More mobile Xbox games delisted as Windows Phone struggles to find its way

Xbox games for Windows Phone have fallen on difficult times. New releases are all but non-existent on Windows Phone, and Windows eight releases have dwindled to a smattering of casual games that Microsoft likely commissioned long ago. This has caused a measure out of discomfort to some gamers who joined the mobile Windows platforms for Xbox Alive games. I felt pretty bad about it for a while (a year ago).

As if the lack of new mobile Xbox releases and PR from Microsoft wasn't bad enough, the existing lineup of Xbox Windows Phone and Windows 8 games is starting to disappear. Last month we brought the news of Zombies!!! disappearing from the Windows 8 store, only to reappear as a non-Xbox game. Many more than games have been delisted within the last few weeks as well, including Carcassonne, The Harvest, and Rocket Riot. Read on for a full list and some insights into why mobile Xbox games are dropping like flies.

Recently delisted Xbox Windows Phone and Windows 8/RT games

• Carcassonne from Exozet (Windows Telephone 7 and 8)
• Crash Class Go from Wanako/Behavior Interactive (Windows viii, Xbox 360)
• Disney The Little Mermaid: Undersea Treasures! From Disney (Windows eight)
• Gunpowder (Windows 8) from Rogue Rocket
• The Gunstringer: Dead Human Running from Other Ocean (Windows viii)
• The Harvest from Luma Arcade (Windows 8 and Steam versions. The Windows Phone version remains at least temporarily, just is restricted to Windows Phone seven devices.)
• Rocket Riot from Codeglue (Windows Phone and Windows 8)
• Imperial Envoy 2 from Playrix (Windows 8)
• Team Crossword from ? (Windows 8)
• Zombies!!! from Babaroga (Windows 8. Windows Phone version delisted and republished without Xbox features final year.)

All of these games were published by Microsoft, every bit independent developers were seldom immune to self-publish Xbox games on pre-Xbox 1 platforms. Some were created equally work-for-hire projects for Microsoft, while others were created on the developer's own volition.

We've too heard there is a significant chance of Putter God (Windows Phone) and Hydro Thunder Hurricane (Windows 8) beingness delisted in the well-nigh future. Doodle God would be no cracking loss since its sequels similar Doodle Creatures are readily available on Windows Phone and Windows 8 anyway.

Trimming the Xbox portfolio

We've seen mass delistings of mobile Xbox games in the past, most notably when Microsoft pulled near all of the Windows Phone seven games with in-app purchases in September of final year. Is this latest disappearance of 10 Windows Phone and Windows 8 games a effect of technical issues and unwillingness on Microsoft's function to update the titles afflicted past those problems every bit well?

I reached out to the developers of the afflicted games (except for Team Crossword since I never downloaded it and don't know who made it for Microsoft), and well-nigh were kind plenty to reply.

The reason for this new mass delisting is ownership. Although Microsoft published all of the affected games and controlled some aspects of their fates (such equally pricing and updates), well-nigh of the titles still belong to their private developers. That's the sort of publishing agreement that developers more often than not want, just Microsoft seems to be shifting abroad from those deals. Recently, Ryse 2 for Xbox One was reportedly cancelled due to developer Crytek's unwillingness to relinquish buying of the Ryse IP.

"Microsoft publishing decided to trim out whatsoever titles that they do not own, and that do not fit their current portfolio," 1 of the affected developers explains. The game received find of the delisting nearly six weeks in accelerate, the notification coming by call or electronic mail. About of the developers were given the option to republish their games without Xbox features. Exceptions include Gunpowder and Gunstringer: Dead Man Running; those games are nevertheless owned past Microsoft and will not return unless the big MS has a change of heart.

Effects on developers and consumers

Developer reactions to the delistings take largely been those of disappointment:

"Nosotros were disappointed to encounter [our game] pulled from Windows Store as well. Information technology's really a bummer … On the distribution front, the Windows marketplace experience was definitely a struggle."

