Windows on ARM has never been the first choice for gaming. These machines are built more for efficiency and battery life than raw performance. But that gap is slowly closing, and Microsoft just made an important move in that direction to make Windows on ARM interesting for gamers.
The Xbox app is now officially available on Windows 11 PCs powered by ARM processors. This includes the new Copilot+ PCs running on Snapdragon X chips. Until now, ARM users could only rely on Xbox Cloud Gaming through the app. Local game downloads were not supported. That limitation is finally gone.
With the updated Xbox app, ARM-based Windows 11 users can download and play games directly from the Xbox Game Pass library. According to Microsoft, more than 85 percent of the Game Pass catalog already works on ARM systems. For games that still do not run locally, Cloud Gaming remains an option, so players are not completely locked out.
This update may not turn ARM laptops into full gaming rigs overnight, but it is a meaningful step. Casual and indie games, older titles, and several mainstream releases can now be played without relying on streaming. For gamers who use ARM laptops as daily work machines, this adds real value.
The timing is also interesting. Recent reports suggest that NVIDIA is working on its own ARM-based processors, some of which are expected to offer much stronger graphics performance. If those chips arrive as expected, Windows on ARM could soon handle more demanding games without compromises.
Microsoft has already been laying the groundwork for this shift. Last year, the company improved its Prism emulation layer by adding support for AVX and AVX2 instructions. This change alone made many modern PC games compatible with ARM systems. Anti-cheat support was another big breakthrough, allowing popular multiplayer titles like Fortnite and Gears of War: Reloaded to run on ARM without issues.
Microsoft says it is not stopping here. The company continues to work with hardware partners, chipmakers, and game developers to improve performance and compatibility on ARM-based Windows devices. The goal is to make gaming feel natural, regardless of whether you are on a desktop, a handheld, or a lightweight ARM laptop.
