Kotaku: 98% of PC Copies of Rise of the Tomb Raider Were Bought on Steam

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Quote

“When we started the project we weren’t aware of Windows 10,” says a source. “We were going to ship on Xbox One initially and then we wanted to come out on PC at a later point, most likely though Steam. But we got burnt quite badly.”

 

“Without Steam, without other platforms, it was just painful,” says another. “The Windows Store is a giant disaster. It’s on fire. 98% of PC copies of Rise of the Tomb Raider, a flagship Windows 10 game, were bought on Steam. The same is true for Minecraft. That hurt us, too. The store’s a mess; the number of people who couldn’t even install the game from the Microsoft store was… significant.”

 

Windows 10 installs, too, were nowhere near what Microsoft had planned...“There are supposed to be 2x as many Xboxes out there as there are right now. There are supposed to be 2x as many Windows 10 installs as there currently are.

 

 

Slightly OT but even Minecraft?

 

One source reckons that the final decision was probably made about a week before, as Microsoft started doing its fiscal planning, deciding what products and studios to fund and not. Lionhead was not the only first-party studio that was having problems. Something had to give.

“I reckon [Phil Spencer] feels bad about Lionhead, but I think for him, he has to run all of Microsoft Studios as a business,” they say. “First-party studios isn’t doing so well. Halo 5 is a big miss, versus projections. Minecraft is a big miss, versus projections. Compared to either one of those, Lionhead is practically a rounding error. But I think if your division is under-performing, you have to go to your boss with something on the altar.”

 

 

http://www.kotaku.co.uk/2016/06/09/how-fable-legends-took-down-lionhead

[fusi0n]

MSFT tries really hard to do things it shouldn't. Also, the Windows Store is a joke. It's half butt and seems to be designed by a 10 year old that hasn't learn how to organize. 

[trag3dy]

I don't think they've advertised it very well. The thing is if you buy a game on steam you can then install that game on Windows 7, 8, 10, and maybe Linux and Mac OS. If you buy it on the Windows store you're stuck with Windows 10. So why do they think anyone would want to limit themselves to just that?

 

Besides that most people probably don't even know you can get AAA games like Tomb Raider or Gears of War on the Windows Store. They probably assume you can only get cheap mobile games there.

[LaP]

32 minutes ago, fusi0n said:

MSFT tries really hard to do things it shouldn't. Also, the Windows Store is a joke. It's half butt and seems to be designed by a 10 year old that hasn't learn how to organize. 

The store itself is fine for apps. But the xbox apps is lacking. As far as i know there's no systray support so it needs to reside in your taskbar at all time. Also as far as i know there's no option to start it with windows. It doesn't list your xbox games and achievements. Would be nice to have access to all my live games and achievements no matter what the platform is from the app. As far as i know there's no forum or community features beside the feed.  No big picture mode. Etc ...

 

People can say whatever they want about Steam/GOG galaxy but it makes things a lot easier.

 

I felt nostalgic this weekend and decided to re-install some old cd based games i had and integrate them into Launchbox. Doing this remembered me how painful it was back then. Insert cd. oh oh installer not working with windows 10. Find a working windows 10 installer some teen made. Install the game. Now i need to patch the game. Of course patches are not available on the company web site anymore. Got to find them on torrent. oups patch not working in windows 10. Got to find a zip package some guy made with the patches files. Finally game is installed. Still need to find a way to make it works with windows 10.

 

At least with steam you just press install. The game is installed and fully patched. Might not work if it's old but then you just visit the forum and you mostly can always find a thread explaining how to make it works with the last version of windows. It's the same with gog client.

Edited June 9, 2016 by LaP

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

These games cost too much to live on one platform, let alone one with so many issues. Hopefully these silly exclusive deals only come from MGS from now on. Looking forward to the PS4 GOTY

 

Minecraft will continue to sell, but it's never going to reap back 2.5 B in video game sales. They'll need to milk that IP in every medium thinkable to even try. Expect movies, tv shows and every cheap toy you can imagine.

