Xbox App

Windows 11 includes an Xbox app that works like a software version of an Xbox videogame console. It lets you install and play PC games you've purchased from Xbox, install and play PC games from a paid PC Game Pass or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, and stream Xbox console games from the Xbox Cloud Gaming service (which requires a paid Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription).

Put another way, the Xbox app is a front-end to Microsoft's PC-based Xbox products and services and isn't a more general front-end to PC gaming. If you acquire PC games from elsewhere, or subscribe to other videogame services, those titles will not appear in the Xbox app. Interestingly, this includes most of the games you acquire from the Microsoft Store: aside from the subset of titles that are part of the Xbox ecosystem, most of those titles will not appear in the Xbox app either.
So what does it mean to be part of the Xbox ecosystem? Among other things, Xbox-compatible PC games offers in-game achievements, the ability to find and play with your friends who are also on Xbox, multiplayer capabilities, a way to share in-game screenshots and video clips with others, and in some cases, cross-play functionality so that you can play in games with others who use Xbox consoles.
Get to know the Xbox app
The Xbox app is straightforward and easily understood. It's a modern Windows 11-style app with a non-collapsible navigation bar on the left and a larger content area on the right.

The following interfaces are available:

Xbox profile and settings. The top entry in the navigation bar represents your Xbox profile, and it displays a short menu when selected with options related to that profile, the app settings interface, and more. You can display and customize your Xbox profile by selecting "View profile" from the menu.

Notifications. You can toggle the Notifications icon (which looks like a bell) next to the Xbox profiles entry in the navigation bar to display a Notifications pane that displays recent Xbox notifications in reverse chronological order.

Game Pass. Here, PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can find games associated with their membership and download them to their PCs.

We discuss this functionality later in the chapter, in PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
My Library. Here, you can find links to the Xbox-compatible games you've marked to play later, the Xbox-compatible games that are installed on your PC, and the games that you've purchased in the past from Xbox.

You can learn more about your Xbox library in the section Manage your library of Xbox games for PC below.

Cloud Gaming. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can stream a selection of Xbox console games to their PCs using a service called Xbox Cloud Gaming. If you are such a member, you can access this service here.

We discuss this service more in Stream games from the cloud with Xbox Cloud Gaming, below.
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