If Xbox Game Pass for PC brought many new quality games to the Microsoft Store since last year, the new Xbox app for Windows 10 shows that the company is serious about PC gaming. Indeed, Windows Central is reporting today that the Xbox app on Windows 10 now shows which games support the installation of mods.
If the Xbox app has a built-in Store section showing PC games only (read: Candy Crush and other mobile-first games are absent), the app still uses the Microsoft in the background for game downloads. Still, Windows Central found in the Xbox app that Into the Breach is one of the few PC games that currently supports mods, and we found another one with State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition. Unfortunately, the Xbox app has no search filter to surface games with mod support, though we don’t know yet if other Microsoft Store games already support mods.
When you click the “Enable mods” on the store listing of a game that supports them, the Xbox app will display a pop up to warn users that some things could break. If you go forward, the app will provide easy access to the game’s Mods folder.
Microsoft hasn’t really discussed mod support for Microsoft Store games so far, but this is all happening because the Store finally got support for Win32 apps games. Until last year, games in the Microsoft Store all had to use the UWP format, which doesn’t allow users to modify files. This is a small but important step, even though other digital stores such as Steam have completely embraced mods many years ago.
It remains to be seen if Microsoft will discuss mod support during its June Xbox 20/20 update, which will be dedicated to platform updates. However, Microsoft has yet to announce when the digital event will happen, and the company may not want to hurry as the massive protests in the US continue to push tech giants to listen to the African American voices.
