Microsoft: PC gaming has never been stronger

The state of PC gaming has been a hot topic in recent months. Some members of the industry have maintained a positive outlook while others have been a bit more negative. Now Microsoft VP John Schappert has decided to chime in and agree with the former group, saying that things are fine and dandy in the land of mice and keyboards.

“Today I’m excited to report that Microsoft and a growing community of the gaming industry’s leading publishers, hardware manufacturers and retailers have made the Windows-based PC the largest gaming platform in the world. Every major region will see PC gaming continue to grow in audience, game revenue and hardware purchases for the foreseeable future. While the challenges we face as an industry are many, PC gaming has never been stronger, and we’re confident this trend will continue in the years to come,” he stated before a Games for Windows event earlier today.

"The past year has seen exponential growth in online activity and sales, continued platform and hardware innovation, and continued success with the Games for Windows branding initiative, which adds prominence, a quality and technical bar, and a consistent look and feel to the retail PC gaming experience.”

Schappert backed up his statement by releasing a list of sixteen games (viewable after the jump) that will be releasing under the Games for Windows brand in the next few months.

While I certainly agree with his overall message that PC gaming isn’t going away any time soon (one need only look at the billion-plus install base to realize that), I’m not sure that these games were necessarily the best example of that -- all of them besides Crysis Warhead, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II, and Zoo Tycoon 2: Ultimate Collection are cross-platform. Still, for those of us in the old guard that prefer to have physical copies of the games we’ve bought, it’s nice to see Microsoft stick up for the retail side of PC gaming.

[Via Next-Gen -- Thanks, Joe]