Some two months back, Microsoft made known its intention to make the Windows 10 Game Bar a lot more versatile by adding in support for third-party widgets.
Well, that time is here.
The new Widget Store is available in beta in the latest Xbox Game Bar update that made its way out this week. Users are now treated to a pop up that announces the new Widget Store when they open the gaming overly.
To access this new repository, all you need to do is click on the Widget Menu on the left side of the Game Bar.
There are only a handful of widgets available now.
Understandably.
A total of just 7, including one for the Razer Cortex performance optimization app. There is another one for the popular game streaming app called XSplit. Timely arrival this, and should serve as a capable replacement for the built-in Mixer streaming feature that was recently removed from the Game Bar.
Very quietly, at that.
As you may imagine, the Xbox Game Bar widgets are actually installed from the Microsoft Store in the background. Some, however, require the installation of a desktop program to work. Like the abovementioned XSplit.
A couple of third-party browsers are also available, two of them. There is also a notes app that you can use to quickly write things when you are playing games. Back in April, Microsoft also announced that Intel Graphics Command Center will also be available as a widget, so that’s presumably coming soon.
Maybe Windows 10 applications like Skype or Mail will also find their place here?
The Xbox Game Bar has already become much more versatile with the addition of third-party widgets, and it’s now all up to developers to really make their presence felt here.
And make this the best gaming overly around.
