Microsoft is making some welcome improvements to gaming on Windows on Arm

A Windows computer with an Arm processor is probably the last device you will consider when buying a device for gaming, but that does not mean those devices cannot play games. Graphics in Qualcomm's Snapdragon X are pretty good, and these devices can handle lightweight gaming just fine. Also, with Epic Games' anti-cheat software now supporting Windows on Arm, more games are accessible to these devices. Now, Microsoft is offering users even more gaming improvements.

In a newly published blog post, Microsoft announced some welcome enhancements for the Xbox PC app on Arm-based Windows 11 PCs. The program now supports game downloads and local play, so that you can get the games you own from the Xbox app and play them without using streaming. This applies to games in the Game Pass catalog as well.

Note that you can only download compatible games. Microsoft says that it is working on making more improvements to the gaming experience on Windows on Arm, which should allow users to run more games on these devices. You can expect to hear more announcements with further improvements in the coming months.

If you have a Windows on Arm device, you can try the updated Xbox app by enrolling your device in the Windows Insider and Xbox Insider programs. Here is how to do it:

1. Download the Xbox Insider Hub from the Microsoft Store.
2. Launch the Xbox Insider Hub and sign in with your Microsoft account you use for gaming.
3. Under “Previews,” navigate to “PC Gaming” and click join.
4. Once the Xbox Insider Hub shows you as “joined” for the PC Gaming Preview, go to the Microsoft Store and check for updates, and you should see an Xbox PC app update for version 1001.27.0 or higher. Note that the update is rolling out gradually.

You can find the announcement post here.

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Posted Thursday 14 August 2025 at 12:56 pm AEST (my time).

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