Games Developers Not Happy with Windows 8

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Valve (Half Life 2) head honcho Gabe Newell is not very happy with Windows 8-- describing the soon available update on the Windows platform as nothing less than "kind of of a disaster."

Gaben"I think that we’re going to lose some of the top-tier PC [OEMs]," Newell tells ex-Microsoft Game Studios boss Ed Fries at the Casual Connect game conference. "They’ll exit the market. I think margins are going to be destroyed for a bunch of people."

Newell is not the only games developer expressing negative opinions towards Windows 8--  Blizzard (Diablo 3, World of Warcraft) exec VP Rob Pardo echoes Newell's opinions on Twitter (saying Windows 8 is "not awesome for Blizzard either") while back in March 2012 Stardock CEO Brad Wardall described the OS flawed and lacking a single, consistent environment in an editorial for news site Kotaku.

Why will Windows 8 spell "catastrophy" for OEMs? Microsoft is integrating its take on the App Store in all Windows 8 versions-- and an Apple-style business model (Apple takes a 30% cut from app purchases) and  "closed garden" attitude will reportedly go with it. Newell's issue? Valve runs the successful online software marketplace Steam, a retailer analysts value (being privately owned, the company releases no annual earnings statements) at around $3 billion.

Other companies, including Blizzard, run similar distribution platforms.

Due to such concerns (will Microsoft even tolerate rival app stores on its own platform?) Newell expresses interests towards moving PC software development and distribution to Linux-- arguably the "last" truly open platform.

Other arguments from Newell against Windows 8 centre around the shift from keyboards and mice to touch-based controls. Is touch truly the future, or should we start thinking about the "post-touch" future of wearable computing? Newell suggests "we will have bands on our wrists, and you’ll be doing something with your hands, which are really expressive.”

Touch is not the best thing to happen to peripheral makers and sellers... look at the losses Logitech is going through, for example. As usual, the future proves itself to being a fairly unpredictable beast.

Go Valve's Gabe Newell on the Future of Games, Wearable Computers, Windows 8 and More (AllThingsD)

Go Three Killer Problems that Threaten Windows 8 (Kotaku)