Microsoft are killing PC gaming

The more I think about it, the more I believe Microsoft are intentionally trying to kill PC gaming. I first thought about it when I heard that their Windows successor might be .NET only. As time goes on, I keep finding more evidence toward the idea that Microsoft are intentionally destroying PC gaming.

Let's look at the evidence:

• .NET released 2002, Xbox 360 released 2001. Microsoft trying to position the 360 to take disaffected PC gamers?
  
• Vista is 10% slower than XP on average for video games, .NET for game programming introduces a ~30% performance hit. This translates to a Vista+.NET peformance hit of 37%.
  
• Microsoft apparently plan to release a .NET-only operating system as a successor to Windows, and have been implementing lots of .NET-only capabilities on the PC. This means that game developers aren't going to be able to take low level control over the hardware for better performance and flexibility.
  
• Microsoft 'XNA', the .NET game programming API they're targetting at indie/student developers only supports 360 features, such as Windows Live, Xbox 360 controllers, DirectX 9. A sign of lockin to come for their general purpose game development APIs? Getting them used to the 360 for when they learn a lower level API?
  
• Gears of War 2, Halo 3 are Microsoft platforms biggest titles and they are 360 exclusive.
• Even Microsoft admit they're not treating PC gaming well.
• Microsot's "Games for Windows" branding seems to be implying the games should support the Xbox 360 features (controller, Live, etc.) and requires certification. This pushes up the cost of developing PC games to 360 levels, so there isn't even an advantage for AAA game developers.

Sure, you might argue that .NET is largely fast and flexible enough for PC gaming, and Microsoft are simply recognising this, but there will always be a subsection of game developers wanting to exploit the hardware's highest capabilities. Hardcore gamers will always a few extra FPS from their expensive hardware investment. Simulation designers will always want low level hardware control for their custom input hardware, as well as every last drop of performance for better physics simulation. Some may even have specific requirements such as real-time processing and memory management garauntees that .NET is almost impossible to provide by design. Also, PC developers as a whole tend to try to avoid platform lock-in, even if they only intend to ever release on one platform. Call it not invented here syndrome or whatever you like, but the fact remains, game developers (indie particularly) on the PC generally have a whole plethora of non-MS, .NET incompatible tools that they use for various reasons, from price to cross platform support.

"But wait.. Hardcore gamers? Simulations? Come on, that's like 2%-5% of the modern gaming market!" True. Though it is a substantial part of the PC gaming mindshare that will never move to a 360. The PC just the only platform that provides them the flexibility they require. I'm sure that Microsoft are aware of this.. I think they just decided to ignore it. They likely assume it's an unimportant sector of the market, and hardcore gamers will probably eventually migrate to the 360 if they don't have a choice any more.

But why would Microsoft want to do this? Of course, it's to lock players and developers alike into their 360 platform, which unlike the PC, is completely under their control, and doesn't support 'communist' interfaces like OpenGL or operating systems like Linux. Microsoft appear to get itchy and nervous whenever they realise there's a market that they don't totally dominate, and release something to break into it with varying levels of success (see Zune). Bill Gates said it best, when he saw a Microsoft computer on every desk in the future. Mirosoft's vision has no room for competition.

Rather than just ranting about the unfairness of it all, I quite frankly can see an upshot. If Microsoft decide that the 360 has taken off well enough and they decide to drop the PC gaming market, it isn't just going to disappear. Linux is a very capable OS, and has already been supported by some of the biggest names in the industry, such as Epic, id, Blizzard. Industry-recognised simulations often already have a Linux version, such as X-Plane. Many have expressed interest in Windows-alternatives, such as EA flirting with the GPL and releasing games for OS X, Blizzard supporting World of Warcraft on OS X, however with the notable exception of Valve who hate anything non-Windows (see Gabe Newell's employment history). Hardware manufacturers such as Asus and Dell are expressing more and more interest in Linux as time goes on, undoubtedly due to the extra customisability an open-source operating system can provide. On the whole, companies do not like being dependent on a huge mega-corporation that could probably hold any dependent company/government hostage at any time they wanted.

When the day comes that Microsoft drop PC gaming, it will not die; it will simply move to alternative operating systems. Indie developers are already reaping the benefits of open-source. World of Goo was developed by a team of 3 at its peak, and used lots of open-source technology. It is now one of the highest rated PC games released, despite being very low budget. While still in beta, they are going to release a Linux version. Windows currently has the highest number of tools for game development, but the open-source community, having a very fast turnaround speed, could rise to the challenge of retooling an ailing PC game market in mere months. Cut down games console operating systems have been the target for hardcore gamers for years, and services.msc has been their blade. Open-source would bring about the capability to create a specialised, low leve gaming system far more easily than with Windows.

The dynamics of the PC game market are changing. Fewer people than ever are buying high-end titles on the PC, and more console hardware is being purchased than any other generation since the dawn of PC gaming. I think it's unlikey that PC gaming will ever have as much momentum as it once had, because consoles are simply far more accessible to general consumers. It may be maturing, but PC gaming will never die.