In the world of gaming, technological advances are being made every single day. Some of these advances are good, but some have a darker side. Recently there has been a lot of talk concerning Microsoft's change in direction involving the UWP (Universal Windows Platform). Though a unified game ecosystem such as this has many benefits, there are also some scary and unwanted side affects that can come from it.
The basic idea behind UWP is to create an all-in-one platform that connects tablets, computers, VR headsets and more, together in one giant ecosystem. UWP will be much different from what we have today in the current win32 API system. As of now, downloading applications off the internet that are currently on the Windows Store is relatively easy because of the way it was designed. The major design change to the system that Windows will be implementing is essentially a giant wall to keep everything that's inside the store in. Seems simple enough given that developers don't have to go that route if they don't want to.
This is where the monopolization really starts to take shape. Many tools that are inside the UWP application are only available to developers who choose to sell their apps exclusively on the Windows Store. The main, most enticing tool allows developers to automatically port their game from windows 10 to every other system included in the UWP. This means that developers would only have to type out code once and it would be available across many different platforms, which is a vast improvement over the current porting methods. Not only that, but included deep within the code of the game will be settings that are deliberately hard to find, put there by Windows to block users that aren't using the Windows Store from downloading or updating apps. If you manage to figure out a way past it, Microsoft can revoke it at any time with its forced-update process.
The UWP isn't all bad though, it also has some major bonuses. It may be within a walled off ecosystem, but the simple and fast porting features will allow developers to spend more time and money on creating a better, fuller game that spans across many platforms, something that was a very hard feat to accomplish previously. With the new addition of the dev app on Xbox One, the introduction of many new indie-games will be in full swing.
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