Microsoft is adding more functionality to the Xbox Game Bar on PC. This is Windows’ built-in gaming command center. You can bring up the Game Bar at any time in a game by hitting Win+G, and now doing so will give you access to widgets for external apps as well.
The Widget Store is coming to the Xbox Game Bar today. This gives you options to plug in controls for broadcasting tools like XSplit’s Gamecaster. While Game Bar has its own recording and streaming options, many people prefer the capabilities of something like Gamecaster. But the problem with that is you may have to alt-tab out to the software to make changes. XSplit’s widget changes that.
Today, you can find the Widget Store in Xbox Game Bar where you can subscribe to GameCaster. You could also add Razer Cortex or Intel Graphics Command Center, both of which enable you to boost your system for gaming. But now you can get all of those features without having to minimize your game window.
But these are only the early partner widgets. Microsoft is also releasing the Game Bar SDK into beta today. This enables anyone to build a widget for Game Bar, which could introduce any number of powerful tools to the overlay. Depending on how friendly the SDK is, we should start to see these new widgets popping up soon.
Author: Jeff Grubb.
Source: Venturebeat
