Video Game Support Will Make or Break Windows On ARM

After several false starts, it seems that there’s finally a viable form of Arm computer that runs Microsoft Windows. The Qualcomm Snapdragon laptops running Windows for Arm are potent productivity machines with impressive battery life. However, app compatibility remains an issue, and for games, that’s a no-no. I think that could be what breaks the camel’s back.

People Play Games on Everything

I can already hear the question: “What do games have to do with work laptops?” and of course the answer is that people use the computer they have for everything. All of us have used our work laptops for purposes other than work. Whether that’s watching some Netflix or playing older or retro games. For a lot of people, one of these Arm-powered laptops will be the only computer they own. Which means it’s reasonable to expect that this Windows computer should be able to do everything.

ARM Macs Have Been Great for Casual Gaming

Gaming on macOS has been a bit of a running joke for many years now, although mostly for people with short memories. After all, Apple’s computers were pivotal in gaming, and until the switch to Intel processors, Macs had some of the most advanced games on any home computer.

That aside, with the shift to Arm-based Apple Silicon Macs, and Apple’s fantastic Rosetta translation layer, gaming has never been better on a Mac. Just about every game I’ve tried works great, even if it was written for Intel Macs. This turns a humble little MacBook from something that’s great for study or work, to a computer that can actually entertain you competently after hours.

This is the substantial piece of the puzzle that Windows on Arm is missing. Games that were made for x86 Windows systems either don’t run well (even given the hardware) or they don’t work or have game-breaking bugs.

Windows Prism Is No Rosetta

The reason games don’t run well on these Arm laptops is Prism. That’s the Windows equivalent to Rosetta 2 on macOS, which means it has to translate code meant for x86 processors into something Arm CPUs can understand. This is a technically complex process, and Prism has a tougher job than Rosetta 2 because there’s a much larger variety of hardware Windows is expected to run on. Apple has the advantage of full control over its entire computer ecosystem, which goes some way to making their job easier.

That said, Prism has been improving by leaps and bounds, going by the most recent benchmarks compared to the early days of Windows on Arm, but for complex applications like video games there’s a fine line between playable and unplayable.

There’s a Huge Library of Titles for Windows

The CPUs and GPUs on laptops like those equipped with the Snapdragon Elite are no slouches, and a huge chunk of the PC gaming library would work just fine on these systems if we’re only looking at performance as a factor. That’s really the saddest part of this, because the game library for x86 PCs is absolutely enormous. If Microsoft and Arm chipmakers can get us to the point where it will all run with acceptable performance, then I think the average laptop buyer might be much more confident in their purchase. The same way Apple was able to completely assuage any doubts its customers had about Apple Silicon and whether their apps would work or not.

Entertainment Might Hold People Back From ARM on WIndows

While people might say that they really only care about work and studying on their ultra-thin and power-efficient laptops, the truth is that we like to play as much as we can. Entertainment is always something to keep in mind for any computer system, and if Windows for Arm laptops can’t offer consistent entertainment in line with their computing power, then it might be a significant reason for people to skip out on them. Especially with Intel hot on the heels of Arm power efficiency with products like their Lunar Lake mobile CPUs. Which have full compatibility with games written for x86 CPUs and aren’t far off the low power consumption of the Arm competition.