Microsoft knows gamers think the Windows app store is terrible

Greg S

Posts: 1,607   +442
Big quote: Over the weekend at Microsoft's head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, went on the record at XO18 to say "I think we’ve got a ton of work to do on Windows." Promises have been made to fix the disaster that the Microsoft Store app is for gamers.

Downloading and installing games from the Microsoft Store is not a great experience, often one that is bug ridden and also has limitations not seen from other game distributors. Restrictions on games downloaded from the Microsoft Store range from not being able to see overlays from Discord to lacking support for Nvidia Shadowplay.

On occasion, it can take multiple attempts to download and install a game, only to be met with some obscure error code that has no real fix other than trying again. Once games are running, switching out a game via the alt+tab shortcut can cause a loss of audio. Combining all of the these minor annoyances together, and you get a user experience that is very poor.

Now, Spencer says that he will be taking a greater interest in fixing the Microsoft Store for gamers and improving the gaming experience on Windows. Unfortunately the details of potential changes were sparse. Updates are intended to make the store "really tailored to the gamers," and are said to be taking consumer feedback strongly into account.

Microsoft's only major exclusive titles on its app store include Sea of Thieves and Forza Horizon 4. Many other games developed by Microsoft Studios have landed on Steam after some time because it is the dominant distribution platform. Undeniably, gamers prefer to use Steam of the Microsoft Store app because the experience is drastically better. Support for basic features like working automatic updates and simple library management are unmatched at the moment.

Time will tell whether Microsoft lives up to its latest promises for gamers. Between Steam, Uplay, Origin, Battle.net, and Epic Games launchers, there should be plenty of inspiration to produce a quality environment for gamers.

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In January I uploaded my music collection to Microsoft's OneDrive. Problem after problem after problem. I finally deleted whatever was uploaded and started uploading from scratch - going just a few CDs at a time.

Now I'm loading my music again (new music, corrected metadata).

I hoped the Microsoft Morons would have fixed all of OneDrive's problems. They haven't.

So here I am uploading just a few CDs at a time - then re-uploading any tracks that didn't get uploaded right. And that is about 550 CDs.

So my question is this: How are those fing BONEHEADS still in business?
 
I just dealt with this fiasco: nothing but error after error trying to reinstall Forza 4 after I had a hard drive die. Luckily I do not save data to my system drive, and I do not install new things too often, so I reverted to a Macrium system image from 2 months ago, before I installed Forza, and I was finally able to get it installed and running again - or in the viewpoint of the store / OS installed for the first time. I spent way too many hours going through various hoops to try to get it to install before giving up and going back in time. Nothing but the roll back worked. I was not about to reinstall Windows and have to reinstall all my programs instead of just a few.

Steam on the other hand just works. Want to move your library to another drive? No problem. It finds all the files and you're back off to the races (no pun intended re: Forza). Unfortunately to get the XBox play anywhere part, you have to install through MS's junk app. Between that and the Win 10 Pro activation issues last week, I'm really not happy with MS. For a $200 OS and a $60 game, I better be getting a phone number to call and results instead of the BS they have now.
 
Microsoft seems to use the old adage of 98% complete is "food enough". It's not and never has been. I don't believe that they'll put the money and effort into optimizing the Store experience any more than they made Windows Mobile a great platform by working with carriers. They hired a Best Buy exec to do just that, made a PR splash like this one, and then let it rot. I will never believe Microsoft's "good intentions" again. Show me, Microsoft, that you actually accomplished the job. Don't talk about it as if it's a done deal.
 
Key word here is "think" :D
Here is my story: I tried to download Forza 4 for early access. It was stopping every few minutes due to error while downloading. I had to refresh it like a hundred times before it finished. And that from a leading computer and software company like MS is, pathetic!
 
Want to beat steam? Better services for lower prices, that simple. You need no marketing or forcing trough operating system integration, just good product people wants. Want people to sell shït on your store successfully? Sell it cheaper and take smaller cut than steam. In one word, COMPETE! There's no real competition in PC digital game stores and microsoft has an opening if it want's a place in the market, I hate microsoft but someone should at least try, competition is good for consumers.
 
I have stayed away from the MS App Store because it looks like an extension of the Win 8 / 10 UI which I killed and buried long ago. Any time Windows suggested an app off the App Store, I laughed in its face and found something better on the internet. It would be a rare and amazing game that would pull me back into that mess.
 
When you have an xbox it makes sense to use it for the one or two things that show up on the store every once in a while that you'd want to get.

If Windows Phone was still a thing, it would have made sense for those using it too.

When the game is on Steam you can no longer have it on your xbox including the save. Microsoft also has to give like 30% of the money made with the sales to Steam so thats another big reason.

As a gamer it makes sense since there's some good deals on it. You wouldn't want for the store to become good enough to compete with Steam. Thanks to Steams dominance we have one big place to go to which is great for the gaming communities.

For the casual user its a store for software on his PC. In the past you'd just go to google and search for the tool you're looking for and then download it from some website.

As for experienced PC users, they know where to get their stuff and the store doesn't get in the way. You can simply ignore its existance.

So really I don't get the drama about it, it gets the job done and there's more benefits than issues.
 
The good thing about Steam is it isn't a public listed company, so no share holders to keep happy. Valve have saved PC gaming. By keeping the biggest store in the hands of a private company that doesn't care for shareholders, it can focus on keeping its loyal customers happy instead of being Corporate greed with the likes of EA, Sony and Microsoft.
 
I dont just think its terrible: it just is. And after all the years and years of promises to do better Microsoft keeps screwing up their PC gaming efforts. Hard to expect much from them at this point.
Absolutely. Honestly, Microsoft has stalled the car 20 years ago. Windows should have so many new API features to consolidate bullshit.

I mean honestly, with everyone and their dog having their own app stores, why isn't there a download management API so people can consolidate, queue downloads and updates? It's absolutely braindead. Instead everyone implements their own queues, throttling, don't detect when another client's games are running and so on. The networking stack and APIs are still in the dark ages.

Imagine if browsers also used the API. You'd have centralised download management. It would be brilliant.

And don't get me started on how pathetic Windows bluetooth support is.
 
When I won't run Win10 for a long list of reasons, plus I would have to use their app store? Double whammy. You missed my money boat on that one. I'm sure there are millions of others out there with the same feelings.
 
I once had a M$ device and their store stinks compared to Android. M$ is good at making their stuff sound good, but in reality, it is second rate.
 
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