Microsoft Opens up Windows 10’s Game Bar to Third-Party Developers
- Mehedi Hassan
- Apr 08, 2020
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Back in 2019, Microsoft introduced a major update to Windows 10’s Xbox Game Bar feature with Spotify integration and a widget-based interface. The update made the Xbox Game Bar a lot more powerful than before, but it still didn’t allow users to access the in-game widgets from their other apps.
That’s changing soon, though. Microsoft is announcing the new Game Bar SDK (software development kit) this week, and it allows third-party developers to make widgets for the Xbox Game Bar in Windows 10.
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Xbox Game Bar is getting a new Widget Store to host these new third-party widgets, where users can browse and install the available widgets. From there, these widgets will show up as usual, and you will be able to make them appear in the Game Bar interface just like the existing Spotify widget, for example.
To kick things off, Microsoft is releasing two new widgets on the Widget Store. XSplit’s Gamecaster streaming app will now include an Xbox Game Bar widget, allowing users to control their streams right from the Xbox Game Bar without having to switch between apps. Razer is also releasing its Razer Cortex widget in beta which allows users to use Razer’s game performance booster tool to improve their gaming performance.
Microsoft says Intel will be releasing a widget for the Intel Graphics Command Center soon.
Developers interested in building widgets for the Xbox Game Bar can get started here.