was addressed as I picked it up on Steam. I believe the game was capped at 30fps on the Windows store.
At one point there was also an issue with being able to run multiple graphic cards with either AMD’s Crossfire or Nvidia’s SLI. I know this was mentioned as being worked on, yet as I researched the matter recently, it seems to be still ongoing. From what I gather, this is dependent on the game supporting it. Yet, why was this not available in Rise of the Tomb Raider in the Windows store, while it was available on the Steam release? Sadly, I’m not able to test which titles in the Windows store will allow SLI, as I got rid of my SLI GTX 980 Ti setup. I simply wasn’t happy with multiple games performance and hated the fact that enabling it SLI in certain games actually dropped performance.
There’s also the huge amount of user stories where they aren’t able to download and install games without issues. Luckily I haven’t experienced, though many people refuse to believe this. I suppose I just like to make up stories of positives experience. Yet I have seen various posts and complaints about this. From Reddit, Twitter and many other places. I’ve even heard a developed say this on a streaming event when Forza Horizon 3 was released. If that doesn’t take the air out of the Windows store’s tires, I don’t know what does.
Games and accessibility are what drives gamers to purchase games from a digital storefront. This is another place where the Windows store falls flat. The library of games that are present pales in comparison to Steam, GOG, and even Origin offer. The UI is definitely not something I’d want for my storefront. It lacks any way to find specific games as the larger PC games are tossed in with the various other titles. There’s no way to easy find a game other than searching for it, there’s no “feature” that gives me a quick glimpse of what’s available to purchase. Sadly, you can’t even find the games you already own very easily. The entire objective is to sell me a game, yet here I don’t see any attempt at all.
At the very least, put a section up called Xbox One Games or Top 10 PC games. Something that makes it easy than what’s available now.
Which do I prefer?
I suppose it’s only fair that I voice my opinion? Well, here it goes; I prefer Steam. However, I do play games from the Windows store. As I mentioned above, I whereXbox Play Anywhere. I also enjoy those titles such as Forza Motorsport 6: Apex or Gears of War 4. Titles such as those, that can’t be found on Steam. Do I wish it wasn’t the case, yes, I sure do? But it simply isn’t an option. So, for now, I’ll continue to use them both, obviously with some careful thinking on what works best for me. Xbox Play Anywhere games will be chosen before I get the same game on Steam. I have several gaming PCs and two Xbox One’s, so it only makes sense. Games that have a chance of coming to Steam, I’ll pass on unless we’re tasked with a review of said title.
At this time I would like to ask Microsoft to think about what they’re doing. They already had a bad showing with Games for Windows Live and to many, the Windows store feels like a repeat. It’s very restrictive, clumsy, lacks many features that have become almost required and offers little reason for gamers to use it.
We don’t want the games we play to be locked down as heavily as they are. We don’t want a boring experience, we do what to be able to purchase and download our games for play. What makes this even more bizarre is that Microsoft has this completely backward PC experience, yet they are the same company that gave us the Xbox Live storefront. For those who use it, Xbox Live simply smashes any other console storefront and for good reason. In fact, it’s more akin to what Steam is for PC gamers. So why is it that Microsoft isn’t able to emulate everything that’s good with Xbox Live and apply it to the Windows store? We know Microsoft has several updates coming on the horizon for both the Xbox One and Windows 10, though I don’t believe they address any of the Windows store concerns.
In the end, I do want to see Microsoft succeed and offer a viable solution for PC gaming on Windows 10. They aren’t heading in the right direction and they really need to see that for themselves. I want them to be on the same footing as Steam is now.
The only question is, are they capable of doing that?
