US EditionWindows 11's Steam Deck-Ish, Streamlined Xbox Gaming UI Comes to All PCs in April
Xbox Mode brings a controller-optimized, full-screen Xbox interface to Windows 11 PCs, enhancing game load times with Advanced Shader Delivery, Microsoft announced at GDC.
- Starting next month, Microsoft will roll out Xbox mode to Windows 11 PCs in select markets including the US, renaming its full-screen Xbox UI for laptops, desktops, and tablets.
- Microsoft isn't waiting for Helix, pushing Windows gamers toward Xbox now rather than waiting for Project Helix, which Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announced last week with dev kits arriving next year and alpha in 2027.
- At GDC, Microsoft detailed developer-facing updates such as opening Advanced Shader Delivery to all Xbox Store developers to speed loads and adding Zstandard compression and a Game Asset Conditional Library to DirectStorage.
- Xbox mode makes desktops become an Xbox home screen showing Xbox Game Pass and PC games, offering a controller‑optimized full‑screen UI that disables Start menu and taskbar to save RAM and energy.
- As Microsoft marks its 25th anniversary later this year, it says it will roll out the full-screen Xbox UI to Windows 11 PCs, after offering the preview since last November on the Asus ROG Xbox Ally handheld.
13 Articles
13 Articles
Microsoft Will Soon Let You Use Any Windows 11 PC Like an Xbox
Microsoft's next-gen Xbox isn't an Xbox. Or it isn't just an Xbox, anyway: While the rumored console will undoubtedly play Xbox games, "Project Helix," as it's codenamed, will reportedly also play PC titles. That's huge news for gamers who usually have to decide whether to buy a console for the convenience, or a PC for the potential. 'Xbox mode' lets you access games on your PC with a controllerBut while Project Helix is still a ways off (we won…
Microsoft’s ‘Xbox mode’ is coming to every Windows 11 PC
Microsoft seems more determined than ever to combine Xbox and Windows - to the point that its next-gen Xbox, codenamed Project Helix, will play PC games too. Today, we learned Helix will go alpha in 2027. But the company isn't waiting for Helix before it points Windows gamers in the Xbox direction. Starting in April, it's bringing its full-screen Xbox mode to every kind of Windows 11 PC, including laptops, desktops, and tablets. And it's renamed…
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