Microsoft is introducing a new Xbox Game Pass for PC widget on Windows 11. As Microsoft explains in a blog post, this widget will show the latest games coming to Game Pass and which titles are leaving soon. The widget will then take you to the Xbox app on PC where you can install games, see reviews and, of course, play the games you’ve selected.
The Game Pass apps on PC and mobile currently do a decent job of delivering this information. In that sense, the Windows 11 widget could seem redundant. But if you frequently use widgets (we’re sure these folks exist), having a dedicated PC Game Pass widget that launches the Xbox app should be a nice addition.
Microsoft says it’s also going to make it easier to sign in to your profile and dive back into recently played games. Personalized recommendations are also in the works.
If you’re a Windows Insider member, you can check out the PC Game Pass widget right now. Bring up the widgets board by clicking on the left corner of your taskbar or press Win + W. After that, click on the “plus” icon next to your user profile and click on the “plus” icon next to Game Pass. Close the widgets settings window and the Game Pass widget should appear in your widgets board.
In other Xbox app news, Microsoft recently rolled out a new Xbox PC app feature on Windows 11 called Game Performance Fit Indicator that should make it easier to see which games will run well on your computer. When you click on the details of a game, you’ll see a label that tells you if it runs well on PCs with specs similar to yours. If your PC can’t run a specific game, you can view its system requirements to get more information on what you need to run it.
These features demonstrate that Microsoft wants to make it simpler to play games on Windows 11. With Game Pass on PC receiving more titles all the time, it’s good to see the company continue making the experience more seamless. As for the new widget, we’ll need to test it for ourselves to see how useful it is.
