A video showing Microsoft's goal for its next-generation gaming platform has leaked. The video is a bit dated - it's from May 2010 - but it still shows the general direction Microsoft hopes to push gaming towards, according to ZDNet. Here's the video's description:
This is an internal Microsoft team video showing concepts and principles of what the WGX (Windows Gaming Experience) team hopes to accomplish. Ubiquity of games on Windows, on Xbox, and on their mobile platform is what we see as a goal here.
The video includes quite a bit of Kinect actions, which shouldn't be too surprising given that the accessory broke records to become the fastest-selling consumer electronic device. The footage also shows that while Microsoft values its Xbox and mobile platforms, it has not given up on the PC. Five months ago, the software giant declared that it was "doubling down" on PC games.
The company's Windows Gaming eXperience (WGX) team, which is comprised of all gaming-related endeavors between Microsoft's platforms, has been clearly working hard. Hopefully this vision will actually turn into something more than just a research project. A LinkedIn ad that has since been removed gives a bit more insight into the team's work:
The Windows Gaming Experience (WGX) Team is a very passionate team embarking to create a new world-class gaming platform that comes alive in the presence of services and leverages the power of the PC to help define the next generation of Windows and Web gaming to 300 million potential customers. WGX team is realizing its strategy via the delivery of Windows and Web gaming solutions built upon existing available services (internal and external to Microsoft) as well as building as needed Azure-based services to enable this vision.
We are at the early stages of defining and architecting and developing excitement around gaming in Windows and the Web. We have a highly visible company-wide charter to promote gaming and empower game developers to create compelling, immersive, rich experiences in Windows and on the Web. We are on a mission to make games a first-class citizen in Windows through our efforts and in collaboration with other groups across the Interactive Entertainment & Devices (IEB) division.