Kevin Unangst, senior director for PC gaming in the Xbox group, was more forthright in his assessment of Games for Windows than expected when we caught up with him at Gamescom today.
"Games for Windows was a prior approach where it was more, at that time, like 'how do we take things?'" he said, "We knew we wanted to help make great multiplayer, we knew we wanted to bring things over... but it wasn't the right approach. It was the approach of 'let's just take those things and transplant them'."
With the launch of Windows 10 and a renewed push to unify Xbox and PC into one huge ecosystem, it's a busy time for Microsoft. PC gamers who had to put up with the old Games for Windows system have cause to be cynical, however. Will the refreshed Windows Store included with Windows 10 be any different, and is Microsoft planning to use the Windows userbase to challenge Steam?
No—at least not according to Unangst: "We are not intending to compete with Steam," he told me, "If anything, we want Steam to be even more successful—they've done great things for PC gamers in terms of having a single store.
"Over time do we want more developers to come over to our store and offer it in addition to Steam? Absolutely. Is competition good for people? Absolutely. But our goal right now isn't to do anything else other than support Steam and help it run great on Windows 10."
For more on Microsoft's approach to PC gaming, check out our interview with Phil Spencer conducted ahead of the inaugural PC Gaming Show.
