Despite its insistence at certain E3 press conferences in the past, there has been the perception for quite a long time now that Microsoft doesn’t really care about PC gaming. The first two Halo games were ported to PC, as was Gears of War, but subsequent titles in either series have been 360-only — even Halo Wars, an RTS that would have been right at home on a keyboard and mouse. We go for long stretches of time without seing any Microsoft-published titles on the platform, and despite its attempts to create a more universal experience for playing games on PC through Windows Vista’s Game Explorer Guide and Games for Windows, Valve has already provided that and much more with Steam.
Microsoft’s initial efforts with Games for Windows Live brushed many the wrong way, largely due to the fact that it expected PC gamers to pay for the service. Once that requirement was dropped, there was less to complain about. Even so, to this day that hasn’t stopped people from wishing Games for Windows Live titles instead used Steamworks or some other equivalent. But at least Games for Windows had its own presence. Microsoft changed that today — as previously announced, Microsoft has transitioned the Games for Windows Marketplace from GamesForWindows.com to Xbox.com.
Xbox.com’s July update went live a short while ago, with Games for Windows integration being the biggest addition. Xbox.com looks just as it did before — with no mention of PC gaming on its homepage — except “PC Games” has now been added as a link under the “Games + Marketplace” drop-down menu. Hardcore PC gamers are already displeased they’re being lumped in with Xbox owners on a decidedly console-centric site, but the way PC games are relegated to a spot just above “Avatars” in the site’s navigation isn’t going to help matters, either.
