Microsoft presses forward with their Xbox gaming strategy on PC, and now Xbox Insiders using the Windows 11 PC Gaming Preview have the opportunity to experiment with Microsoft’s fresh, unified store platform.
In today’s blog update, Microsoft announced that Xbox Insiders can expect to use a fresh version of the Xbox app for Windows 11 starting this week. This updated app will consolidate popular gaming storefronts from other developers, though the blog post doesn’t specify which ones will be included.
My skepticism suggests that the omission of a prominent mention about Steam, the main PC game marketplace, implies it’s not included at the moment. However, I suspect we won’t have to wait too much longer to confirm this for ourselves.
On your gaming computer, you effortlessly discover information at no cost. By signing up for the PC Gaming Preview through the Xbox Insider application on Windows 11, you can become part of the testing group.
Microsoft indicates that the Xbox PC app will soon start identifying games you’ve installed from various PC gaming platforms and compile them within the library section of your Xbox PC app automatically. As of now, only Battle.net is visible in the screenshots, but Microsoft assures us that more PC game stores will be integrated in the future.
Absolutely! If you’re not interested in this feature, feel free to disable it by navigating to the settings panel’s library section.
When activated, it automatically adds games from various storefronts to your library and displays them in your recently played list on the sidebar for seamless navigation between different launchers. However, you’ll still need to open each launcher individually, so it doesn’t drastically alter the user experience. What it does provide is a more convenient way to browse and play games across multiple PC store apps using a controller, which will be advantageous when Xbox Ally launches later this year.
Microsoft is investing heavily in enhancing the Xbox performance on PCs across the board. The Xbox Companion (or Xbox Ally), set to debut, includes a feature that gathers games from the PC store. Additionally, it comes with new Windows features designed to make controlling the OS with a gamepad more user-friendly. However, we’ll have to wait and see if everything will be ready in time for the holiday season.
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2025-06-23 18:09