With its newest update for Windows 10 PC, Microsoft aims to improve the overall gaming experience of its PC players.
As part of its commitment to bring a vastly improved experience to Windows gaming, Microsoft has announced the new and improved Xbox Game Bar, which is now live for all Windows 10 users. The Xbox Game Bar, if you’re unfamiliar – probably due to the fact that Nvidia GeForce Experience or its AMD counterpart already exist – is a customizable gaming overlay built into Windows 10 machines. Xbox Game Bar has full integration with all PC games, regardless of their launchers or age.
The Xbox Game Bar gives you instant access to widgets for various functions like screen capture, sharing, music control, finding new teammates with LFG (looking for group) and chatting with your Xbox friends across all supported platforms, be it Xbox One consoles, mobile phones or your PC. All of these you are free to do without leaving your game, or ‘alt-tabbing’ out of it. It’s a pretty convenient and nifty feature that’s a great built-in plug-in with every Windows 10 installation.
If you have not tried it out yet, you can access the Xbox Game Bar by pressing the Windows Key and the ‘G’ key at the same time – ‘Win + G’ – and it will bring the bar up for view. Some features are available even while you’re not in a game, so you can easily try it out for yourself. The Xbox Game Bar is also integrated into almost all known PC games, plus you can even set up your own custom keyboard shortcut to open it up.
Here are some features of the new and improved Xbox Game Bar.
- Spotify integration – for the audiophiles who enjoy background music in their gaming sessions. The Xbox Game Bar allows for seamless integration with your Spotify account, including access to all of its playback features. You do need to have the Spotify Windows app for it to work, which you can download from the Microsoft Store.
- Friends, chat, Mixer and LFG – social features integrated into the Xbox Game Bar allows you to chat with your friends across all Xbox platforms. The LFG feature will match you with players using a similar playstyle, all without having to access a third-party app. All conversations are synced within apps, so you can switch between devices and still be up to date.
- Broadcast and capture – broadcasting yourself has been made easier, with your captures fed directly into your various social media accounts to share with your friends. You can now also add some overlay text to your screenshots for if you want to ‘meme’ it with your ‘fellow kids.’
- Customizable UI – the UI for the Xbox Game Bar can now be fully customized to your liking, allowing you to show or hide elements as you see fit.
The new and improved Xbox Game Bar is up now on any Windows 10 PC, so check it out. It may be a worthwhile replacement to some third-party apps you’re using.
