Microsoft Powers Up Windows 10's Game Bar With Truly Useful Tools For PC Enthusiasts

Performance tracking, Spotify integration, better volume management tools, and cross-platform chat are available to Windows Insiders starting now.

- Hayden Dingman

Aside from bringing its Xbox games over to the PC, Game Bar is arguably the best gesture Microsoft’s made to Windows 10 gamers. It adds a tiny bit of console-esque simplicity to the PC, letting you take screenshots, record video, or stream games with simple system-level shortcuts. But...I never use it. It’s my third tier preference for screenshots and video, after the tools built into Steam and Nvidia’s Shadowplay.

Microsoft’s looking to move up in the world though, and it’s doing so by adding a lot more functionality to Game Bar over the next few months—most of it unique to Game Bar, i.e., not duplicated by Steam or Shadowplay. In fact, Game Bar isn’t really a fitting name anymore. Game Overlay might be more appropriate, albeit less elegant.

SWISS ARMY KNIFE

Windows Xbox Insiders now have access to a new and expanded Game Bar. And the foundation of this new Game Bar? A fully customizable interface. As I said, it’s more an overlay than a bar at this point, a translucent window where you can add various widgets—or pin them, so they’re still visible while you play.

[UPDATE: Turns out it’s even easier to get access than I thought. This new Game Bar falls under the Xbox Insiders program and not Windows Insiders. You can get access right now by grabbing the Xbox Insider Hub from the Windows 10 Store, click on Insider Content, and look for Windows Gaming. That should get you set up with the new Game Bar. If you’re not seeing the Windows Gaming option, you might need to check and make sure you’re running the latest version of Windows.]