Xiaomi has unveiled the WinPlay Engine, a new virtualization tool that promises users to play Windows games locally on Android devices with minimal performance loss. While the company has kept details under wraps, this tool appears to serve as a simplified alternative to Winlator, a popular software for running Windows applications on non-Windows devices.
How WinPlay Engine Works
The WinPlay Engine utilizes a three-layer virtualization system, powered by Xiaomi’s proprietary HyperCore kernel. Currently in the internal beta phase, the tool is compatible with a limited number of devices. Notably, the Xiaomi Pad 6S Pro is the only device that supports the engine at this time, though other flagship Xiaomi devices may gain access in the future.
The Pad 6S Pro, which comes equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, is well-suited for gaming and is capable of running Windows games. Xiaomi has reported that the GPU performance loss while using WinPlay Engine is only 2.9%, a figure that is relatively low and promises a smooth gaming experience.
Early Preview and Performance
In an early preview shared by Digital Chat Station, the Xiaomi Pad 6S Pro was shown running popular Windows titles such as Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2012 and Tomb Raider 2013. While the video didn’t show FPS counters, it clearly demonstrated the smooth gameplay on the Android tablet, hinting at the tool’s potential for gaming on Android.
Steam and Game Installation
Xiaomi’s announcement also mentioned that Steam can be installed through WinPlay Engine, but it remains unclear if users will be able to seamlessly install and run their Windows game library directly from Steam.

Looking Ahead
Though still in its beta phase, WinPlay Engine has the potential to change the landscape of gaming on Android devices by enabling the playability of Windows games with near-native performance. It will be exciting to see how Xiaomi refines and expands the tool to bring Windows gaming to a broader range of Android devices in the future.
Source(s) Xiaomi on Weibo and Digital Chat Station
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