"While nosotros are disappointed by the conclusion we don't feel like whatever wrong was done to us. We run into it as Microsoft is going through a number of internal changes and this is what happens."

"This means that anyone who purchased before volition not get any farther updates nor fixes, and if they switch devices, and at that place will be no way to get the app back. They will have to purchase it once more if they want it. This was non our choice… I am very washed with MS publishing. Very biting taste."

One programmer took Microsoft's side:

"Microsoft is trying to stimulate developers to do more updates on their games. Letting developers publish themselves is the best way to exercise this."

In fact, all of the game makers who have chosen to republish are excited about the prospect of being able to update their games at will. The end result will be amend versions of those games than would take existed under the mobile Xbox banner. The games that will definitely return without Xbox features include Zombies!!! (already back on both platforms), Rocket Riot, and Carcassonne. The Harvest volition likely return to Windows after this year, though it's unclear whether that would mean Windows 7, Windows 8, or both.

The delistings carry some obvious downsides though:

• A few Achievement hunters volition reject to play the new versions, equally with the vast majority of mobile Windows games, because non-Xbox games don't feed their Achievement addictions.
• A scattering of the affected games simply won't return to our platforms in any form.

But as the delistings are a thing of ownership to Microsoft, they also bear on consumer ownership. As a quoted developer pointed out, players who purchased the Xbox Windows Phone versions of the delisted titles will lose access to those titles if they uninstall them or alter devices. Windows viii games can exist redownloaded even if delisted, information technology seems. Affected players can seek refunds directly through Microsoft back up. I've had some success in procuring refunds for delisted games the past.

The special instance of Carcassonne

The delisting experience was largely out of the developers' hands, with the exception of Exozet, makers of Carcassonne for Windows Phone. Carcassonne was the first Xbox Windows Telephone game to offering real-time multiplayer, although the feature proved impractical and problematic in do (see our review). Microsoft never cared for the existent-fourth dimension concept in mobile Xbox games, so developers like Exozet and Gameloft couldn't rely on established frameworks and tools in order to implement their multiplayer modes.

Exozet would have loved to improve the multiplayer via title update. They also planned to accommodate the physical lath game's expansions and offer them equally downloadable content, as evidenced by the "Coming presently" bulletin in the game menus. Only Microsoft would non allow the developer to update the game or publish new content for it – a common complaint amongst mobile developers whose games Microsoft published. Check out our developer interview to larn what Carcassonne's future could have been like.

In this case, Exozet was not content to cede the future of their game to the apathetic publisher's easily. They asked Microsoft to delist the game so that they could publish a new version and retain full control over its content, features, and updates. The new version will offer an identical experience to Exozet's Carcassonne games for Windows 8 and RT (released a few months agone) and Android.

Those versions of the game are built with the Unity Engine, every bit the new Windows Phone game will be. Windows 8 and Android players can already buy the expansions such as "Inns and Cathedrals" that were denied to them on Windows Phone.

Neither tablet version has online multiplayer just withal, but that feature will exist coming shortly. In fact, cross-platform online multiplayer will be coming to Windows Phone, Windows 8, and Android! Merely another characteristic we would never have gotten from the Xbox Windows Telephone game.

Although Exozet has expressed displeasure at being unable to update the telephone version of Carcassonne in the past, the feel has not diminished the studio's enthusiasm for Windows platforms.

"We honey working with Microsoft and nosotros love developing for Windows platforms and therefore nosotros are actually glad nosotros could do this at present," the developer explains.

The new Windows Telephone version of Carcassonne should make it later this month or in August. To come across what information technology will be like correct at present, check out the impressive Windows 8 version.

• Carcassonne – Windows eight and RT – 55 MB – $iii.99 – Store Link

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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/multiple-xbox-windows-games-delisted

Posted by: pillsburyourt1996.blogspot.com

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