Only having Windows support is expected from Microsoft.
It still makes their platform inferior.

Firstly Linux doesn't really have "stores".
Some distros allow users to donate and stuff, but everything is free and open source (and it isn't like a Windows user couldn't just compile the software for their Windows machine, given a fair amount of work).
Linux repos stock emulators, compatibility layers (WINE) and VM software.

I don't use the Mac AppStore, but I am wiling to bet that you can buy or download either:
Emulation software,
Compatibility layers,
VM ware,
or Microsoft developed, first party software (Word and whatever).

"PS Store or Nintendo eShop"
Don't waste my time.
Sony and Nintendo don't offer their consumers choice, and they are not able to put each others games of their platforms.

Steam is a more homely place.
When you are on Steam, you are treated more like family, rather than cattle.
The Microsoft store looks and feels like a super market (except they aren't even selling anything worth while).

Does the Microsoft Store support Mods or other UGC, has it had a clicker game that the developers made for a sale, ect.
The Microsoft Store is just that: A Store.
Steam is an ecosystem and a way of life.

If Bill Gates decided to start his own studio, just because he has loads of money: the studio wouldn't automatically be AAA.
Assuming it was just him, or him and a few friends in an office: they could be an indie studio.

Gabe is pretty much the only shareholder who matters when talking about Valve.
A few people owning a studio is typically seen in smaller indie studios too.

I personally think that money has very little to do with a studio's indie status.
Mojang (Minecraft) surly had plenty of money in the bank while they were still indie.
In my opinion: the power dynamic between the studio and it's environment is what matters.

Valve is not able to be controlled by any other company in any meaningful way.
Valve is not owned by an external force.
Valve doesn't even have to abide by platform holder's rules.

Well at the very least, we are going to get Artifact this year.
It will be very interesting to see how the market place reacts to that title.
I have so many questions about that title:
How are they going to handle UGC?
How will the game be monetised?
Will the game sport an esports scene?
Will the game be on mobile?
Is it going to have good VR support?
Are Valve going to integrate it into the Steam trading card system?
Ect.

I don't expect to see anything directly related to a title at GDC.
Maybe a Vulkan tech demo, showcasing: loads of enemies moving about an environment, or terrain destruction, or something like that.
Source 2 is a modern engine: I want to see what is possible on a PC, with highly talented dev team.


Oh, and I better clear this up: I don't expect AoE 4 to fail financially.
It will likely fail at trapping PC users in the Xbox ecosystem.

I don't think we have Halo Wars 2 yet.
Hopefully both game, come to both platforms.

I just don't see Valve giving into MS's demands and turning their store to fully support UWP, let alone handing over their networks to MS and having them turn into XBL ones (because let's be real, MS won't stop at one game demanding the XBL network connection).

I think AoE remake and AoE 4 will flop on the store alone tbh. Their store is an ant compared to Steam, let alone B.net and other stores out there. There will be zero mod support, which already kills a good chunk of that community already. People have and still do make maps for RTS games to this day. Hell, Forged Battalion came out on Steam for early access nearly two weeks ago and that has 42 maps already. The devs are very supportive of mod support, as well as obtaining feedback.

None of those things are remotely relevant to me. Anything else? I guess the worst would be to actually create a Windows account.

NAS would have several disadvantages for me. For one thing it's just another thing gathering dust, for another I really want the optimal read performance and sending it over LAN with a CIFS overhead seems counter intuitive for that. Not to mention the hassle with network drives. The PC I'm using now was once a dedicated file server that housed my storage until I moved it into my new gaming build. I had plenty of experience with that. I don't need to have the storage detached from my PC because I won't use it anywhere else. If I actually need stuff from there on other systems I'm going to use FTP.

I think I'm going to choose 4x 8TB WD Red. Currently I don't even need 10TB of space and I don't want my storage to become too big anyway. I'd rather force myself to clean it up. So 16TB should be plenty for everything for at least the next 5 years.

