Quantum Break will be a Windows 10 exclusive game

Microsoft revealed yesterday that the company's much anticipated game Quantum Break will come to the new operating system Windows 10 the same time it is released for Xbox One.

The game, developed by Remedy Entertainment, will launch on Windows 10 on April 5. Xbox One customers who preorder the game will get a download code for the Windows 10 version of the game free of charge which they can use in Windows Store to download, install and play the game on PCs as well.

Xbox wants to empower gamers to play the games they want with the people they want on the devices they want, so Microsoft Studios and Remedy Entertainment will launch Quantum Break on Windows 10 simultaneously with the Xbox One version on April 5, 2016. Anyone who pre-orders the Xbox One digital version of Quantum Break through the Xbox Store, purchases an Xbox One digital token at participating retailers, or pre-orders an Xbox One Special Edition Quantum Break bundle, will receive the Windows 10 version of the game downloadable at the Windows Store via redemption code.

Quantum Break is the first Windows 10 exclusive game that won't be released for older versions of Windows.

Microsoft's reasoning for this is that the game requires DirectX 12, another Windows 10 exclusive.

History repeats itself: Vista-exclusive games

If you have been around long enough, you may notice that this resembles Microsoft's strategy in the Vista-days.

Back then, Microsoft released several Vista-exclusive titles which the company claimed would not run on earlier versions of the Windows operating system (Windows XP most notably).

These Vista-only releases, Shadowrun and Halo 2, were few and far between, and all game publishers with the exception of Microsoft released games for Vista and Windows XP at that time.

Crackers managed to modify these games to make them run on Windows XP back then invalidating Microsoft's claim that these games could not be played on the operating system.

While DirectX 12 is certainly something that gamers are looking forward to, it is unlikely that many will upgrade to Windows 10 because of the exclusive titles that the new technology promises.

It is likely that select games will support DirectX 12, but highly unlikely that third-party publishers will make their games DirectX 12 exclusive as they limit the reach of their products significantly in the foreseeable future.

If you take the most recent Steam hardware stats as of January 2016 for instance, you will find that Windows 10 has a market share of about 33% right now while other versions of Windows make up the other 66% or so percent.

This means that any game released exclusively for Windows 10 would only be available to one third of the market but only if you use Steam's high Windows 10 use count and not the lower count that includes non-Steam users as well.

For Microsoft, there is not much risk involved in making Quantum Break a Windows 10 exclusive considering that the majority of sales will happen on the company's Xbox One gaming system and not on Windows 10.

Now You: What's your take on the development?