There are many Windows Phone games in the Microsoft Store, but most of them don't run on Windows 10 PC's unless the developer has built a specific version for it. This is unfortunate, as it means those old Windows Phone games you used to play can't be played on PC.

Joshua Jackson
Joshua Jackson

Can someone explain why, after all the Windows Phone emulators and Xbox Backwards Compatibility stuff, we still can't play Windows Phone games on Windows 10? It can't be that hard to have an built-in emulation layer and just run the game in a window. So it wouldn't be full-screen (although that shouldn't be hard, either). Who cares? All the Windows Phone games are in the Windows 10 Store...

Reply

Our community has wondered whether or not Microsoft should make some kind of emulator for Windows Phone games that would allow those games to run on PC, kind of like how Microsoft built an Xbox 360 and Xbox Original emulator into the Xbox One. I personally think this is a silly idea that isn't worth putting any resources into because Windows Phone games are, well, phone games.

Nobody wants to play phone games on a PC, and if you do you are in a big minority. I would much rather Microsoft put resources into building native Windows UWP games rather than building an emulator for old ones. We'd love to know your thoughts on this however, so make sure you join in the discussion on our forums!

Why Can't Windows 10 Play Windows Phone Games?