Microsoft is holding is Build conference, the annual developers conference where Microsoft shows new stuff that would open new opportunities to developers. (If you follow tech news, it’s similar to Google’s I/O annual event). Today they have just shown off to developers that there’s now a converter app that turns a normal game (a windows32 application) into a Universal Windows App. Yes, there’s an app for it.
Xbox head honcho Phil Spencer demonstrates two games that have been converted from the normal app to a UWA: Age of Empires II HD and The Witcher 3. Both are pinned on the Start screen, with Age II having a live tile functioning. Interestingly, mods are said to be working just fine, and they are committed to address the key issues people have raised when this initiative was first announced during their Xbox Showcase event- the option to disable v-sync and enabling Nvidia’s G-Sync and AMD’s Freesync, full screen support, and more Directx 12 support.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4LCIJNADyA
Expect to see some more improvements to the Windows Store once the Windows 10 Anniversary Update hits. In line with that, the Xbox One will receive an update so that both stores are more unified than ever, so expect some Windows 10 apps to work with the Xbox One, as games from the Xbox One, like the recently released Killer Instinct, have made it to Windows 10.
While it’s all good news and positivity around here, will this convince those who have scorned with the horrible Games for Windows Live experience? It may not be so. If you like to understand why some gamers are still hesitant with what Microsoft is doing, this excellent breakdown by prolific PC modder Durante (a.k.a. the guy that made the Dark Souls II mod that makes the game playable on PC) on why UWAs and the Universal Windows Platform isn’t really good just yet.
(image header courtesy from http://www.drwindows.de/)