Microsoft Makes a Pledge to Improve Games from the Windows Store

Microsoft just started to offer ‘big names’ of gaming in the Windows Store. The very first ‘Triple A’ game that has been featured in the Store is Rise of the Tomb Raider, followed by Gears of War and Killer Instinct, and we expect even more big titles in the future, like the upcoming blockbuster Quantum Break.

But even if developers managed to overcome the barrier of a Universal platform, there are still some limitations of the Windows Store, that prevent more complex games from working as they work on a Desktop platform. How to Geek wrote an article where they analyzed all downsides of the major title game from the Windows Store, more precisely a Universal version of Rise of the Tomb Raider, as this is game is the first big name in the Store.

And results of the ‘test?’ Not so positive for the Windows Store! Analysis of both Desktop and Universal versions of Rise of the Tomb Raider shows that a Universal version has a lot of disadvantages compared to a Desktop version. Raise of the Tomb Raider for Windows 10 apparently has a worser performance than its Desktop counterpart, because the game runs in borderless fullscreen mode, and VSync option cannot be disabled, which affects game’s performance.

There are even some more flaws of the Windows Store version, that don’t speak in favor of a Universal Rise of the Tomb Raider game. And since these limitations are not only related to Rise of the Tomb Raider, even other ‘more complex’ games will face the similar problem, unless Microsoft does something.

Microsoft Promises to Improve the Windows Store

Microsoft apparently saw How to Geek’s article, and probably received some negative feedback about the performance of Rise of the Tomb Raider for Windows 10, so the company decided to promise users that it will improve the Store in the future, so it can handle more demanding games, without decreasing performance.

Xbox boss, Phil Spencer addressed users on Twitter, saying that Microsoft is working to improve the Store, but he wasn’t specific about exact improvements, or when these improvements will finally arrive.

@BigMouthGamer We know lists like this include features PC gamers want to see from us, we appreciate the feedback and have plans to improvee

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) February 26, 2016

Microsoft clearly wants Windows Store to become a competitive software distribution platform, but if the company wants to come even closer to Steam, some radical changes need to be done as soon as possible. Let’s just hope that these announced improvements will indeed enhance performance of big titles in the Windows Store, so won’t rely just on the fact that it offers major titles in its Store, but also on good performance of these games.