Xbox Might Not Have Existed Without Minesweeper's Influence
Bill Gates’ addiction to Minesweeper in the 90s helped convince Microsoft to ship video games and eventually led to the creation of Xbox, a recent report revealed. While Microsoft was originally a technology company creating operating systems for computers, it is now a major actor in the gaming industry thanks to its Xbox division.
The first ever gaming experience for many computer users was with Minesweeper and Solitaire, two games included in the Windows OS. These games had an almost infinite replay value, being easy enough to play but with the ultimate goal to win the game and beat its high score. Microsoft was the only company to ship games with its OS, mainly to serve as a way for consumers to learn how to use a mouse in an era dominated by keyboard interfaces. To help them differentiate a left from a right click, Minesweeper included a feature letting players flag a mine with the right click, while they had to click on the left button to reveal an empty location — or destroy a mine and lose the game.
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If Minesweeper and Solitaire are now staples in PC gaming, their existence and the future creation of Xbox were caused by Bill Gates’ addiction to Minesweeper when the game was still an internal project. In his book about the history of Minesweeper, Kyle Orland revealed the origins of this game and how it shaped the future of gaming at Microsoft. Minesweeper was such a hit at Microsoft’s offices that it proved video games were an added value for their operating system, at a time when consumers favored the cheaper macOS.
When it was released on Microsoft’s internal network in 1990, Minesweeper became widely popular among employees. Minesweeper especially
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