Windows 11 update is great news for PC gamers who use an Xbox controller
Windows 11 has a new preview build which brings in a smart feature for people who like to use their Xbox controller to play games on the PC.
The new preview build 22616 (for the dev and beta channels) is mostly all about a bunch of minor changes and fixes, with one major addition that’s targeted at gamers in the form of a new controller bar.
Said controller bar provides a compact view of the Xbox Game Bar and allows you to easily access your most recently played games – the last three you’ve run are present on the bar – or indeed recently used launchers. So, if you want to fire up Steam again, for example, that ability is just a button press away.
The controller bar can be invoked by hitting the Xbox button on your controller, and testers will see it appear the first time they connect an Xbox controller to their Windows 11 PC (if they’re in the dev or beta channels running this latest build, of course – and you must also be running version 5.722.5022.0 or better of Xbox Game Bar; hop over to the Microsoft Store to check for updates).
If you’re playing a game and you press the Xbox button, this will bring up the Xbox Game Bar that you’re used to seeing in-game.
Microsoft has full instructions of how to get up and running with this controller bar in build 22616 if you’re stuck in any way.
The new controller bar is in early preview, of course, so at this point anyone diving in with the feature can expect some bugginess. Indeed, Microsoft observes there are some games which may not show up in the recently played list of games – and you might see flaws where some titles appear twice – and as ever, feel free to report anything going awry in the Feedback Hub (under Gaming > Xbox Game Bar).
Suggestions for improvement will obviously be
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