Microsoft takes a big step forward to put Xbox games on Windows

The latest Windows 10 preview versions include vague instructions from Microsoft to install a special edition of a game, Decomposition stateand report any problems with the process. The game has no problem, but rather a problem of installation and launch. The instructions gave no indication as to why or what to look for.

Naturally, people took a closer look at what's special about Decomposition state and understand why Microsoft is asking Windows Insiders to test it. Nazmus Khandaker, Rafael Riveraand the pseudonym WalkingCat have looked at both the special edition of Decomposition state and a support application called Microsoft Gaming Services that the insider computers are running. Brad Sams wrote his conclusions.

Since the release of the first Xbox, an obvious question was unresolved: Microsoft already has one of the main gaming platforms, the PC, and the original Xbox and the current Xbox One are more or less PCs. anyway. Will Microsoft bring the two together and let us play Xbox games on Windows? With the newer versions of Windows 10, it seems like the company is taking big steps in that direction.

Microsoft has put big chunks of the Xbox infrastructure in Windows 10. This starts from the moment you download the game: it comes from the Xbox distribution servers, not the usual servers for the Store applications. The game package itself uses a format called .xvc, used for Xbox One games, and PowerShell commands allow working with these .xvc files and installing .xvc games. Microsoft Gaming Services includes parts of this Xbox infrastructure; it includes two drivers ("Microsoft Gaming File System Driver" and "Microsoft Gaming Installation Filter Driver"), as well as a number of libraries providing Xbox APIs.

the Decomposition state The package nevertheless contains PC-oriented elements. In particular, it tries to install and update the DirectX runtime during its installation. We, the users, do not seem to be at the stage of simply running unmodified Xbox games on our PCs, or at least not yet. But it seems that the preparatory work is under way. The extraordinary preview of a version of Windows 2020 seems to contain more elements of this infrastructure, with the signs of a layer to supports Direct3D variant of Xbox on PC.

Ars has already described how Microsoft has built a common Windows platform, "OneCore", to drive Surface Hub, Xbox, HoloLens and some IoT device classes, as well as servers, PCs and tablets. A similar effort is underway in the game space under the GameCore label. As part of GameCore's efforts, Microsoft is creating a common set of system services and APIs that should make it easier to target Xbox to PC developers, or vice versa. This could come out in different ways; Microsoft could do everything possible and simply turn a Windows 10 PC with an appropriate hardware specification into an Xbox that can play any Xbox game; it may be a simple option that developers can activate if they wish.