[LaP]

10 minutes ago, Andrew said:

These games cost too much to live on one platform, let alone one with so many issues. Hopefully these silly exclusive deals only come from MGS from now on. Looking forward to the PS4 GOTY

 

Minecraft will continue to sell, but it's never going to reap back 2.5 B in video game sales. They'll need to milk that IP in every medium thinkable to even try. Expect movies, tv shows and every cheap toy you can imagine.

Just in time for the PS 4.5 with improved gfx

[Jim K Global Moderator]

Doesn't help that the launches of RoTR, Quantum Break and others were disasters ... with regards to (then) limitations (i.e. console like restrictions).  Microsoft really needs to learn about "first impressions" ... and quit releasing stuff half baked (like Window Store games limitations described previously, Edge, even 10, etc).  

 

Anyway, not entirely sure why I would buy the same game at the Store vs. Steam/Uplay/etc.  I see no appreciable benefit in buying from the Store...more headache maybe...but other than that...what is the point?  Because they're "sandboxed"...come on.  I guess the Store is great for those that own an Xbox and can get the same title on their PC ... but for me (who doesn't own/want an Xbox) ... nope.

[spaceelf]

On ‎6‎/‎9‎/‎2016 at 11:40 AM, jjkusaf said:

I see no appreciable benefit in buying from the Store.

Personally, I saw no appreciable benefit from any store over another, and Valve (despite being good at distribution) has done some extremely stupid things so I'd rather support Microsoft.

 

The only negative the Store had was patches coming around three days later, and anyone who can't deal with that should just give up on computers already.

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

3 hours ago, LostCat said:

Personally, I saw no appreciable benefit from any store over another, and Valve (despite being good at distribution) has done some extremely stupid things so I'd rather support Microsoft.

 

The only negative the Store had was patches coming around three days later, and anyone who can't deal with that should just give up on computers already.

Such as?

[spaceelf]

5 hours ago, Andrew said:

Such as?

If you don't know, you have differing opinions.  I'm pretty sure at least one of mine is well known and I'd rather not get into it.

[George P Global Moderator]

As far as the Windows Store goes and the Xbox app, they'll keep making it better, there's no way it can be equal to steam right out the gate, steam has been around for years and has went though lots of updates.  Does anyone even remember what steam was like when It first started?   It's like apples to oranges at this point.

 

As far as store limitations, they've already started to address and fix those, like vsync, already fixed and not an issue.   I think post AU update we'll see even better AAA support.

[Louisifer]

I think MS are trying to address this with the 'Play Anywhere' system, regardless of you using the store now, you will over time build up a library if you own a console and one day you may just play one of them, I remember before the Origin's Humble Bundle, I had no games on that platform and no reason to ever use it, now I have a whole bunch of games that I've played or intend to play in the future.  MS just need to play the long game and hope not to make too many mistakes along the way.

[+JR1966 Subscriber²]

On 15/06/2016 at 1:32 AM, LostCat said:

If you don't know, you have differing opinions.  I'm pretty sure at least one of mine is well known and I'd rather not get into it.

LostCat, you can't make a statement like that and when queried simply say you don't want to get into it. Not good enough buddy.

[George P Global Moderator]

28 minutes ago, Louisifer said:

I think MS are trying to address this with the 'Play Anywhere' system, regardless of you using the store now, you will over time build up a library if you own a console and one day you may just play one of them, I remember before the Origin's Humble Bundle, I had no games on that platform and no reason to ever use it, now I have a whole bunch of games that I've played or intend to play in the future.  MS just need to play the long game and hope not to make too many mistakes along the way.

Content isn't going to be the problem going forward since all their own AAA games will hit the store, and it's not just play-anywhere with the cross-buy option, the cross-play option is also interesting along with all the syncing going on.   It wouldn't surprise me if a few 3rd party developers toss their games on there as well, it's not like they're losing anything by doing so, and nothing says you can't have your game on as many stores as you want.   Development isn't the issue since the games on the windows store just need to be repackaged to appx instead of the legacy MSI/.exe installers.

