Microsoft Store commits to PC gaming by reducing its 30% cut on sales

Today, Xbox Game Studios chief Matt Booty penned a blog post detailing the direction that Microsoft is taking with PC gaming. As usual, the company is promising a “player-first approach”, and there was talk about empowering people to achieve more.

Most interestingly was that the Redmond firm is cutting down on the commission it takes from sales in the Microsoft Store. Rather than taking the regular 30%, it’s going to be taking just 12% on games. This is the same amount that the Epic Games Store takes, and it’s very competitive. In fact, allowing game developers to keep 88% of revenue went against industry norms when the Epic Games Store launched.

Microsoft isn’t trying to take over the Epic Games Store though. It was clear that it knows that gamers get their games from a variety of stores. That’s why games like Flight Simulator, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, and Forza Horizon 4 are all available on Steam. The company just wants to make its own store more attractive to developers in a commitment to PC gaming.

The new revenue share program goes into effect on August 1. The company also touted giving developers ways to deliver their game however they want. For example, it’s offering things like DirectX 12 Ultimate on both PC and console. PC gamers are also getting Auto HDR, a technology found on Xbox Series X|S that adds dynamic range to games not built for HDR. Auto HDR is already being tested with over a thousand games.

Microsoft also snuck in a bit of Halo Infinite news, although it’s not the release date that everyone is waiting for. The company only said that when it launches later this year, it will support multiplayer cross-play and cross-progression. That means that players on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S can all play together. On the PC side of things, it’s going to support ultra-wide screens, triple keybinds, and more.

The post Microsoft Store commits to PC gaming by reducing its 30% cut on sales appeared first on xda-developers.

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