Microsoft's 2022 New Year's resolution should be fixing the Xbox app on PC

Xbox Game Pass PC Source: Matt Dark-brown | Windows Central

Microsoft'southward industry-dominating Xbox Game Pass service has given the Xbox platform a huge advantage over the past couple of years, drawing endless fans into the Xbox ecosystem with its gargantuan all-you-can-eat game buffet and an affordable monthly cost. As role of the company's effort to directly branch out into the PC gaming infinite, Microsoft has too launched PC Game Pass, a PC version of Game Pass that offers the same benefits for people that prefer to play games on Windows.

Unfortunately, unlike the Xbox Game Laissez passer feel on panel, the PC Game Pass feel was very disappointing for quite some fourth dimension. PC Game Pass but wasn't proficient enough, as users were forced to bargain with UWP app delivery issues that broke game installations, dependency on the wearisome, glitchy Windows 10 version of the Microsoft Shop, an Xbox app that wasn't much better, and uncommonly poor mod support.

The arrival of Windows 11 fixed a lot of these problems, and Microsoft also made the wise decision to motility everything to the Xbox app on PC instead of splitting the PC Game Pass feel between information technology and the Microsoft Shop ane. Withal, there's still 1 glaring flaw that Microsoft hasn't addressed: the quality of the Xbox app on PC.

Xbox App on PC Source: Windows Central Data in each tab of the Xbox App oft takes a painfully long time to load.

In my feel, the biggest issue with the Xbox app is that information technology can oftentimes be incredibly slow and buggy to use. It's better than the Microsoft Store was in Windows 10, but it'due south notwithstanding far from being in an adequate country. Buttons for installing or updating my games often just don't work, forcing me to relaunch the app. Video game box fine art on the storefront sometimes won't load at all, making it impossible to run into what games I'thousand looking at. I've even had the app not prove me an option to update my games despite the developer releasing a patch, preventing me from accessing official bug fixes (this locks you out of playing multiplayer games completely).

These are only my issues though. Other users have reported bug like game libraries not displaying correctly, preloaded games not launching properly once they release, and the app hogging a significant corporeality of system resources. Overall, the state of the app is simply unacceptable.

The Xbox app is slow, unreliable, and lacks the utility that PC gamers take come up to expect.

The app's organization filters also either don't make sense or work correctly. For case, why are there tags for "Xbox One X Enhanced" and "Optimized for Xbox Series X|S" games on PC? Why does the storefront only show me ane game when I select the "120 FPS" tag, despite the fact that a large portion of the PC Game Pass library supports that framerate? Why doesn't "Deject enabled" show me pop titles available through Xbox Cloud Gaming like Halo Infinite and Bounding main of Thieves? Compared to the reliable and authentic filters on Steam, the Xbox app's are atrocious.

Compared to other PC storefronts, the Xbox app is as well lacking on the quality-of-life front. You tin't organize your installed games into custom collections or move your game installations to a different folder or drive, and there's no mode to run across your playtime or check out what the latest patch notes for recent updates. The Social tab of the app is lacking, besides, as information technology merely shows y'all your friends list and recent posts made by friends without giving you a manner to create and engage with groups and communities like you tin on Xbox.

Xbox App on PC Source: Windows Fundamental

At the stop of the mean solar day, there's no getting around it: The Xbox app is slow, unreliable, and lacks the utility that PC gamers take come to expect. That's disappointing, as the potential of PC Game Pass is huge and shouldn't be held back by frustrating stability issues and absent-minded features. At that place's no dubiousness in my mind that PC Game Pass would be significantly more popular than information technology is right now if the Xbox app user experience wasn't then flawed.

If Microsoft wants PC Game Pass and its overall button into the PC gaming infinite to abound and succeed like Xbox Game Pass did, it needs to address the Xbox app's numerous shortcomings in 2022 — sooner rather than later. It's crucial that Microsoft offers robust software that makes playing and engaging with the best PC games like shooting fish in a barrel and frustration-free, and correct at present, the Xbox app simply isn't cutting it.

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Xbox Game Pass gives you access to over 200 games for one monthly fee. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate as well adds PC Game Pass as well as Xbox Live Gold to the packet and then you tin can play online with your friends. You also get access to EA Play.

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