 

I use steam and gog, I see many games that are on both, I buy games from both as well, I don't see why I should limit myself to just steam or just gog or some other store.  Since I'm a console gamer as well and I have a Xbox, and I'll have a Scorpio next year to, I see added value in the play anywhere option, so I'll probably end up building a library on the windows store to.

 

Any shortcomings the store and the xbox app have will be worked out, MS is pushing ahead with this 100%, the only question is how fast they update and address things.  They jumped on the vsync issue quick though, so other things will be fixed or added as per user requests in time.

[Mando]

tbh my first impressions from the store in apps was generally decent, however the pricing of the games and the restriction (currently) compared to buying via steam and able to install/run/stream to my steam streamer, linux steam install or android install beats windows store hands down. Also add site sliek cdkeys for vast savings and steam/origin/uplay entry of their keys are a no brainer.

 

I fear MS actions are again too little too late, love it or loathe it Steam have the gaming store sewn up. I use steam, origin and u play, then again ive been a steam customer since its inception, and its taken a decade to get wher eits at, MS im sure by the same length of time will have a comparable/superior store ecosystem by then.

[+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹]

25 minutes ago, Mando said:

I fear MS actions are again too little too late, love it or loathe it Steam have the gaming store sewn up. I use steam, origin and u play, then again ive been a steam customer since its inception, and its taken a decade to get wher eits at, MS im sure by the same length of time will have a comparable/superior store ecosystem by then.

no, because while MS takes 10 years, steam, origin, uplay, and GOG are not going to sit still.   so MS store WILL be still behind. 

[Mando]

44 minutes ago, E.worm Jimmy said:

no, because while MS takes 10 years, steam, origin, uplay, and GOG are not going to sit still.   so MS store WILL be still behind. 

lol, you have a point there buddy  maybe in 10 years Ms will have learned that they are not Jack of all trades and master of none these days  or they will be in RIM territory by then....who knows, if they dont sort themselves out they may well do.

 

im a big MS fan and work with their solutions professionally, but even a die hard like myself are losing patience and respect for the new MS, so much so its made me revisit linux (mint specifically) and apart for DX12 gaming on my W10 desktop, im struggling to justify keeping Ms Os on all pcs in the house.

 

ironic that Mint feels more polished and a unified interface way more than W10 currently is, thats quite a poor show, Mint is non-paid developers....whats Microsoft's excuse?

 

sad but true.

Edited June 25, 2016 by Mando

[spaceelf]

1 hour ago, JR1966 said:

LostCat, you can't make a statement like that and when queried simply say you don't want to get into it. Not good enough buddy.

Bro story, cool.

2 hours ago, George P said:

As far as the Windows Store goes

I'm super impressed with the Xbox One preview versions store.  Loads of necessary information when downloading that just doesn't come up in the Windows Store (I don't have the current 10 preview build on but last I checked it didn't compare.)

[George P Global Moderator]

2 hours ago, LostCat said:

I'm super impressed with the Xbox One preview versions store.  Loads of necessary information when downloading that just doesn't come up in the Windows Store (I don't have the current 10 preview build on but last I checked it didn't compare.)

The stores have started to merge and will be the same soon, what you see on your Xbox will be what you see on Windows 10 and vice versa as far as UI/information and so on. 

[George P Global Moderator]

2 hours ago, E.worm Jimmy said:

no, because while MS takes 10 years, steam, origin, uplay, and GOG are not going to sit still.   so MS store WILL be still behind. 

Yeah right,  GOG is in the process of catching up to steam, at least on the client side with Galaxy, but as far as stores go, what more do you think valve can add to steam exactly?  Its mature, it's not going to rapidly grow or evolve from where it is now, that's why they're scrambling to get into other things, steam machines, steamOS, even adding non-gaming content on steam, anything they can think of to keep on top if you will.   It won't take MS 10 years, I bet they catch up faster than you guys think, because they aren't half doing this regardless of what some say.     UWP,  stores merging, xbox play anywhere, apps coming to Xbox, all the Azure related gaming stuff, it's like you guys only look at one piece of the puzzle and have the whole picture already when that's not the case.