X

Angry Birds part of flock of first Windows Store games

Due to launch in preview mode this month, Microsoft's Windows Store will reportedly offer a variety of games in its initial selection, including Angry Birds, Toy Soldiers, Reckless Racing, and Rocket Riot.

Lance Whitney Contributing Writer
Lance Whitney is a freelance technology writer and trainer and a former IT professional. He's written for Time, CNET, PCMag, and several other publications. He's the author of two tech books--one on Windows and another on LinkedIn.
See full bio
Lance Whitney
2 min read
Microsoft's new Windows store
Microsoft's new Windows Store Microsoft

Windows users can grab some Angry Birds and a host of other games when Microsoft's Windows Store opens for business later this month.

The new store is slated to launch in preview mode by the end of February at the same time the Windows 8 Consumer Preview debuts.

Citing a "source familiar with Microsoft's plans," The Verge has spilled the beans on which games will be among the first titles to pop up in the store. Though Pinball and Solitaire will automatically come with the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, several other games will be available for download from the store.

The titles revealed by The Verge include:

  • Angry Birds
  • Crash Course
  • Full House Poker
  • Hydro Thunder
  • Ilomilo
  • Ms Splosion Man
  • Reckless Racing
  • Rocket Riot
  • Tentacles
  • Toy Soldiers
  • Wordament

Asked about the game titles, a Microsoft spokesperson told CNET that the company has nothing further to share at this time.

The Windows Store will offer both free and paid apps, with the paid ones ranging in price from $1.49 to $999.99. Developers will also be able to create trial apps that expire after a certain amount of time. Microsoft will initially take a 30 percent cut of sales, dropping to 20 percent if an app racks up more than $25,000 in sales.

Related stories

Moving past just games, the store is expected to offer a variety of general apps both from Microsoft and third parties. Apps designed for the Metro UI will be available to download directly, while those created for the standard desktop will link to an external Web site where users can pick them up.

In a Building Windows 8 blog posted last month, Microsoft described the challenges it faced in creating the Windows Store. The goal was to make the store easy to search and browse in the face of the vast number of apps the company expects to offer.

And as with Windows 8 in general, Microsoft has to ensure that the Windows Store experience is as user-friendly on a traditional PC as it is on a touch-based tablet.

Updated 8:30 a.m PT with response from Microsoft.