Metro, and Windows 8 with it, was so unpopular that Microsoft was forced to allow OEMs to install Windows 7 instead on machines whose purchasers were paying for Windows 8 licenses. Valve's Gabe Newell saw Microsoft's attempt to seize control over software distribution as so profoundly anti-competitive, and anti-consumer, that it birthed the Steam Machine initiative, whose SteamOS has since given rise to Steam Play/Proton, which is well on its way to making Windows irrelevant for gaming. And UWP-exclusive titles are virtually non-existent, since they can only be installed via Microsoft's storefront of desolation, while basically the entire PC gaming industry distributes their games through Steam.
That is the legacy of UWP for Microsoft: repeated failures, alienated consumers, and a well-deserved reputation for monopolistic bullshit. Well, apparently Microsoft still see UWP as their key to global domination, because it's baaaack!!!
As reported by OnMSFT:
The “Scarlett” family of consoles will continue to use the AMD x86 processors, and Wccftech is reporting today that the cloud-focused Lockhart could use a Semi-Custom AMD Picasso Accelerated Processing Unit (APU). [... ] Windows Core OS, the modular version of Windows that will run on the next-gen HoloLens and Surface Hub is also expected to power the new “Scarlett” consoles.
Windows Core OS is apparently tied to “GameCore,” which is apparently a new milestone for Microsoft’s UWP platform for games. “GameCore is the evolution of the UWP platform and is going to help Microsoft eventually start building container-based apps, wrote Brad Sams. “GameCore will make it significantly easier for developers to utilize Xbox services on both PC and the Xbox and should provide for higher levels of performance with lower-level system access and control of hardware assets.”UWP is like the villain of a slasher horror movie at this point. It just. Won't. Die!
The good news, for consumers, is that Valve has been aware of this particular danger since 2012, and has been actively working ever since to free PC gaming from Microsoft's clutches. The bad news, for PC gamers, anyway, is that Microsoft is apparently still planning to leverage their control of the Windows platform to put Valve out of business, and force PC gamers to buy all of their games from Microsoft's busted storefront. GameCore is the groundwork for yet another profoundly anti-competitive, and anti-consumer, push into a PC gaming market that they didn't give a shit about as recently as five years ago.
And it's in this environment that Epic Games have decided that Steam need taking down a peg... as if Valve's well-earned dominance in PC games distribution were actually the worst possible thing for PC gamers. Epic Games, incidentally, are already giving away games for free to attract users... starting with Subnautica and Super Meat Boy, two games that basically everybody who was interested have bought on Steam already. Oh, and one of their touted "exclusives," Ashen, has already announced that it will be releasing on Steam and XBox/Play Anywhere. GG, Epic. GG.
Would-be consumer advocates who are concerned about the impact of monopolistic business practices on PC gaming need to paying much more attention to what Microsoft, a proven monopolist, have in the pipeline, and worrying less about what Valve is doing. Keep your eye on GameCore, along with Steam Play, and Windows' overall OS market share, both on Steam and more generally. Those are the markers that will tell you whether you'll be buying your PC games from your chosen software provider in five years' time... or from Microsoft, after they've driven Steam, Epic, Origin, and Uplay out of the PC gaming marketplace.