Xbox App Lands on ARM Based Windows 11 PCs, Microsoft Says 85 Percent Plus of Game Pass Catalog Is Now Playable
Microsoft has officially brought the Xbox PC app to ARM based Windows 11 devices, extending its push to make the Xbox ecosystem platform agnostic and accessible across more form factors. In practical terms, this means ARM based Windows 11 laptops and handheld style PCs can now run the Xbox app natively, browse the PC Game Pass library, and install a significant portion of the catalog locally instead of relying purely on streaming.
In the announcement, Microsoft says more than 85 percent of the Game Pass catalog is compatible with ARM based Windows 11 PCs today, with continued work underway to expand that coverage further. That number is a meaningful milestone for Windows on ARM, because software compatibility has been the core friction point holding back ARM adoption for gamers, even as battery life and mobility advantages improved year over year.
Microsoft also frames Cloud Gaming as the safety net for anything that is not yet playable locally. The company emphasizes that Cloud Gaming availability has expanded across more regions and that it is no longer locked behind the most expensive subscription tier. That strategic shift reduces the downside of partial native compatibility, because players can still launch supported titles through the cloud path when local execution is not available on their specific device configuration.
From an ecosystem perspective, this is another step in Microsoft’s broader play to align Windows, Xbox, OEM partners, silicon vendors, and game studios behind a single objective: consistent gaming access across device classes. For gamers, the pitch is clear. If your primary device is an ARM based Windows 11 system, you can now treat it as a legitimate entry point into the Xbox on PC pipeline, especially when paired with cloud fallback. For the industry, it signals continued investment in Windows on ARM as a gaming capable platform rather than a productivity only experiment.
If you own an ARM based Windows 11 device, do you plan to play locally through the Xbox app first, or will Cloud Gaming still be your default for day to day sessions?
