Windows 10: 'Microsoft's aggressive bid to bridge PC and console'

IHS analyst and director of the firm’s games department Piers Harding Rolls shares his view on Microsoft’s newly unveiled video games plans for Windows 10
Microsoft holds a unique platform role and is best positioned to bridge the community divide between core PC and console gamers.
With the ambition to drive hundreds of millions of Windows users to Windows 10 through its free upgrade offer, and having the Xbox app native to all versions of the new OS, the company is positioning itself to deliver on this ambition.
While Windows 10 is being built to address all consumer device and screen categories, Microsoft’s limited market share in the mobile market means that the new Xbox app’s most significant addressable gaming market will be PC and console fans.
Gaming platform ecosystems on mobile are well established, but there remains an opportunity to bridge communities across desktop/laptop PC and console to take a more comprehensive role in these specialist segments of the games market.
The fact the new Xbox app is universal for Windows so the industry can apply the same Xbox Live API to all Windows platforms including the Xbox One.
These efficiencies will naturally make this latest version Windows more attractive to the industry.
Many, such as Valve with its Steam Machines, are attempting to bring PC gaming to the living room. But Microsoft is coming from the opposite direction, using its console strengths to reinforce its role in Windows gaming – moving from the standardised console market to the more open world of PC gaming.

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