Microsoft is committed to making Windows 11 the 'best place to play' PC games

As part of its 'Windows PC gaming in 2025' wrap-up, Microsoft says it's committed to improving Windows for PC gaming, outlining some of the key changes.

Microsoft is committed to making Windows 11 the 'best place to play' PC games
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TL;DR: Microsoft highlights 2025 Windows PC gaming advances, including full-screen handheld support, Windows on Arm improvements, and DirectX Raytracing 1.2. Despite recent performance issues on Windows 11, Microsoft commits to optimizing background workload, power management, and graphics for better gaming performance in 2026. Windows still dominates PC gaming with 94.79% market share.

Microsoft has posted an update covering all of the advances and improvements it has brought to PC gaming on Windows in 2025, from the arrival of the full-screen experience (FSE) for gaming handhelds through to Windows on Arm gaming improvements and the arrival of DirectX Raytracing 1.2 (DXR 1.2).

Microsoft is committed to making Windows 11 the 'best place to play' PC games 2
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However, with the general sentiment that gaming on Windows 11 has only gotten worse in recent times, as most Windows updates either focus on adding new AI features and bloat to the operating system, or worse, cut game performance in half for GeForce RTX owners, the post also makes a statement on the future of Windows gaming as we head into 2026.

"We're committed to making Windows the best place to play," Ian LeGrow, Corporate Vice President, Windows + Devices, writes. "And we will continue refining system behaviors that matter most to gaming: background workload management, power and scheduling improvements, graphics stack optimizations, and updated drivers."

Windows is the dominant operating system for PC gaming, to the point where it essentially has a monopoly. According to the latest Steam Hardware & Software Survey results for November 2025, Windows has a whopping 94.79% market share among PC gamers.

However, gaming on Linux is slowly gaining ground thanks to Valve's Steam Deck and upcoming Steam Machine, both of which run the Linux-based SteamOS. For pure PC gaming, aside from its lack of full anti-cheat support, SteamOS is widely considered the more stable and performant OS, with games generally running faster than on a Windows 11 rig.

And with that, it's great to see that Microsoft is actually listing the areas it's focusing on to improve PC gaming on Windows. Freeing up system resources and better management of background tasks should deliver real performance gains for all, as would "graphics stack optimizations," which hopefully could lead to fewer instances of PC games stuttering even when they're running at 100+ FPS.

Of course, time will tell, but with the ROG Xbox Ally X and word that the next-gen Xbox console will be a PC hybrid, we'll see all of this unfold, as the current state of Windows 11, especially for PC gaming, requires an overhaul.