Blizzard: Microsoft Should Do More for PC Gaming

Blizzard: Microsoft Should Do More for PC Gaming

Blizzard COO wants to see greater PC focus from Microsoft.
By Kris Pigna, 07/02/2008
During a Q&A session at the Paris GDC last week, Blizzard's Rob Pardo, senior vice president of game design, started raised a few eyebrows when he accused Microsoft of having "a bit of lip service with PC gaming. They have their own game system now, so I don't think it's really in their best interest to support [PC]." It was a surprisingly incendiary remark, and now -- in a new interview with Gamasutra -- Blizzard COO Paul Sams has a few things to say about it. And if you thought he'd back away from the comment a bit...well, he didn't:

"Well, their gaming focus is very much on the [Xbox] 360. And that makes sense, cause they're a hardware manufacturer as well as a software developer. And so they've got a lot of money and investment tied up in that system.

"Certainly they have a lot in Windows. And Windows is a system that supports all the business applications as well as games.

"And I kind of look at it and say to myself, and I think similarly to Rob, is that it would be great if they put more emphasis on the Windows operating system, certainly probably the most prominent operating system in the world. Even more so than console boxes.

"And they own and operate that system, so having them put more energy and effort against it -- and they would say that they are, but I think that there's more that can be done.

"It makes sense to me, what they're doing, they're putting their energy and focus against the 360. That's where their huge R&D dollars are that they have to earn out on and that's where I think their gaming bread and butter is right now."

Few would disagree that Microsoft has focused far more on the Xbox than PC gaming in the last few years, and it's not the first time they've been criticized for how they've handled their Games for Windows initiative. But hey, if there's anyone with enough weight behind them to perhaps get Microsoft's attention, it'd have to be Blizzard.

暴雪：微软本可以为PC游戏产业做的更多

暴雪：微软本可以为PC游戏产业做的更多

暴雪的首席运营官希望PC游戏产业能得到微软更多关注。

By Kris Pigna, 07/02/2008

上周，在巴黎举行的游戏开发者大会的问答环节，暴雪Rob Pardo,游戏设计的资深副总裁，皱着眉头，控告微软对于PC游戏开发支持的服务“有一点应付了事。如今他们有了自己的游戏系统了。因而我不觉得支持PC仍然符合微软的最佳利益。“这无疑是令人惊讶的煽动性评论，

而现在，在与Gamesutra采访中---暴雪的首席运营官 Paul Sams对此也有些话要说。如果你认为他会回避此事，不予评论，哦，那你就错了。

“嗯，他们游戏开发重心很大部分在Xbox360上，，这也合情合理，因为，现在他们不光是软件开发商，也是硬件制造商。他们在这个系统上面耗费了大量的资金。“

“当然，他们也给windows投入也不少，windows系统不光支持所有的商业应用软件，而且也支持游戏软件。”

“我对此有所关注，并且也自我说服。我的想法跟Rob 差不多，如果他们（微软）更多的精力windows操作系统的话会更好，windows操作系统可能是这个世界上最杰出的操作系统，比起那些游戏机盒子也要好上很多。”

“微软拥有并却负责运营Xbox系统，，但是将更多的精力投入360的研发和推广中最终可能是自挖墙角，--（他们自己也承认这点，），但是我想微软本可以做的更好的。”

“他们将精力和关注放在360上面的举动在我看来，也合乎情理，他们在xbox的研发上耗费巨资，他们必须把钱从中赚回来，但这也是我认为这恰恰是他们目前的游戏开发中存在的问题”

很少有人会反对这点：微软过去几年在PC游戏上花的精力远比不上在Xbox上所花费的，这也不是微软第一次被人批评他们对于windous游戏的处理不当，但如果这些批评背后有谁能有足够的分量引起微软的注意的话，那毫无疑问是暴雪。

译者说明：游戏机平台的开发模式跟PC不太一样，在游戏机平台上开发游戏，一般要获得平台控制者的许可，这一般要交一定的许可费用。因为在硬件平台的初期推广中，硬件平台都是低于成本贱卖的，耗资巨大。微软在跟索尼PS3，任天堂WWI的竞争中，耗费巨资，倾注心血过多，而忽视了PC游戏厂商的利益。（跨平台制作游戏的时候，因为平台架构不一样，游戏代码要重新编写。这对于不善于平台开发的PC厂商来说，费时费力，而却可能不讨好。）