Microsoft working on framerate lock issues for UWP games, fix coming later this year

Laurent Giret

As the Windows 10 Store recently welcomed its first AAA games such as Rise of the Tomb Raider and Gears of War, there has been some controversy about the performance of these games relying on the new Universal Windows Platform. We previously reported that these new UWP-enabled games currently had several limitations including the inability to disable Vsync (a technology that synchronizes your frames per second with your monitor’s refresh rate to eliminate “tearing”), but Microsoft’s Xbox and Windows gaming boss Mike Ybarra previously answered that the company would “fix it”.

However, if hardcore games may still find it hard to recommend Windows Store games right now, our colleagues at VentureBeat shared yesterday some reassuring news from Xbox product manager Jason Ronald who acknowledged these performance issues during a presentation at GDC last week. And according to him, the technical limitations of the Universal Windows Platform will soon be a thing of the past:

“Some of the early feedback we’ve gotten from the first wave of UWP-enabled games is that people don’t like that v-sync is locked to the refresh rate of the monitor or that there’s a lack of support for Gsync and Freesync. We’ve taken that feedback, and we’re actively working on fixes that we’re testing with some of our first-party studios. We’ll be shipping these later this year.”

More, Ronald also took the time to address the complaints from Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney who previously vowed to fight Microsoft on “walled garden” Windows Store:

“We’re listening to feedback. We say that all the time to the public and the gamer audience, but it’s true of developers as well. Feedback from developers and gamers is critical to our success. It directly affects our priorities and our roadmap.”

As Build 2016 is near, we hope to hear more about updates to the Universal Windows Platform very soon. Please tell us in the comments if the current UWP limitations prevent you from enjoying the best Windows Store games right now.