For many years, Windows has been the platform for PC gaming: open, versatile and constructed with gamers in thoughts. From the times of classics like Diablo to immediately’s cutting-edge experiences powered by DirectX and AI-driven graphics, Windows has partnered with builders, creators, OEMs and silicon innovators to push {hardware} and software program ahead. That collaboration continues to ship new methods to play, whether or not on highly effective desktops or purpose-built handheld units.
In 2025, Windows 11 gaming turned quicker, extra moveable and extra visually immersive.
We launched a purpose-built handheld expertise with the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X, expanded gaming capabilities for Windows-powered Arm laptops and shipped DirectX advances that boosted ray tracing efficiency by as much as 2.3× on supported {hardware}, paving the best way for neural rendering.
Along with the gaming neighborhood, our dedication is to make Windows the very best place to sport—regardless of the place you play—by persevering with to innovate and ship experiences that allow gamers in all places. Right here’s a more in-depth have a look at the improvements that formed this yr.
Handheld innovation
The liberty of Windows, mixed with the ability of Xbox and deep partnership with ASUS and AMD, introduced the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X powered by AMD Ryzen Z2 Collection processors. These collaborations elevated handheld gaming, the place efficiency, energy effectivity, enter latency and entry to your video games are essential. This partnership has made gaming on Windows higher throughout all units, and lots of this yr’s improvements stem instantly from these efforts.
Xbox full display expertise (FSE) for handhelds
Delivery with the ROG Xbox Ally handhelds, Xbox full screen experience is a controller-first, optimized gaming expertise. It creates a console-like house that places your video games on the middle of the expertise, whereas minimizing background exercise and deferring non-essential duties. The result’s smoother body pacing and extra constant efficiency when each watt counts. At this time, the total display expertise is accessible on the ROG Xbox Ally, ROG Xbox Ally X and different Windows 11 handhelds at present in market.
Superior Shader Supply (ASD)
As a participant, there is nothing extra thrilling than beginning a brand new sport for the very first time. Advanced Shader Delivery on the ROG Xbox Ally handhelds will get you into the enjoyable quicker by delivering precompiled shaders at set up time, eliminating a lot of the wait time and stuttering once you launch a sport for the primary time.
The numbers communicate for themselves: in Avowed, first-run load time dropped by over 80% and Name of Responsibility: Black Ops 7 dropped by over 95%. Dozens of titles on the Xbox PC app now assist ASD, with extra on the best way—due to the collaboration between AMD and Microsoft.
For builders, ASD is supported in the Agility SDK, giving studios instruments to organize and validate precompiled shader bundles inside their current sport growth routines, opening up ASD to much more video games.
System-level efficiency
The ROG Xbox Ally additionally pushed us to ship console-style efficiency on Windows 11, treating responsiveness as a system-wide precedence optimized end-to-end in partnership with sport builders.
In 2025, this included:
- Tuned energy administration and CPU frequency profiles for the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X, enhancing effectivity with out sacrificing efficiency
- Extra environment friendly unified reminiscence conduct on Ryzen APUs, lowering frame-time variance and reminiscence competition
- Decrease CPU overhead throughout controller enter, RGB lighting providers, graphics drivers and background processes
A lot of this shipped collectively with AMD and ASUS. AMD shipped driver optimizations, improved UMA efficiency, decreased CPU overhead in the graphics stack and offered game-specific fixes by way of driver releases. These enhancements started with handhelds however now profit the broader Windows ecosystem.
Windows on Arm
In 2025, we targeted on laying the muse for a broader, extra numerous Windows gaming expertise on Arm. This included enabling native sport installs by way of the Xbox PC app, increasing compatibility and efficiency in the Prism emulator and delivering native anti-cheat options from companions together with Straightforward Anti-Cheat.
Native gameplay with Xbox PC app (Insiders)
In August, we enabled Windows Insiders on Arm units to obtain and play supported titles instantly from the Xbox PC app, together with nearly all of video games included in Xbox Sport Move. This implies native play for a a lot bigger quantity of titles with out counting on cloud streaming.
Expanded Prism compatibility
Prism, the emulator that runs x86/x64 software program on Arm, now supports AVX and AVX2 extensions to the x86 instruction set. As a result of fashionable video games more and more depend on these extensions, this considerably expands each compatibility and efficiency for emulated video games.
