Microsoft wants to ship games on Steam again

Microsoft and Steam might not be shipping games together now, but Microsoft wants that to change one day.

Microsoft wants to ship games on Steam again

Microsoft has seen a pretty complicated relationship with Steam over the years, from bundling Games For Windows Live into Steam launches before ultimately taking its first-party games elsewhere. But like a wistful romantic wondering about "the one that got away", Microsoft still thinks about Steam an occasion. In fact, Microsoft actually took a big step by admitting it wouldn't mind getting back together - I mean, shipping new games - with Steam one day.

"I look at Steam today, it's on an incredible growth trajectory," Xbox boss Phil Spencer said. "It's a massive force in gaming; a positive force. I think it will be bigger a year from now than it is today. And five years later it will still be bigger again."

Spencer continued by saying that Microsoft releases on Steam are absolutely in the cards, although not in all cases. "There's going to be areas where we cooperate and there's going to be areas where we compete. The end result is better for gamers. We will ship games on Steam again." It's entirely possible the track record of recent Windows 10 game launches were a factor here - while Forza 6 Apex and Killer Instinct did well, Gears of War Ultimate Edition and Quantum Break were more mixed.

Obviously releasing first-party titles on Steam would benefit Microsoft, but it raises the question of whether Games of Windows Live-like software would be bundled with each launch. After all, we gamers have been hurt before.

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