In September 2023, Microsoft announced the Instant Games feature, allowing users to play games without needing to download them from the Microsoft Store. While the announcement was made when the company launched the Moment 4 update in September 2023, the feature only began to roll out in February 2024. It was available under the new tab "Arcade," which sat just below the "Gaming" tab in the Microsoft Store.
Now, opening the "Arcade" tab of the Store shows a notification that Microsoft will remove the "Instant Games" starting November 14. This means that you won't be able to play games without downloading them from the Store.
Microsoft said, "Starting from 14th November, 2024, Arcade will be removed from the Microsoft Store. You can continue to download your games, but instant play will no longer be available." You can read this notification under the "Arcade" section description.
The instant games in the Microsoft Store offered users a convenient way to pass the time without sacrificing storage space. Users simply needed to open the "Arcade" section of the Store, select a game, and hit the "Play" button. Microsoft would then load a new window to launch the game instantly.
Unfortunately, it appears that Instant Games didn't gain much traction, and not many people were playing them as much as Microsoft had hoped, which could likely be the reason why the company decided to remove the feature from the store.
If you haven't tried Instant Games, you can still play them from the "Arcade" section of the Microsoft Store until the removal date. While the games themselves won't disappear, the feature that allows instant play without downloading will no longer be available. However, after the feature is removed, you will need to download games to play them.
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