BlueStacks teams up with MSI to offer PCs with Android gaming capability built in

BlueStacks 4

BlueStacks - creator of BlueStacks App Player, which lets users play Android games on Windows and Mac – has teamed up with MSI to pre-install its software on new gaming PCs.

“PC gaming has emerged as a growth market driven by eSports, streaming and games like PUBG and Fortnite. Today, most PC manufacturer’s gaming laptops and PCs represent a big percentage of their margin and growth,” says Clark Peng, vice president, head of product management for MSI.

“By integrating BlueStacks deeply to create this new category of mobile gaming devices, we are giving something that users need while expanding our potential market considerably. For the last five years we have seen PCs lose to mobile devices, we will reverse that trend in the gaming market.”

Android on the big screen

The partnership coincides with the launch of BlueStacks 4 – a major upgrade from the software's previous version, running Android Nougat.

BlueStacks 4 offers a simplified interface, the ability to run multiple instances of the same game simultaneously, recommendations based on games you've previously installed and played, an updated installer that preserves your data when upgrading to a new version, new keymapping for more natural control in games, improved language support, and the ability to keep games running in the background when switching to non-Android tabs.

Because it runs on desktops and laptops, BlueStacks offers much faster speeds than mobile devices (up to six times faster than the Samsung Galaxy S9), plus the convenience of PC controls.

“BlueStacks 4 represents a major new architecture for BlueStacks. Deep integration between Android runtime and Windows and its patented on-demand architecture has multiplied the performance gains," said Surman Saraf, chief technology officer of BlueStacks.

"Also working closely with game developers and with several technological breakthroughs we have been able to produce smooth gameplay using the keyboard and mouse”.

BlueStacks 4 is available to download now for macOS and Windows.

Cat Ellis

Cat is the editor of TechRadar's sister site Advnture. She’s a UK Athletics qualified run leader, and in her spare time enjoys nothing more than lacing up her shoes and hitting the roads and trails (the muddier, the better)