Microsoft planning to bring more first-party titles to PC

I've always found it a bit weird that the ancient PC game publisher and OS manufacturer Microsoft - custodians of venerable series like Flight Simulator and Age of Empires - would let some new upstart company, the one responsible for the Xboxes and Zunes and tile-based operating systems, also be called Microsoft.

I've always found it a bit weird that the ancient PC game publisher and OS manufacturer Microsoft - custodians of venerable series like Flight Simulator and Age of Empires - would let some new upstart company, the one responsible for the Xboxes and Zunes and tile-based operating systems, also be called Microsoft. Surely that's grounds for- wait, what do you mean they're the same Microsoft? How does that make any sense?

Oh, right, apparently the two Microsofts really are one and the same, meaning that the decline, neglect and - in the case of Games for Windows Live - open hostility to the PC as a platform was some bold form of marketing strategy. But now, Microsoft Studios VP Phil Spencer wants to reconcile the two images, and again start bringing their first-party games home.

"I think it's fair to say that we've lost our way a bit in supporting Windows games," Spencer told ShackNewsat an Xbox One preview event, deftly demonstrating his mastery of understatement. "But we're back."

"You'll see us doing more stuff on Windows, he said. "We probably have more individual projects on Windows than we've had in ten years at Microsoft Studios." It's a promising statement, although Microsoft seem to pop up every year or so to reaffirm their PC commitment, often with little result.

Spencer clarifies that he's talking about 'core' games, in contrast to the lighter, more casual line-up that launched with Windows 8's store. That said, one of the few Microsoft developed Xbox One games confirmed for PC, Project Spark, is a Windows 8 exclusive, which could be a crucial caveat to Spencer's comments.

Even so, I'd be prepared to forgive Microsoft a lot of their former crimes if they'd just bring some Forza our way.

You can read the full interview at ShackNews.