The big picture: The end game appears to be one that gaming fans have been asking about for years - the ability to play Xbox games on the PC. Microsoft already controls two massive gaming platforms in the PC and the Xbox. Integrating the two in a meaningful way would seemingly be a win-win for all parties, save Sony.
Microsoft with its Windows Insider preview build 18334 asked participants to install a special version of State of Decay and report back any problems encountered during installation and when launching the game.
The tech giant didn't say much about what it was testing or what issues users might run into. This prompted a trio of Twitter users to dig a bit deeper and what they uncovered looks to be a major step forward for Microsoft's gaming ambitions.
The first oddity to note is the fact that State of Decay downloads from the Xbox distribution servers instead of the Microsoft Store server where PC games usually come from. The game is also packaged using a format called .xvc that was introduced for Xbox games in 2013 but installs using PowerShell.
During installation, you'll be asked to install a couple of drivers and even have to run through the legacy DX installation process.
Ars Technica points to Microsoft's recent work on its 2020 Windows release which reveals evidence of additional support for this new mechanism including support for Xbox's Direct3D variant on the PC.
Lead image courtesy amirraizat via Shutterstock