Angry Birds And Minesweeper: Microsoft Announces The First Wave Of Xbox Live Games For Windows 8

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that it was bringing parts of the Xbox Live experience to Windows 8 and today, the company announced the first wave of Xbox games for its new desktop operating system. There aren’t too many surprises here and the focus is clearly on casual games. Among the 40 titles in this first wave are hits like Angry Birds, Angry Birds Space, Fruit Ninja, Reckless Racing and old Microsoft standbys like Mahjong, Solitaire and Minesweeper.

It’s worth noting that 29 out of these 40 games come from Microsoft Studio. Other partners include Rovio, Miniclip, Gameloft, ZeptoLab, Glu Mobile and Halfbrick Studios.

Most of these games will find their way into the Windows Store by the time Windows 8 officially launches on October 26th (some are already in the store) and, as Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc notes, “ongoing new releases will of course be available through the holiday and beyond” (just in case you were worried that Microsoft would stop adding games to the Windows Store after December).

The games will feature the usual Xbox achievements and take advantage of other Xbox features like leaderboards and multiplayer modes.

Here are the 40 games that will make their Windows 8 debut in this first wave:

  1. 4 Elements II Special Edition
  2. A World of Keflings
  3. Adera: Episode 1
  4. Adera: Episode 2
  5. Adera: Episode 3
  6. Angry Birds
  7. Angry Birds Space
  8. Big Buck Hunter Pro
  9. BlazBlue Calamity Trigger
  10. Collateral Damage
  11. Crash Course GO
  12. Cut the Rope
  13. Disney Fairies
  14. Dragon’s Lair
  15. Field & Stream Fishing
  16. Fruit Ninja
  17. Gravity Guy
  18. Gunstringer: Dead Man Running
  19. Hydro Thunder Hurricane
  20. IloMilo
  21. iStunt 2
  22. Jetpack Joyride
  23. Kinectimals Unleashed
  24. Microsoft Mahjong
  25. Microsoft Minesweeper
  26. Microsoft Solitaire Collection
  27. Monster Island
  28. PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX
  29. Pinball FX 2
  30. Reckless Racing Ultimate
  31. Rocket Riot 3D
  32. Shark Dash
  33. Shuffle Party
  34. Skulls of the Shogun
  35. Taptiles
  36. Team Crossword
  37. The Harvest HD
  38. Toy Soldiers Cold War
  39. Wordament
  40. Zombies!!!