Microsoft is serious about gaming in WP7

One of WP7 greatest features as it races towards launch will be its tight integration with Xbox  Live. In order for this to succeed, they will need to have a lot of good games in the ecosystem to get users excited. XBL already possesses a diverse array of awesome games for the console and I bet some of these will be ported to the mobile device. Not wanting leave it to chance,  Microsoft has just posted a job opening for a Lead Engineer for their newly minted MGS Mobile gaming studio. From the job post

Our vision is to deliver games and entertainment so good that people will want them always with them, on a service that makes them social, connected and relevant anywhere their life goes. The Mobile Gaming team is building industry leading products that showcase our Windows Phone platform as well as emerging mobile platforms, and will help realize Microsoft’s connected entertainment vision. The Mobile Gaming studio will be the hub for MGS franchises and titles on mobile devices and a center of excellence for mobile games.

Gaming on mobile platforms is huge, accounting for the the majority of the apps sold on the iPhone, and 40% of the time spent on facebook. It is encouraging to see that the guys at Microsoft recognize this and that they are allocating a significant amount of resources to make it a succeed. This could be their ace in the hole other than office mobile and even Mac loyalist, John Gruber, realizes this. A quote  from his post from a few weeks back,  the great game, somewhat alludes to the possibility.

I’m also loath to write off Windows Phone 7. What if WP7 is a best-of-breed mobile gaming platform?

Via neowin.net