
Windows 10 Store Refunds ‘Call of Duty’ Player Because Nobody's Playing It - minimaxir
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/windows-10-store-refunds-call-of-duty-player-because-nobodys-playing-it
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hacker_9
_> For unknown reasons, Windows 10 Store customers are segregated from
customers who bought the game from Steam, which is by far the most popular
platform on PC._

 _> Gamers are used to the separation of console and PC multiplayer
communities. But PC players aren’t used to companies gating them off based on
where they purchased their game. It’s a ludicrous policy that doesn’t serve
anyone’s interest and it’s another black eye for a digital storefront that PC
gamers already avoid like the plague._

I think that Steam might actually be to blame here. Steam provide the
SteamWorks API [1] which handles all the low level networking 'boilerplate'
stuff for you so you don't have to, and that actually adds up to quite a lot
of functionality: setting up lobbies, player connecting/disconnecting, player
authorisation via Steam IDs, voice chat, sending/recieving packets for PvP
play, setting up dedicated servers, NAT punching, matchmaking search with
filters and so on. There is also the integration with Steam achievements and
the Steam Workshop.

For a developer, the API is a no-brainer to use when targeting Steam as a
distribution platform. It is problematic though when you want to distribute
elsewhere as games using SteamWorks actually require the Steam client to be
running in the background in order to work. So I imagine the Windows Store
version of the game must use a completely different networking API under the
hood, and therefore is incompatible with the Steam version of the game sadly.

[1] [https://partner.steamgames.com/](https://partner.steamgames.com/)

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darklajid
Steam works on all major platforms (aka Windows, OS X, Linux). Windows Store
is a insane and stupid idea to centralize the applications for the most common
OS right now.

Even if the reason for 'cannot work together' would be Steam, I'd say that's
great. Let the Windows Store die, sooner the better.

But I don't think that I can follow your thoughts here. If you have to rewrite
parts of your code for a non-Steam version (fine, makes sense, sounds
plausible) then .. I still don't see why that version is unable to talk to the
versions on Steam. In the end these games are talking UDP I assume. If you use
Steam for a lot of boiler plate code or implement that stuff
differently/yourself: The inability of these two "ports" of the game to talk
to one another is not a technological problem, I think. It's a problem of
policy/politics.

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hacker_9
You are right I think, at the end of the day they could just handle the packet
sending/receiving themselves to support distribution outside of Steam. But if
there is a barrier in the SteamWorks API to prevent that somehow (which is
unlikely I guess though my memory of the API is hazy), then Steam would be to
blame.

Assuming there isn't a barrier, then really it is Activision's fault for not
integrating the network code properly so Steam and non-Steam players can play
together. in either case, I fail to see how this is the Windows Store's fault.

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Cpoll
> But if there is a barrier in the SteamWorks API

Unlikely. There are Steam games that play cross-platform with PS4/XBONE;
Rocket League comes to mind.

I'm sure it's possible to program yourself into a corner in regards to this,
but I don't think Steam is forcing you to do so.

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pqhwan
I learned about this multiplayer segregation recently, and It puzzles me. Is
this a business decision? Or do they just not bother tp build their
multiplayer protocols to be platform-agnostic?

~~~
prodigal_erik
In the past they've justified segregating console players from the PC Master
Race(tm) using better controllers, but Steam vs Windows Store seems pointless.

~~~
darklajid
It's not. One is a 3rd party store that heavily invests into cross-platform
support. The other one is a collection of useless gadgets with a crappy UI
bolted on top of a generic OS.

If the Windows Store dies (or stays irrelevant for games, forever and ever)
than that's a good thing. I agree with your sibling comment: This is good for
Valve and as long as Microsoft DOES refund people that use the Windows Store
I'd say there's no harm done.

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ManlyBread
Ten years ago you could just buy a game, install it and join whatever server
you'd like regardless of where you bought it. How come things got so
complicated?

