What you need to know
- The Windows 11 September 2023 update featured an Instant Games experience that allows users to play games directly from the Microsoft Store.
- There now seem to be more users accessing the Instant Games experience as users report getting an update today including the features.
- The Store features 69 free-to-play instant-access games reminiscent of the great Angry Birds and Newgrounds days.
We first covered this update back in September, and in the update, there was a new feature added to Windows that enabled instant-access games to the Microsoft Store. The games are free to play and obviously not the highest quality, but it reminds me of old Flash games or Facebook games that people used to play in their browsers all the time.
I tried out a few of the games and while they are fun, the biggest issue Microsoft has with these games is that nobody knows they exist. I could see a casual audience playing these games if they were more front-and-center and easier to play. At least they're free and don't require any download.
Are Microsoft's instant free games any good?
When the instant games feature first hit preview back in September, Microsoft explained the feature in a blog post.
Users can take advantage of Instant Games, a new experience that allows you to jump in and instantly play your favorite casual game directly from the Microsoft Store on Windows without the need to download and install on your Windows device. We’ve partnered with game publishers to be able to bring this experience to our collection of casual games.
Microsoft
There are a lot of users that might have already had access to these games. However, some users have reported online that the update seems to be rolling out to more users as they have noticed the new collection available in the Windows PC storefront today. I counted how many games are currently available and there are 69 available in a lot of different genres.
Will Microsoft's Instant Games move the needle at all?
Honestly, with the success of games like Candy Crush, which Microsoft just acquired through its purchase of King as part of the Activision Blizzard King buyout, there is clearly a market for these smaller mobile-type games. This type of delivery mechanism could work great for Microsoft, especially if they can get King games added to the service as free, instant no-download games.
The other issue Microsoft has here though is how few people are going to the Microsoft Store trying to kill time. Microsoft would have much better success pushing these types of experiences out to higher-traffic areas of their commercial offerings. I think they would be a great addition to Microsoft Teams as a way to kill time in an enterprise setting for workers. Sure, employers might not like the idea, but Teams already has a Games tab available, and this could add to that.
In the current state, I doubt that many people will be taking advantage of these free games, but I think there could be a day when Microsoft has more integration with casual users, potentially through their Copilot efforts, which could lead to a world where there is a big user desire for on-demand small games like these.
They could even integrate these into Copilot to play on the side while waiting for Copilot responses, or waiting for Copilot to get through a long task. Microsoft's focus on gaming is only a good thing as the recent Microsoft earnings report showcased how important Xbox and gaming will be in Microsoft's future, with the addition of Activision Blizzard and King's financial data giving the division a huge boost.
Will you be trying out some of these games when you need to kill a few minutes? Let us know in the comments.
