Windows Store still has a lot of things to do until the general public of gamers would accept it as a legitimate platform for PC games. And this news isn’t helping them as much. Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare has a Windows Store version of the game, as a well as one on Steam, the most acceptable platform for PC games today. In an FAQ for Infinite Warfare’s Windows Store version, it was revealed that Windows Store owners of the game will be locked to the ecosystem when playing in multiplayer, so you cannot play with folks on Steam.
Why is this a bad thing? It’s segmenting the playerbase. In order for a multiplayer game to feel fun and be experienced at its full potential, you need to have a healthy amount of players. And if you bought the version of the game that is separated from the main playerbase, imagine how miniscule the number of players will be, considering Windows Store is still not a platform most gamers would use to buy their games at.
We can’t blame on Activision and developers Infinity Ward on this one, as they are merely supporting Microsoft’s storefront. But this reveals a weakness to Windows Store. It is its own, seperate platform and that means it’s hard for games to get players on different platforms to play together well.
But since Microsoft has ever adamantly pushed for cross-platform play on the Xbox One, why not they push it so it will allow Windows Store games can play cross-platform with Steam players? That would be impressive.
As it stands, if you’re looking to multiplayer for the new COD on PC, just get it on Steam.