Had GTA V been included, it would have been the best bundle ever. But without it, it's just a very good one.

I think that, without Steam sales, both the remake and AoE4 will be comercial failures. The Windows Store isn't that big.

But as you noted with Halo Wars 2, MSoft is a mistery when it comes to decide what games they launch on Steam and which not, so they may decide that it's best for them to have a comercial failure only on their store than having a success on Steam.

By the way, maybe they didn't put Halo Wars 2 on Steam because the first one hasn't been a success. If we look at SteamSpy we see that:

• Age of Empire 2 HD_ 4.8 million owners
• Age of Empire 3_ 2.3 million owners
• Age of Mythology_ 1.2 million owners
• Halo Wars_ 166 thousand owners

Halo didn't work.

I don't really know when Halo Wars 2 launched so I can't say. But the first one launched in April, and those sales seem very low after almost 9 months and the game being on sale several times.

The Master Chief Collection would obviously do better, but maybe not that much better. The last game to land on PC was Halo 2 in an attempt to sell Vista, and that was a lo ng ago. I don't know if the collection would have much hype.

Besides, it's not even on the Windows Store yet, so I'm not even sure if MSoft will put it on PC ever.

Halo Wars hasn't sold well because:
Why would someone buy a console RTS, in the land of RTS titles.
Where was the marketing?
It only launched in April 2017.

It is a 2009, X360 title: why would you buy it, go buy a better game?
http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/halo-wars
http://store.steampowered.com/app/459220/Halo_Wars_Definitive_Edition/
The remaster is ugly.
Even AoM is a better looking game.



Microsoft it lucky to have sold 166k units.
At best it is an ugly remaster of a ~ 8 year old game.
At worst it is an insult: rubbing in the fact that PC players were not getting Halo Wars 2.

Why would a consumer buy a product, if they don't feel looked after?

FPS Halo titles would sell pretty well on PC.
Halo Wars 2 released in Feb 2017.

Halo Wars was basically an RTS made entirely for one console. It pales in comparison to most RTS games found on PC, both from the past and the present. I remember playing it back last gen and telling my mates that it was basically "babby's first RTS", due to how simplified it was and how little strategies it offered.

I was also pissed when I'd found out that Halo Wars was what killed of Ensemble studios, thus killing off the original AoE studio and a PC RTS in the process. We'd basically slapped an RTS on a console, not porting it to PC and then killing the PC studio when the console RTS sold like crap. That had to be the worst kind of spit in your face I'd ever seen from a company, and it's why I still hold it against MS.

@Bolded: Yeah, that's pretty much how I've felt about them over the years. They cared so much more about their console and brand, that they tried to give PC less and less, while trying to control it with GFWL, as well as removing exclusives it had or dismantling them altogether./ All of their games these days are made for their console first. None of them are made for PC first at all, no matter how hard a fan or PR will tell you. They just don't care, and they still don't care about the competition around them on either side. All they are resorting to now is strong arm tactics. They want everyone on their network, everyone using UWP, no modding, and basically trying to turn PC into a console with very little freedom or choice.

I wouldn't at all be surprised if AoE remake/AoE 4 make their way to X1, meaning they were designed for that platform first, especially given how both of those games will have XBL  integrated into them.

Given how many turds are successfully released on PC, a game like Halo Wars should have sold better. Imho, at least 500k.

And I don't agree with you, Halo Wars doesn't look worse than Mythology.

The FPS market is already very crowded, and Halo doesn't have as many followers on PC as it has on consoles. It wouldn't be a guaranteed success.

The AoE remake launches next month. We would know about a console version by now.

And if MSoft is stupid enough to put AoE 4 on consoles after the previous console RTS failures, killing the franchise in the process, they deserve nothing but shame.

Yeah but that was years ago, I wouldn't trust them to not screw up the PC version if they released it on consoles as well. It'd have a simplified interface.