PC gaming is all about choice and customization, over the past year we’ve rolled out Xbox Game Bar updates focused on that. We’re working to give PC gamers greater control of their gaming experience from within Game Bar, delivering player-requested features like customizable UI, and widgets such as the FPS counter, Xbox chat, Audio Controls, Spotify music, XSplit’s HUD, and Razer’s Cortex and Gold & Silver. The response from players and partners alike has been incredible, and that’s why today we’re announcing a new round of updates: We’re officially launching the Game Bar Widget Store, which not only includes brand-new widgets from XSplit, Razer and Corsair, but also one of the first-ever independently developed widgets built for Destiny 2. We also have some new Xbox Game Bar functionality to share.
Expanding the Xbox Game Bar Widget Catalog
Check out the Game Bar SDK developer hub to get started with the SDK along with all the documentation and samples you’ll need to get up and running. The Game Bar team has been listening to developer feedback and evolving the Game Bar SDK to address issues and feature requests.
Ghost – Game Bar’s First Game Companion Widget
We’re introducing our first independently developed game companion widget: Ghost, a Destiny 2 companion widget that tracks progress during gameplay and provides instant access to bounties, quests and triumphs, plus functionality like previewing a Crucible map before loading in. While best paired with Destiny 2 on Windows 10 PC, game installation isn’t required – Ghost also tracks Bungie.net account stats and achievements on PC or console. Because Ghost is built on the Game Bar platform, it doesn’t rely on hacks like code injection or buffer hijacking for its overlay content. So you can rest assured that it plays well with anti-cheat.
Integrated Stream Editing and Audio Controls with XSplit’s Game Bar HUD
Following the beta release of XSplit’s Game Bar HUD widget in April, today the full V1.0 release is available from the Game Bar Widget Store, including some new features:
- Support for Broadcaster. XSplit’s flagship video mixing software is used to create live or recorded content. The Broadcaster update will initially be available to download in the Public Test Release version at XSplit.com, with a full rollout expected by the end of July. Users on the Public Test Release version will not need to update at the time of the full release. In order to access Broadcaster tools from the XSplit Game Bar HUD, users must have XSplit Broadcaster software installed on their Windows 10 PC.
- New Gamecaster controls including a new Audio Monitor to quickly check whether your streaming devices are muted and monitor audio levels, and the ability to pre-configure streams (settings, titles, categorization and other details) directly from the widget. Users must have the XSplit Gamecaster app (available at Xsplit.com) installed to use its tools from the widget.
Customize Your iCUE Lighting Effects with Corsair’s iCUE Widgets
Corsair is bringing its Corsair iCUE into Xbox Game Bar with brand new widgets that enable gamers to instantly change profiles and control the lighting displays on iCUE-supported devices:
- The iCUE Lighting widget provides access to Corsair’s assortment of Lighting Link patterns, such as Spiral Rainbow, Rainbow Wave, Visor, Type Lighting and more. Selected patterns will play over existing lighting configurations, providing an extra level of customization.
- The iCUE Profile Selector widget syncs with your iCUE software, providing seamless access to custom icons and folders. Switch between custom profiles to change lighting, macro assignments, and cooling settings right from the widget.
The iCUE Profile Selector and iCUE Lighting widgets can be downloaded as a bundle in the Game Bar Widget Store: Just look for the Corsair iCUE widget. These widgets require prior installation of the latest version of iCUE (v3.30 or newer), available on Corsair’s website, and can only be used with iCUE supported hardware.
Share Chroma RGB Experiences and Manage THX Spatial Audio Controls with Razer
Razer is bringing two new widgets to the Game Bar Widget Store:
- Chroma RGB for Twitch Streamers. With 16.8 million colors and a suite of unique lighting effects, the Razer Chroma RGB lighting system can be synced with Chroma-integrated games for a dynamic and immersive experience. With these new widgets, streamers on Twitch can share their lighting setup with viewers in real time – viewers’ Chroma-enabled devices will mimic the streamer’s as they play, no add-ons required.
- The THX Spatial Audio widget enables players to toggle on/off the immersive positional audio technology, as well as access EQ settings, sound modes, and device settings without leaving the game. Seamlessly check out different sound profiles on the fly to customize an immersive audio experience.
Both Razer widgets are coming soon to the Game Bar Widget Store, so stay tuned for more updates.
New Xbox Game Bar Features
In addition to all the widget goodness now available in the newly opened Game Bar Widget Store, we’re also delivering some highly requested features for the Game Bar itself:
- Click-through: While pinned overlays are useful, they get even better if you can click through them when playing games such as League of Legends, Dota 2, and StarCraft 2. Xbox Game Bar users now have control over mouse click-through behavior, so you can decide whether mouse clicks over a pinned widget should go to the widget, or through to your game.
- Transparency: We heard the feedback from both gamers and developers – you wanted widgets to support transparency, and today we’re announcing that it’s here. It’s a great complement to the click-through feature and makes Game Bar widgets even more versatile so you can enjoy full field of vision while taking advantage of the pinned overlay
In order to check out everything we introduced in this post, including the Game Bar Widget Store and new Xbox Game Bar features, press Win+G and navigate from there. If you have feedback to share, please send it our way – community input shapes the work we do on the Windows 10 gaming experience. From new features and functionality, to working with partners to make new widgets available, we look forward to building the Game Bar future with you.