Snapdragon X2 Gets in the Game ⭐️

What a long, strange trip it’s been. Qualcomm’s magical Snapdragon X platform continues to impress with its terrific compatibility, performance, efficiency, and reliability across the board. But there’s one minor asterisk to the Snapdragon X story: Gaming. Despite promises early on that “games should just work,” the experience is uncertain, with lots of trial and error, mostly error.

That said, things have improved greatly over time.

Those interested in playing games on Snapdragon X PCs had to rely on the often out-of-date information on third-party websites like Windows on Arm Ready Software to try and figure out whether it was even worth trying to install whatever games. But more often than not, this ended in failure and disappointment. Today, we have a Snapdragon Control Panel on these PCs to ensure that the graphics drivers are current and the system is better optimized for games. You can also use it to configure individual features per-game, like Super Video Resolution.

When Microsoft first launched Windows 11 on Arm on Snapdragon X-powered Copilot+ PCs in mid-2024, the Xbox app was borderline useless and didn’t offer Game Pass downloads. But that changed in January 2026, though there’s no guidance in the app for games, like Call of Duty, that are too top-heavy to run well in emulation.

In late 2025, Epic Games released Fortnite and its Easy Anti-Cheat system on Windows 11 on Arm for Snapdragon, and my experiences gaming on my Snapdragon X Elite-based Surface Laptop 7 showed dramatic advances. I ran Fortnite, Control, and even The Callisto Protocol, a more modern and advanced title, at acceptable quality levels and frame rates.

But now it’s 2026, and Qualcomm’s second-generation Snapdragon X2 series chips are starting to enter the market via new PCs. I have an ASUS Zenbook A16 with the most powerful Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme chip waiting for me in Pennsylvania, but we won’t be back there for–checks calendar–a bit over three more weeks. Fortunately, Lenovo was kind enough to send me two PCs, the Snapdragon X2 Elite-based IdeaPad Slim 7x and the entry-level Snapdragon X2 Plus-based IdeaPad Slim 5x, to me here in Mexico. And so I can begin putting this new platform through its paces.

In doing so, it occurred to me that it’s time for another game check-in. How does the Snapdragon X2—especially the Elite version–impact the videogame experience? I will need to test many more games, and more Snapdragon X2-based PCs, to get the full picture. But my early testing on the IdeaPad Slim 7x and, to a lesser degree so far, the IdeaPad Slim 5x, shows some nice advances in both compatibility and performance.

Here’s what I’ve tried so far.

Half-Life 2

Source: Steam
Date released: 2004/2024 update
Installed on: IdeaPad Slim 7x (Snapdragon X2 Elite), IdeaPad Slim 5x (X2 Plus)

I installed Steam so I could check out some of the titles in my “Games that should work fine” collection, as discussed in Switcher 2026: Linux Gaming First Steps ⭐️. I started small, with this older game, but it still looks terrific, and it runs wonderfully on Snapdragon X2 Elite–and, as it turns out, Snapdragon X2 Plus, with no configuration whatsoever. It runs at native resolution, of course, with graphics details all on high, and at a pegged 60 FPS. Half-Life 2 is flawless on both PCs.

DOOM (2016)

Source: Steam
Date released: 2016
Installed on: IdeaPad Slim 7x (Snapdragon X2 Elite)

This game runs flawlessly at a consistent 30 FPS+ at the native 1920 x 1200 resolution. I ran it normally the first few times and then I enabled Video Super Resolution in the Snapdragon Control Panel, but I can’t see a difference. DOOM 2016 is hard-coded to max out at 60 FPS, from what I can tell, but I only see that frame rate in the menus. So I tried lowering the resolution to 960 x 540. The on-screen text looks horrible with that change, but the game looks fine, and the frame rates jumped up to 45-60 FPS during gameplay.

DOOM Eternal

Source: Xbox app, Xbox Game Pass
Date released: 2020
Installed on: IdeaPad Slim 7x (Snapdragon X2 Elite)

DOOM Eternal runs even better than its predecessor on Snapdragon X2 Elite, with a consistent 60 FPS at a reported 1600 x 900 (though the display is 1920 x 1200) and Auto SR enabled without me doing anything. I’m not sure why this experience is so different from that with DOOM 2016, but it’s impressive.

Control Ultimate Edition

Source: Steam
Date released: 2019
Installed on: IdeaPad Slim 7x (Snapdragon X2 Elite)

I’ve tested this game on multiple platforms, including my MacBook Air M3, where it runs poorly, and my iPad Air. On Snapdragon X Elite with Video Super Resolution enabled and the resolution configured to native (1920 x 1200), quality levels set to Low or Medium (mostly Low), and ray tracing off, Control gets 60-70 FPS. It looks good and plays great. One odd note: I had to install the .NET Framework 3.5 before I could play the game.

Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order

Source: Steam
Date released: 2019
Installed on: IdeaPad Slim 7x (Snapdragon X2 Elite)

This game requires an EA app install, which went fine, and it looks and runs wonderfully after a slow-ish initial load time that may just be normal. The graphics settings were initially set to “Epic,” but I changed those to “Medium” and enabled dynamic resolution scaling. I can’t see an FPS figure, but it looks and feels like 60 FPS. This one works surprisingly well.

Next steps

Given the successes noted above, I’m going to move on to some more demanding titles and see what happens. It’s not reasonable to expect a modern Call of Duty game to work, of course, but I’m curious where the line is. One thing is clear already, though: That line has moved, and in the right direction. The Snapdragon X2 Elite, especially, is quite impressive across the board, even for gaming.

More soon.