Valve questions Microsoft's commitment to PC gaming

Half-Life 2 developer Valve thinks that Microsoft’s current "Games for Windows" marketing push is a cynical ploy to sell more copies of Windows Vista, rather than a genuine effort to invigorate the PC gaming market.

In an interview with Gamesindustry.biz Valve’s marketing manager Doug Lombardi commented that the Games for Windows branding, which sees games uniformly labeled for ease of installation and compatibility checks, "seems like it’s part of the marketing push to help Vista."

When the Games for Windows platform was first launched Microsoft said that it had been "failing" PC gaming and wanted to rectify this by helping to push forward the segment with marketing dollars.

"To really back a platform is a sustained effort over years and years, so we’ll see if in two years Microsoft is still spending money to put Games for Windows sections in retail, and having PR people preach that message that the PC isn’t dying, it’s actually bigger than all the consoles put together."

"You know, if it were to sign up for that, that’s great. If it’s going to use it to promote sales of Vista, that’s really not good for the industry, it’s good for Microsoft in the short term," said Lombardi.

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