I have, admittedly, done more reading on the topic and I can see where is coming from. I’ll accept I’d previously spent more time reading the capabilities of the platform and less of the financials and limitations side…and I think I can happily change my mind on the issue…at least until MS stops their silliness on one side AND spends A LOT more time maturing the platform - if it’s worth it.
I thank you for a reasonable discussion.
I think ultimately, it’d be in Microsoft’s best interest to get as many people using UWP rather than trying to make everyone use their store, since I think most people would submit their games to their store if it’s that easy and they can still submit it elsewhere.
For those interested in UWP could also lead to: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/mar/04/microsoft-monopolise-pc-games-development-epic-games-gears-of-war
Arhh, it was already posted by someone. Sorry. Nevermind.
It does seem like a bit of a knee jerk reaction from 's point of view.
As per usual it all gets blown out of proportion. I am sure MS will need to change polices around this to adjust to people’s expectations. But it seems to me that did very over react here.
Well for everyone who wants to make Xbox One games it means that they will need to get access to DevKits somehow if UE4 doesn’t support UWP. Whereas if they chose another game engine (like Unity) with UWP support they don’t need to get DevKits, just a consumer Xbox. Sorry, but I fail to see how that’s a good thing for UE4 (developers). Developers can choose the enabled target platforms for UWP apps freely, so it could just be on Xbox One and not on the PC Windows store if you hate it so much for whatever reason.
When is fully implemented/integrated into public releases of UE, in my opinion all devs (yes, that’s us!) can safely ignore Universal Windows Platform (and Windows Store), unless you want to develop apps for XBox or Windows Phones.
What does has to do with UWP? Or you mean start using Linux? If so :Usage share of operating systems - Wikipedia
You will still need dev kits as you cannot deploy unsigned code onto a consumer console (not to mention the inability to do all the things you can do with a dev kit is going to be a massive hurdle to overcome…)
I honestly don’t know why I wrote that, mixed up with Windows Store and UWP 
Lesson learned: you shouldn’t read and/or post anything after several glasses of beer >.<"
I’m pretty sure you need a devkit to be able to develop on Xbox One no matter if you’re using UWP or not. You still have to be part of the Xbox developer program. With UWP it just means it’s easier to deploy to PC, mobile, and Xbox
UWP developers will be able to make Xbox One games without using the (hard to get access to) XDK tools. Microsoft may be late in actually making that happen, but it’s happening:
That says nothing about replacing the need for a Xbox devkit, all it’s talking about is the Xbox getting UWP support in summer. They said a long time ago that you’d be able to use your Xbox console as a developer console but it hasn’t happened yet and I don’t see it happening any time soon.
There is a recent answer by a Sr. Technical Evangelist at Microsoft that contradicts your opinion on this matter. Although it depends on if you count “in 2016” as “any time soon” or not ofc. 
It has interesting quotes: “Currently, UWP is expected to be available on Xbox One in 2016.”
“Note that UWP on Xbox One is in addition to the current ID@Xbox program” (You don’t have to be in the ID@Xbox program to make UWP games.)
“For developers working on Universal Windows Apps, you’ll be able to test your games on a retail Xbox One”
The guy seems to know what he’s doing, so I don’t think he would have quoted these things if they were not applicable in 2016 anymore.
If you still doubt releasing UWP games using retail Xbox Ones is going to happen in 2016 then I can’t really help you. Microsoft is saying pretty clearly that it is.
Passing by this opportunity, because UWP apps can optionally also be released on a storefront you don’t like makes no business sense at all…
I’ll believe it when I see it, but I think it would be foolish to count info posted in such an obscure place. By the way, that’s not really a great thing either, considering when they first talked about using retail consoles for development they hadn’t talked about requiring something like UWP to do that.
well UWP and Windows store have those baby flaws still but in it’s evolving more to support like you publish your game to steam and get xbox live support too and cross-platform easy way. and is still in devkit phase so more is coming and March 30th is Microsoft Build conference so we will see more from there. in UWP you could focus the app for specific platforms still or have platform specific code. also it’s big in scale too what Microsoft try to complish and keep Windows as open as possible
He says you will be able to test your games on a retail XBox One, that is not the same as using it as a dev kit.
^ Yep! That is funny reading what all things Microshaft has failed at. I’m all for open source and Linux. It’s time DirectX dies in a fire.
Windows 10 is an anti-consumer abomination, and UWP is just one of its many failures. (Though it hasn’t technically failed yet, one only needs to look at how Games for Windows Live worked out, not to mention the catastrophic initial Xbox One announcement, for a glimpse of the direction UWP is headed in.)
To be honest I am a bit perplexed at the number of people in this thread (and the other one linked to) who seem to genuinely think that UWP is a good idea. Assuming these are actual game developers and not shills paid by Microsoft, this means there will be plenty of developers to go on my “boycott now and forever” list. I’ll stick with GOG or Steam, thanks.
Who will save PC gaming now? Valve? Linux? I don’t know, but I sure as hell don’t have faith in Microsoft to do the right thing anymore.
I think for some people they just want Windows Phone support, and aren’t likely to get it from getting support directly so they’re hoping that support would come if UWP is added.
I don’t think Linux is a solution though, most people just won’t make the switch.