Buying a game on Windows Store? Soon you won’t have to worry about drivers
Help is at hand for less tech-savvy gamers
Microsoft is obviously keen to make the Windows Store a more compelling outlet to purchase from, and is adding a new string to the store’s bow when it comes to games in the form of bundling graphics card drivers.
This functionality will be introduced with the Creators Update for Windows 10, and the plan is that when you buy a game from the store, the installation of the title triggers a download and install of the minimum drivers required for your card to be able to play the game without running into any glitches (or worse still, all-out crashes).
As Microsoft observes, new AAA titles often require one of the latest driver releases which have been specifically tweaked with these games in mind, and less tech-savvy users might be running older drivers which could cause problems.
Having the drivers automatically updated to a fully compatible version, and avoiding having to visit third-party graphics vendor sites to search for drivers, will obviously be a boon for the novice computer user.
- Some of the best PC games of 2016 are found on the Windows Store
Staying in control
That said, not everyone will want their drivers messed with by Windows – they might be avoiding a newer version for a good reason, such as it being hampered by bugs for example – and so hopefully there will be an option to turn off bundled drivers for those who don’t need a helping hand. Or at least skip the installation.
As mentioned, this facility will come with the next major update of Windows 10, which is known as the Creators Update, and is due to land next spring.
Microsoft will certainly be feeling the need to push positive aspects of the Windows Store when it comes to gaming, particularly after the whole Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare debacle whereby players couldn’t find opponents to compete against online (because the few who bought via the Windows Store couldn’t game against the bigger population of Steam buyers).
Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox
Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
But it’s very much an uphill battle against the well-established might of Steam.
Via: MS Poweruser
- You can find some of the best free games on the Windows Store
Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).