Microsoft’s latest Windows PCs, which support artificial intelligence and use Qualcomm-Arm chips, face significant compatibility issues with many popular video games, limiting the appeal of these devices to serious gamers.
Microsoft and Qualcomm are facing challenges as the latest Windows-PC systems with AI-features are not compatible with many popular video games. The new Copilot+ PCs, which hit the market this spring, use Qualcomm chips based on Arm designs instead of traditional Intel chips. This change causes compatibility issues with games developed for Intel’s x86 architecture, which has been the standard for many PCs for the past few decades.
About 1,300 PC games were tested to run on the new Arm-PCs, but only about half ran smoothly, said James McWhirter, an analyst at Omdia. It is worth noting that games such as “League of Legends” and “Fortnite” cause special problems, since their anti-cheat software is not compatible with the Arm-architecture.
Microsoft has confirmed that some games may not be playable on computers with Copilot+, especially games with demanding graphics conditions. The company, however, emphasizes its commitment to a high-quality gaming experience on these PCs, while acknowledging that gamers who want a premium gaming experience may need to choose another gaming-optimized PC alternative.
Qualcomm is working to improve the situation and is working with anti-cheat software developers to make their codes more compatible. Despite these efforts, due to the basic structure of current Arm-Qualcomm chips, the problems cannot be solved by a simple software upgrade.
-> Intel pre-launch own PC chips with Copilot+ AI features in September, and PC makers are expected to mass sell models with Intel chips next year. This could offer a solution for gamers who want to take advantage of the AI features of the latest PCs without having to give up compatibility with their favorite games.