While the new Windows Store seems to be a much-improved iteration of its predecessor, PC players are still unable to install mods for games downloaded from the Microsoft Store… but not for much longer, it seems.
Despite claims from Microsoft that modding would be supported, there didn't seem to be a way to access game files in the directory to make important changes - say, to turn Sekiro's Great Serpent into Thomas the Tank Engine - but now an eagle-eyed Reddit user has revealed the discovery of a folder called "ModdableWindowsApps" that has apparently been squirrelled away within the "Program Files" folder.
"Microsoft mentioned working on adding official modding support to Win Store games so that it's easier to mod them but we haven't heard anything from them since," said u/Pycorax on Reddit (thanks, PCGN). "As of the current Windows build, it seems that a new 'ModdableWindowsApps' folder has appeared in the 'Program Files' folder. I looked it up and details about it can be found [on the Microsoft Dev Center]."
Sure enough, a note on Windows Dev Center informs developers the change "specifies a folder under the %ProgramFiles%\ModifiableWindowsApps path where the contents of your desktop application's install folder are projected so that users can modify the installation files (for example, to install mods)".
Right now, however, "this element is currently intended to be used only by certain types desktop [sic] of PC games that are published by Microsoft and [its] partners", so there's no confirmation quite when the feature might roll out, nor how many developers will permit it. But at least we know it is happening now, which should be very good news indeed for PC players yet to pull the trigger on Microsoft's new Xbox Game Pass for PC.
Whether you're fighting Thomas the Tank Engine or the Great Serpent, our Sekiro bosses guide can give you all the know-how you need.
