A big part of Microsoft Build that stood out to me last week was the potential of Windows on Arm for PC gaming, especially for laptops and handhelds. Microsoft and Qualcomm aren’t talking much about this yet, but both companies have been dropping hints about game compatibility.
Qualcomm said previously that most Windows games should “just work” on Snapdragon X Elite laptops, and Microsoft took the time to demo some more games onstage at Build last week. Borderlands 3 was shown running around 60 percent faster than native 1440p resolution thanks to Microsoft’s Auto Super Resolution technology. This taps into the NPU to boost frame rates and resolution, much like how Nvidia’s DLSS utilizes its own GPUs to upscale games.
Microsoft also revealed a new “works on Windows on Arm” website that catalogs which games work on Arm-based Snapdragon X Elite laptops. Linaro built the website and claims to have tested more than 1,400 games on the new Surface Laptop and other Snapdragon X Elite devices. More than 700 games are listed as running at 1080p and 60fps, including titles like Control Ultimate Edition.
This all sounds rather promising for emulated games running on thin and lightweight laptops…
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