Epic Games, the team behind Gears of War, doesn't seem very happy with Microsoft's Universal Windows Platform (UWP): the head of Epic, Tim Sweeney, wrote a scathing accusation in The Guardian accusing Microsoft of attempting to monopolize video game development on the PC.
Sweeney calls on other developers to join him in opposing UWP to fight for game developers' freedom to sell their games however they would like.
So what exactly is UWP? It's an initiative in Windows 10 that allows developers to create applications that can run across any Windows 10 devices, including PCs, mobile phones and tablets. However, it also forces all UWP-enabled programs to get sold exclusively through the Windows Store. And that's where Sweeney has a problem with UWP.
"Microsoft has launched new PC Windows features exclusively in UWP, and is effectively telling developers you can use these Windows features only if you submit to the control of our locked-down UWP ecosystem," writes Sweeney. "They're curtailing users' freedom to install full-featured PC software, and subverting the rights of developers and publishers to maintain a direct relationship with their customers."
Sweeney also believes that Microsoft designed Windows 10 so that it gives an unfair advantage to its own stores, "while unfairly disadvantaging competing app stores, as well as developers and publishers who distribute games directly to their customers." According to Sweeney, this means that developers can't sell UWP-enabled apps through their own stores or on other sites, such as Steam.
However, Microsoft doesn't agree and responded to Sweeney's accusations with a statement to Eurogamer, pointing out that gamers can still sideload UWP apps bought from sources other than the Windows Store.
"The Universal Windows Platform is a fully open ecosystem, available to every developer, that can be supported by any store," Kevin Gallo, corporate vice president of Windows at Microsoft, said to Eurogamer. "We continue to make improvements for developers; for example, in the Windows 10 November Update, we enabled people to easily sideload apps by default, with no UX required."
Sweeney stated that he, along with other developers, approached Microsoft about their UWP concerns, but that their comments went unheeded.
