Windows 10 Mobile no longer a focus for Microsoft

Crimson Dragon
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This is basically the death of Windows Mobile. You could see it coming for a long time, but this all but confirms that there won’t be a continuation of the OS besides bug fixes and security updates.

Which brings us to the future of Crimson Dragon: Side Story. Unlike the full Crimson Dragon which had its issues, Side Story is a very solid mobile title, complete with the original Crimson Dragon music from Saori Kobayashi. Yet not many Panzer Dragoon fans got to play this great title since it was exclusive to Microsoft’s mobile OS. Given this news about the demise of Windows 10 Mobile, the chance of seeing Crimson Dragon: Side Story ported to iOS and Android seems a lot more likely. And perhaps technically not out the question either, if the game was originally made with C#, the language used by multiplatform tools like Unity and Xamarin… if I recall correctly they used XNA which, although discontinued now, has been continued as the open source development platform MonoGame, used for multiplatform titles such as Bastion.

If we set up some kind of petition here for Crimson Dragon: Side Story on iOS and Android, who here would be interested in supporting it?

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I will support you if there is something you guys do, but in a more passive way as the Panzer Dragoon campaign already keeps me busy :slight_smile:

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Always up for more PD. I haven’t played CD either. Would be nice if they ported both to the PC.

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Side Story on PC as well? Since the game is heavily designed around touch controls it might be difficult to rework it to feel right when using a traditional controller, e.g. you slide your thumb over enemies to lock onto them and lift it off the screen to fire the dragon’s lasers.

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On further investigation, it looks like Microsoft isn’t heavily supporting either iOS or Android when it comes to games:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Microsoft+Corporation

Which makes sense, since they already have their own platforms. Unlike encouraging an Office 365 subscription with free Office apps, porting games directly to iOS and Android won’t do much to promote any of their existing gaming platforms. Unless their strategy changes, a petition is probably a wasted effort at this point.

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The end of an era.