Native anti-cheat assist
Anti-cheat has lengthy been a barrier to aggressive gaming on Arm. This yr, Straightforward Anti-Cheat added Windows on Arm assist by way of collaboration between Epic, Qualcomm Applied sciences, Inc. and Microsoft—becoming a member of BattlEye, Denuvo and XIGNCODE3. Many broadly used anti-cheat programs and their video games now assist Arm, together with Fortnite.
These anti-cheat suppliers, throughout Arm and x64 alike, are strengthened by Windows safety features like Virtualization-Based mostly Safety (VBS), Safe Boot, TPM 2.0 and distant attestation, which set up a hardware-rooted, verifiable trusted state.
Main titles leverage these protections to make it tougher for unauthorized code to take maintain and to validate that PCs are configured for belief. As extra video games undertake these requirements, players benefit from fairer matches across the entire Windows ecosystem.
DirectX and audio management
DirectX has powered PC gaming for over thirty years. 2025 marked 25 years since DirectX 8 launched programmable shaders and 10 years since DirectX 12 introduced low-level GPU management. This yr, we shipped new capabilities that enhance ray tracing and set the stage for the way forward for neural rendering. We additionally continued advancing Windows’ management in gaming audio, from spatial sound to next-generation wi-fi know-how.
DirectX Raytracing 1.2 (DXR 1.2)
DXR 1.2 launched two key options:
- Opacity Micromaps speed up ray traversal by way of alpha-tested geometry like foliage and fences.
- Shader Execution Reordering lets the GPU regroup comparable rays for higher coherence and utilization.
On appropriate {hardware}, these options can ship as much as 2.3× efficiency beneficial properties in supported situations, making superior ray tracing extra sensible in actual video games.
Neural rendering (preview)
We’re constructing the muse for integrating environment friendly ML fashions instantly into the rendering pipeline, enabling duties like denoising, upscaling and materials enhancement. These capabilities can be found in preview immediately by way of cooperative vectors in Shader Mannequin 6.9, and we’re increasing towards a broader linear algebra characteristic set to succeed in extra audiences in the long run.
Bluetooth LE Audio
Since including assist for the fashionable LE Audio normal to Windows 11 in 2023, we’ve improved audio high quality and expanded accessibility for players.
- Decrease-latency audio reduces the delay between on-screen motion and what you hear in comparison with Bluetooth Basic A2DP audio, making certain audible cues might be heard and with time to react.
What’s subsequent for PC gaming with Windows 11
The enhancements and enhancements we launched this yr are shaping the way forward for gaming. We’re constructing experiences designed to empower gamers to play what they need, with whom they need, wherever they need—and we’re excited to ship much more in the yr forward.
Xbox full display expertise (FSE) for Windows 11 kind elements, accessible in preview immediately
FSE began on handhelds. It’s now increasing past handhelds and might be coming to much more Windows units. Presently accessible in preview, Windows and Xbox Insiders can strive it on Windows 11 PCs: desktops, laptops and 2-in-1s.
The expertise delivers a controller-first interface for navigation, intuitive sport launching and minimized distractions on any PC. It’s a gaming-first, full-screen atmosphere the place gamers can simply browse and launch titles from throughout their sport library—together with hottest PC storefronts. We’re excited to listen to your suggestions, so please hold them coming.
Superior Shader Supply (ASD) enlargement
ASD preloads sport shaders throughout obtain, permitting choose video games to launch quicker, run smoother and use much less battery on the primary play. We’re persevering with so as to add ASD assist to extra video games on the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X, and we’ve begun early integration work to assist further {hardware} and storefronts.
Auto Tremendous Decision (Auto SR) preview
Auto SR is our OS-level AI upscaling characteristic: delivering sharper visuals and smoother framerates in DirectX video games operating at decrease decision, with no developer work required.
Auto SR first shipped on Copilot+ PCs with Snapdragon X processors, and in early 2026 we’re bringing a public preview to the ROG Xbox Ally X, operating on AMD’s Ryzen AI NPU.
Efficiency fundamentals
We’re dedicated to creating Windows the very best place to play, and we will proceed refining system behaviors that matter most to gaming: background workload administration, energy and scheduling enhancements, graphics stack optimizations, and up to date drivers.
Discover what’s subsequent
Replace to the most recent Windows 11 construct, be a part of the Windows and Xbox Insider packages for early entry to full display expertise on PC, and search for ASD-enabled video games for quicker first-run load instances. Auto SR arrives on the ROG Xbox Ally X early subsequent yr.
And if you’re heading to GDC in March, control the schedule—we sit up for sharing extra as we proceed to form the way forward for PC gaming.