Microsoft slammed for Windows 8's games strategy - Times of India

LONDON: Creator of the popular video game, Minecraft, has become the latest developer to slam Microsoft's Windows 8 games strategy, saying the software firm 'risked ruining its gaming ecosystem.'

Markus 'Notch' Persson revealed his views over the new Windows 8 operating software on the micro blogging platform Twitter.

"Got an email from Microsoft, wanting to help 'certify' minecraft for win 8. I told them to stop trying to ruin the PC as an open platform," he wrote.

"I'd rather have minecraft not run on win 8 at all than to play along. Maybe we can convince a few people not to switch to win 8 that way," he added.

According to the BBC, Persson's comments follow similar criticism from executives at the video games company Valve and publisher Activision Blizzard.

Valve's chief executive, Gabe Newell, has previously expressed concern that Windows 8 would be a 'catastrophe for everyone in the PC space'.

He said he preferred a fully open platform and also expressed concern that Microsoft's cut of sales might drive some firms out of business because of the pressure on their sales margins.

Following this declaration, Rob Pardo, an executive at Blizzard, the firm behind Diablo 3 and World of Warcaft - said that Windows 8 was 'not awesome for Blizzard either'.

Others in the industry, however, said the new operating system could be beneficial, the report said.