Microsoft Reduces Windows Store Cut to Just 12 Percent - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 May 2021 / 2,555 Views
Microsoft has made a big move by greatly reducing its cut of revenue from game sales on the Windows Store from 30 percent to just 12 percent starting August 1st.
"Game developers are at the heart of bringing great games to our players, and we want them to find success on our platforms," said the head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty. "That’s why today we’re announcing that we’re updating our Microsoft Store terms for PC game developers.
"As part of our commitment to empower every PC game creator to achieve more, starting on August 1 the developer share of Microsoft Store PC games sales net revenue will increase to 88%, from 70%. A clear, no-strings-attached revenue share means developers can bring more games to more players and find greater commercial success from doing so."
The changes will only be happening on PC and not Xbox consoles. The reduction to just 12 percent matches the revenue split that Epic Games offers on its Epic Games Store. Valve takes a 30 percent cut on revenue on Steam, which is still by far the most popular digital gaming store on PC.
"We empower developers to decide how to deliver their work based on their creative vision," Booty added. "Developing for PC was a priority for Microsoft Flight Simulator last year, using the help of Azure AI, machine learning, Azure Cognitive Services, and Bing Maps to bring the entire planet to life.
"We’re also looking forward to releasing Age of Empires IV this fall, which modernizes the iconic RTS franchise for new and returning players with the first all-new title in the last 10 years. We’re building on our history in PC gaming with the addition of inXile entertainment, Obsidian, and Bethesda to our development teams – bringing their world-class talent and heritage into the Xbox team.
"We’re proud to empower all developers with the platform and services they need to execute their vision and provide exceptional experiences on PC. We introduced DirectX 12 Ultimate to both Xbox Series X|S and PC; coupled with the newly announced DirectX 12 Agility SDK, this enables incredible graphics experiences, like ray tracing, for an even larger set of PC gamers.
"We’re taking the work we did with our Auto HDR technology on Xbox to PC gamers, which is currently being tested with over 1,000 DirectX-based games. We’re also bringing DirectStorage technology on Xbox to PC, which means vastly reduced load times and more expansive and detailed virtual worlds."
Booty added that Microsoft has never been in a better position to deliver games to PC, with Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda developing games for PC and Xbox consoles.
"We know that we still have a lot of work to do, but based on the response from both PC gamers and PC game developers, we think that we’re headed in the right direction for this community with the investments we’re making.
"We have never been in a better position as an organization to deliver for PC gamers, with Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda developing content for both PC and Xbox, the Windows and DirectX teams creating technologies that empower developers and provide PC players with features that specifically take advantage of PC hardware, Xbox Game Pass for PC featuring games for every type of PC gamer with Xbox Game Studio games coming on day one, and the ongoing evolution of the Xbox app and Xbox Game Bar.
"We’ll continue listening to the community to ensure we’re delivering on our promises, and respecting how players choose to play. This is especially true as we head into the second half of 2021, when our work across the entire PC ecosystem has the potential to come together in a way that propels the industry forward and brings great games to more gamers around the world."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Great! Now they just need to make the Microsoft Store usable lol
I agree install folder access is a must. I also prefer .exe but the UWP library of APIs are made to be able to jump across many different platforms with a single codebase. Microsoft want UWP to be able to actually compete with Apple and Google for distributing apps, and also to make UWP apps preferable to in-browser activity. And in the longer run having a UWP-type platform is best for cloud computing
Yea I get why MS wants to push UWP but the negatives far outweigh the positives.
Yeah for gamers in 2021 absolutely. Maybe we'll be grateful in a decade though
I've been working with Microsofts systemssoftware for over 20 years at this point. The amount of times I've been grateful for technology they are trying to push so hard I can count on 1 hand with 3 missing fingers. It almost always ends up the same. In my experience they either get it right out of the gate or they fail, fail, keep failing, and then finally give up. I'm still bitter about Direct Access.
Well then you've surely seen the change. The bullying, blundering and macho Ballmer years were different. Anyway i'm not here to defend UWP or the windows store lol, and I don't claim to know whether the hypothetical cloud benefits will be relevant anytime soon
I remember reading a few weeks ago that they will be enabling .EXE/WIN32 format/API for WinStore apps, although not sure if "complete control of the install folder" goes along with that. "Complete" probably isn't strictly necessary for 99% of use cases anyways.
https://www.windowscentral.com/windows-10-big-changes-coming-app-store
"there are three big changes coming to the new Store that will benefit developers:
Allow developers to submit unpackaged Win32 apps to the Store
Allow developers to host apps and updates on their own content delivery network (CDN)
Alllow developers to use third-party commerce platforms in apps
These changes will allow developers to bring their Win32 apps to the new Store without any changes to their existing code. In the past, developers were required to package their Win32 apps as an MSIX, and were forced to use Microsoft's own store-driven update and commerce platforms. This will no longer be necessary with the new Store."
Great so sounds like they will be moving away from UWP. Good to hear.
Competition leads to lower prices...
I mean it didn't with EGS, but having better clients than that store is pretty much a must at this point.
Also, consoles have competition with one another, yet Sony's charging $70 for PS5 games, and Nintendo still charges £50-60 for old games and even some new ones on Switch.
If one company is legally allowed to keep their prices cheap within the same market, and everyone flocks to them, then that might actually force the rest in the market to do the same, but until then, companies are doing what they want, and they have the audience to keep paying those prices.
And I think Steam's position is vulnerable to lawsuits/competition regulation, especially it's contracts which are what prevent competition in "full" launch prices.
At least there's one benefit of multiple PC clients.
Microsoft wants more of Steam's market share. Not a bad move.
While still putting their games on Steam because they know it's a great way you get into gamers good graces by giving them options instead of buying exclusivity.
Does this reduce Steam's market share directly? It doesn't translate to a price cut for consumers. I think what it does do though is give developers a reason to pause for at least a moment before deciding not to release a win store version.
Yeah that's more or less the kind of take I'm getting from this sort of news.
All they want to do is make the store a bit more viable for devs, but for consumers, they really will need to revamp that store and make it pro gamer friendly, instead of normie grandma/grandpa app store.
They do, but at the same time they seem to be working alongside Valve, in regards to their PC port releases there, and talks of GP going on there as well.
I don't think MS wants to just gobble up the majority of Steam users though. I think MS is in the co-exist kind of mode (at least for now anyway).
That is epic!
I see what you did there
I mean, that's cool I guess?, but can you like, make Win 10 store way, way more gamer viable?.
Like you've lots and lots of money and definitely have a capable team to do R&D with, so just take the good pages from Steam/GoG Galaxy and make Win 10 store the best it can be, instead of claiming PC gaming from your end is tip top (when the Win 10 store by far definitely isn't).
Also, I'd really love if you guys finished the rest of the features that are half baked in 10 OS, and make DX 12 a lot more stable, because a lot of the time I play any game in DX 12 mode, I actually lose quite a bit of performance compared to DX 11, which tells me that DX 12, even after all these yrs, still isn't cooked proper.
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