Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney stirred the hornet’s nest at Microsoft last week when he denounced the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) in an op-ed for The Guardian, criticizing it as “a closed platform-within-a-platform.”

“In my view,” Sweeney said in his article, “if Microsoft does not commit to opening PC UWP up in the manner [I have] described here, then PC UWP can, should, must and will, die as a result of industry backlash.”

After Sweeney’s article went live, Xbox head Phil Spencer retorted on Twitter that UWP is “a fully open ecosystem, available to every developer,” and Kevin Gallo, corporate vice president of Windows at Microsoft, made similar comments in a statement to The Guardian.

In a new article for GamesBeat, Sweeney commented on Microsoft’s response and laid how suggestions for how he thinks UWP should be improved in order to “keep Windows an open Platform.”

“Microsoft’s participation in this debate has been courteous, level-headed, and free from corporate PR-speak,” Sweeney said in his new article. “And its statements lead directly to the question at the heart of this matter: What is an open ecosystem?”

“Is this open? You be the judge”

Sweeney’s primary complaints about UWP stem from the what the platform seemingly prevents developers from allowing users to download their UWP apps directly without any involvement from Microsoft.

“If you apply to become a Microsoft Registered Developer, and Microsoft accepts you, then you take a UWP app you have compiled and submit it to Microsoft,” Sweeney explained. “If Microsoft chooses to accept the app, then it will digitally sign the app using its DRM and return it to the developer, at which point the developer can distribute it to users, and users can manually install and run it on any machine with default Windows 10 Settings.”

“Is this open? You be the judge.”

Sweeney noted that while UWP has improved security compared to the previous Win32 system, it does so at the cost of developer freedom.

“This core technical idea behind UWP is a good one, and one that many industry participants would like to support were its positive benefits decoupled from the present design decisions constraining the UWP ecosystem.”

Making UWP an open ecosystem

According to Sweeney, for UWP to be the open ecosystem Microsoft has claimed it to be, it will need to treat all software sources “on equal footing” rather than giving preferential treatment to the Windows Store.

This includes digital storefront like Steam, Origin, GOG, and so on, as well as direct downloads from developer websites.

Sweeney outlined five key changes that he believes Microsoft should make to UWP:

1. Allow UWP apps to be downloaded from any sources with nothing more complicated that a security prompt
2. Allow certificates for UWP apps to be digitally signed by the developers themselves
3. Allow third-party programs to install and manage UWP apps
4. Do not restrict internet connectivity for third-party UWP apps
5. Stop referring to third-party app installs as “sideloading”

“This approach would give UWP all of the benefits of win32 as an open ecosystem and preserve the attributes that make PC the world’s most widely used open platform,” Sweeney said.

Microsoft has yet to comment on Sweeney’s latest article, but while the general public probably doesn’t care much about an open app ecosystem, Sweeney’s word carries some weight in the development community, especially in the video game industry.

Aside from creating well known games like the Unreal Tournament and Gears of War franchises, Sweeney’s company, Epic Games, is also the creator of the Unreal Engine, which is one of the most widely used engines in game development.

Image courtesy of Epic Games