Arm-powered Windows: A Game-Changing Experience

Enhancements in Windows on Arm for Gaming

Qualcomm had previously pledged that gaming on Snapdragon X Elite laptops would be seamless, but recent testing revealed significant challenges. However, with the latest developments in Windows on Arm, gaming experiences have vastly improved. This progress is attributed to enhancements in emulators, driver updates, the introduction of the Snapdragon Control Panel, and Qualcomm’s efforts towards anti-cheat compatibility.

The introduction of the Snapdragon Control Panel by Qualcomm marks a significant milestone this week. This tool automatically identifies installed games on Snapdragon X Elite laptops and optimizes them accordingly. Similar to AMD and Nvidia applications for their GPUs, the panel offers settings for frame rate caps, anti-aliasing, texture filtering, and more.

Moreover, the Snapdragon Control Panel enables users to install the latest Adreno GPU drivers, specifically tailored for enhancing stability and performance in modern games. Qualcomm has diligently worked on over 100 game fixes and improvements since its initial launch, with ongoing bug fixes focused on stability and performance.

In conjunction with the release of the Snapdragon Control Panel, Microsoft and Qualcomm have implemented significant changes to foster PC gaming on Windows on Arm. Microsoft’s Prism emulator now supports x86 Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX), crucial for numerous games and creative applications. Additionally, Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon X2 Elite chips offer AVX2 emulation support, with plans to extend this feature to existing Snapdragon X series devices in the near future.

Recent updates to Microsoft’s Xbox app on Windows on Arm have introduced the capability to download ARM64 compatible games. Initially limited to Xbox Cloud Gaming, the app now includes library and store options, enabling users to install games from PC Game Pass.

Qualcomm’s collaboration with Epic Games has resulted in Fortnite being optimized for Windows on Arm, complete with kernel-level anti-cheat support. To run Fortnite smoothly, users must update to the latest Adreno GPU driver. Moreover, Qualcomm is actively engaging with anti-cheat providers like Tencent’s Anti-Cheat Expert, Roblox’s Hyperion, Denuvo, InProtect GameGuard, Uncheater, and BattleEye to facilitate multiplayer gaming on Windows on Arm.

While these advancements represent a significant improvement in gaming on Windows on Arm compared to its initial launch, there are still performance and compatibility challenges to address. Users can easily determine the compatibility of their favorite games – whether they run natively, via emulation, or not at all.