Microsoft has just announced a dedicated event for Windows developers on June 24, which will follow the much-anticipated Windows event at 11 AM ET where the company is expected to officially announce Windows 11. The separate developer event will kick off at 3 PM ET on the same day and will be open to everyone, and early enthusiasts can already set a reminder on the YouTube page.
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— Windows Developer (@windowsdev) June 17, 2021
We don’t have any more details about the developer event yet, though the “what we have in store for developers” wording hints at some important Microsoft Store changes. At Build 2021 last month, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella promised that the next version of Windows would “unlock greater economic opportunity” for developers and creators. “We will create more opportunity for every Windows developer today and welcome every creator who is looking for the most innovative, new, open platform to build and distribute and monetize applications,” Nadella boldly said.
Back in April, Microsoft made headlines by announcing that it would reduce its cut to 12% on game sales starting in August 2021, and catch up to the more generous terms that a company like Epic Games has been offering to developers. Since then, a previous report suggested that Microsoft could make some big moves to allow apps like Google Chrome on its Store by allowing developers to submit unpackaged Win32 apps that can also circumvent Microsoft’s own systems for payments and updates.
Launching a new major version of Windows is certainly a good opportunity for Microsoft to get more developers to embrace its digital storefront. After trying (and failing) to get developers to build Metro-style apps and then UWP apps, it seems like Microsoft finally ready to reboot its store as a more open platform.
