Despite a push into gaming, support for games for Snapdragon X Elite PCs has been sparse. Microsoft and Qualcomm have successfully realized the Windows on Arm idea that's been in circulation for years with the release of Copilot+ laptops, but app support is still a pain point. Epic Games, along with Qualcomm, are trying to change that by bringing Fortnite and Easy Anti-Cheat to Snapdragon X Elite PCs this year.

Breaking down the hurdle of anti-cheat

Fortnite is just the start

The problem with running normal Windows apps on a Snapdragon X Elite PCs is that most of them are written for the x86 ISA and not the Arm ISA. Some apps have seen native ports to Arm while others rely on emulation -- and with shockingly good performance, at that. The problem with a game like Fortnite is Easy Anti-Cheat, which is the anti-cheat software developed and maintained by Epic Games. With kernel-level access to prevent cheating, a game like Fortnite can't simply run through an emulation layer.

Epic says that Fortnite will arrive for Snapdragon PCs later this year, and although that's a big announcement alone considering the massive player base of the game, it serves as a foundation for a far greater number of games to arrive on Snapdragon machines. Easy Anti-Cheat is used in hundreds of games -- you can see the full list on SteamDB -- including titles like Elden Ring, The Finals, Rust, and Fall Guys.

"Battle-testing Windows on Snapdragon anti-cheat support with Fortnite will help ensure smooth implementations in other games. We look forward to enabling players to enjoy their favorite Epic Online Services Anti-Cheat-enabled games on the latest Windows devices powered by Snapdragon X Series," Epic's blog post reads.

There are a ton of games with Easy Anti-Cheat, and although Epic and Qualcomm are opening the door for those games to run on Snapdragon PCs, that doesn't mean every title will receive support. Running the game through emulation could cause big performance losses, and many titles will never see an official port. However, adding Easy Anti-Cheat support is a step in the right direction, and it removes one of the hurdles that may have kept developers from bringing their games to Snapdragon PCs.