You didn’t notice? GFWDead perhaps? A nice selection of games still not playable to this date. Xbox pass devaluing games to compete with PS. M$ never releasing games here. UWP s crap. Windows is now loaded with spyware/bloatware/telemetry. Consoles with digital download only was a first for them. Office and hotmail gone downhill. Worst browsers of the wide selection. Worst mobile phone. Do they have tablets?
There really isn’t any positive points for M$ since gates left, the fact that they still have a dominant position due to monopolies on office and windows, and with those that think Xbox is any good.
Sad really, I keep looking hopefully at Linux but with 40years ingested in windows I am stuck with it for the foreseeable future, however I would never support Xbox or their gaming/store practices.

Oh yeah, be prepared for a future ru(i)ned by mega-"corps" - including Microsoft. Every single game they acquire will be Xbox/MS Store-exclusive, and it will only cost $99 monthly to access them online-only if you allow them to give you personalized ads, and to check your computer every week for "viruses".

Well they've had 23 years and still no sign of Age of Empires 1 (despite a DRM-Free retail disc re-release). Maybe they need another 23 years? The truth is, there's very little chance we'll see them here simply because there's more DRM than ever (inc Denuvo-style "Arxan") in new "HD" re-releases of old MS games both on Steam and their own store. Personally, I'm just glad I grabbed the DRM-Free Collectors Edition of AoE 1-2 as well as the fact GOG managed to get Prey (2017) and Dishonored here before the MS acquisition.

They mostly did that due to poor sales on the Windows Store. I remember the Quantum Break launch where someone at MS swore blind it was W10 / DX12 only due to "technical limitations" that prevented it from ever being playable on W7. After very low sales, the re-release on Steam quietly had DX11 added and as if by magic, it became 100% playable on W7 overnight and ironically ran better on DX11 than DX12... (And when I say "ran better" I mean like W7/DX11 = 70fps vs W10/DX12 = 45fps levels of better...)

I forgot to add that in the past M$ made some good games as well as hardware for it during the sidewinder era


The normal kind weren't bad for the price but they were most likely subsidised and because budget tablet specs have remained stagnant those ones from 5 years ago are still as good.

More information...

https://www.pcgamer.com/todd-howard-gives-his-verdict-on-microsofts-bethesda-acquisition/

Quotes from the article
"That doesn't exactly scream 'Xbox exclusivity' for the games that will come from this partnership."
"That said, Microsoft is unlikely to have paid out $7.5 billion to share those franchises with PlayStation users..."

So, it might be a thing or might not be a thing for GoG. It does seem to be it's a bigger threat to PS than Steam/GoG/Other PC stores.

Quality is completely subjective, and while I did play a crapton of Zenimax titles these year (including my new favorite, Prey) I wouldn't say they are that good. Majority of their better titles come from id and Arkane, and even they have a few stinkers; Bethesda didn't release good game since Morrowind; Evil Within 2 was just better than average etc.

Their biggest draw is Elder Scrolls specifically Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim and that's only down the the mods.

I'm getting deja vu it's just like when Microsoft bought Rareware. I was waiting for the next Evil Within sale so I could afford them. God did I wait too long?

I wouldn't worry much about the games being pulled anytime soon, people do like to exaggerate. What i would be mindful of and maybe is when the currrent deals for those games runs out, will MS renew it then or pull them ? we will have to wait and see.

I don't think MS is going to break current Bethesdas current contract with GOG.

And according to many "old school" RPG fans, Morrowind is the only "good" game of those. Others? Popular. Entertaining. But not "good". But as I said, quality is subjective, so who cares, lol.

Wasteland released here and MS owns obsdian...

The funny thing about this is that MS are honoring existing contracts...meaning that 2 Bethesda games will continue to be timed Sony PS5 exclusives for whatever the timed period is. So Xbox Game Studios will be publishing a pair of games for the PS5 that they won't be able to initially even put on their own console. I sense they may come to some new agreement with Sony here.

Anyway, this is much better than Sony buying Zenimax, they were also considering it.

The 2 id games I'm still waiting on are Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal. Don't know how realistic those 2 are now with this acquisition.

This is perhaps the most optimistic approach to the situation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3ONWrsZdFs

I really hope the part about Microsoft just passively making money is true.