Microsoft talks up Windows Phone 8’s gaming credentials

Windows Phone 8 will be a welcoming platform for games development, Microsoft has claimed.

The new mobile OS will be built around the same core tech principles as its PC-based cousin – a move that Microsoft has said will make it very easy for studios to bring their titles to the platform.

Windows 8 itself will support a number of standards – multi-core CPUs, screen resolutions of 1280×768 and 1280×720, NFC, native mapping, multitasking, in-app payments and Internet Explorer 10.

As well as native DirectX support, it will also be compatible with C and C++, meaning any developer used to working for PC will find it instantly familiar. Perhaps more importantly, middleware such as Havok and Scaleform will also be supported.

Confirmed titles so far include Zynga’s Draw Something and Words With Friends as well as Gameloft’s NOVA and Asphalt 7.

Basing Windows Phone 8 on the Windows core will unleash a new wave of amazing apps and especially games,” Joe Belfiore wrote on the Windows blog.

Windows Phone Marketplace has officially hit 100,000 apps and games—a milestone we reached faster than Android, and a testament to the thousands of talented developers around the world who’ve supported us since launch. Together they deliver more than 200 new titles, on average, each day.”