Traditional PC game studios afraid of Windows 8. Epic studio embraces it.

Posted by the egrev on August 5, 2012 07:02 am 29

With major game studios like Valve and Blizzard lambasting Microsoft for the direction of Windows 8 lately, it all seems like gaming studios are out against Microsoft's disruptive change. But everyone seems to forget a certain major player that is actually excited about Windows 8.

So what makes the studio behind the popular Infinity Blade on iOS excited about Windows 8? Epic has expanded from a PC and console games studio into mobile and they are quite successful at it. So perhaps the potential market expansion has Epic studio excited about putting their engine on WIndows 8.

Contrasting that with traditional PC game studios like Valve and Blizzard. Perhaps they don't like to change the paradigm that they has built around PC gaming since their beginnings. Maybe they can't innovate in new gaming experiences because they are so used to what they have been doing for years.

Blizzard is particularly is disappointing with their follow-after statement about Windows 8. I've always though, since the original Surface table, that games like Starcraft would be ideal on Surface-like devices. Imagine selecting your troops and control the maps with touch gestures like pinch-to-zoom, that would be awesome for Starcraft.

If Windows 8 and its successor catches on, Blizzard and Valve will be left behind to their keyboard-mouse type of games. They can ignore mobile gaming until the money run dry while other studios that adapted will enjoy a less competitive market.