In September 2023, Microsoft announced the Windows 11 2023 Update and Surface upgrades, along with new features for the Microsoft Store, like “Instant Games.” This feature lets you play games directly from the Microsoft Store without downloading them. It began rolling out in February 2024, and now it’s going away on November 14, 2024.
We covered the roll out of Instant Games in February 2024, and while we liked the idea, we rightly pointed out that the new feature took longer than usual to begin rolling out to everyone.
Although announced in September 2023, Instant Games feature wasn’t available in the Microsoft Store for anyone until February 2024. Worse, wider roll out began much later.
It turns out that there weren’t too many people interacting with these Instant Games, which were more or less limited to Arcade category. In a statement, Microsoft confirmed “Instant Games” are going away starting November 14, 2024. This means you won’t be able to play these games without downloading them.
“Starting from 14th November, 2024, Arcade will be removed from the Microsoft Store. You can continue to download your games, but instant play will no longer be available,” the company said.
First spotted by Windows Latest, Microsoft has now also updated the Windows Store description under the Arcade section to reflect its decision.
If you have never tried Instant Games, you can still open the Arcade category in the Microsoft Store and try a few of them. These games would still be available, but you must download them to play. Right now, it’s possible to play Instant Games without downloading.
The idea of Instant games might remind you of old Flash games. They’re not of highest quality, but the games are fun to play, especially if you’re looking for time pass or just want to have fun.
Instant Games were supposed to make the Microsoft Store more engaging. In fact, Microsoft had worked with several game publishers to make Instant Games fun on Windows 11, and the company hoped “users [would] jump in and instantly play favorite casual game directly from the Microsoft Store”.
At the time of writing, Windows Latest noticed that there are up to 69 free-to-play acrade-themed games, including some that are pretty similar to Angry Birds.
I personally liked the idea of Instant Games, but it goes without saying that it had a slow roll out and it failed to gain traction because people do not use the Microsoft Store as frequently as they use Google Play.
Perhaps if some popular games were part of the Microsoft Store’s Instant Play catalogue, things would have been different.
