"Another example of Game Pass disparity": Kingdom Come Deliverance II runs natively on ARM with Steam, but not the Xbox app

Early last year, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II was named "the perfect RPG sequel" in our review and praised for its "near-flawless" performance on PC. Already available for traditional gaming PCs running x86-64 processors from AMD and Intel, the game has since received an ARM64 build via Steam that's compatible with Windows on ARM devices.

Qualcomm's recent Snapdragon X2 Elite and Elite Extreme processors are part of the latest expansion in the relatively niche device category, delivering a boost to power efficiency alongside a general performance leap in brand-new PCs like the "practically perfect" ASUS Zenbook A16. However, PC gaming on Snapdragon X is still marred by platform distribution problems.

Patch 1.5.3 for Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is described as "a purely technical architecture update" that makes a native ARM64 build available to users with compatible hardware and Steam installed. However, players subscribed to Xbox Game Pass are currently unable to access the new build on PC, which still runs on Microsoft's Prism translation layer.

Windows Central's take: Another example of PC Game Pass disparity

Patch release gaps between Steam and Xbox PC aren't a particularly new annoyance, but they still feel like one that shouldn't happen to begin with. Some blame Microsoft's patch submission and analysis process, while others point fingers at the developers.

Realistically, it feels like the former would be the most likely roadblock if the ARM64 build is already out there. ASUS was already demonstrating Kingdom Come: Deliverance II performance in press previews for its MacBook Air-beating Zenbook A16 laptop, presumably with an early look at the native build.

I've maintained a subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for years now, happily enjoying the cross-platform benefits across Microsoft's consoles and my PCs. Still, the number of games that natively support Windows on ARM is already small, and arbitrary delays don't help raise awareness of its benefits.

Still, the number of bugs and issues unique to its Xbox PC app is growing tiresome, and I'd like to see more proactive efforts to match Steam's methods to distribute game patches from developers. We've reached out to the game's publisher, Deep Silver, and Microsoft for comments.

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