Xbox Game Bar

Pros

• Stay in touch with friends without tabbing out
• Capture gameplay effortlessly
• Stream with ease
• Compatibility with controllers and keyboards

Cons

• Keyboard shortcut sometimes fails
• Crashes and bugs

Xbox Game Bar is a gaming overlay tool provided by Microsoft to help users stay in touch with friends and record/stream gameplay without needing additional software. The overlay is compatible with most games, and it is generally already bundled inside Windows 10. Although the screen capture feature in Xbox Game Bar was designed for use while gaming, it can also be used for simple desktop recording.

Gamers can manage and interact with their Xbox friends list from the overlay, and they can even search for new people to play with via the handy "Looking for Group" tool. There is even an impressive amount of support included for streamers.

How Does Xbox Game Bar Work?

As you can likely decipher from its name, Xbox Game Bar is software designed to help gamers be more efficient. If you've ever experienced the frustration of needing to frequently tab out of your game to use your screen capture software or communicate with friends at the Windows desktop, you're probably the exact type of gamer who can appreciate something like Xbox Game Bar.

The software itself is an overlay tool that only activates when you perform a certain keyboard shortcut while in-game or at the desktop. Once the overlay reveals, you'll be able to interact with friends, capture your gameplay, monitor your PC performance and resources, tweak audio settings, and more. You can display the overlay at any time by pressing the Windows key simultaneously with the "G" key on your keyboard. On the bar, you'll notice a customization menu that allows you to toggle the settings to which you'd like to have easy access.

The overlay falls short at times, particularly when the computer fails to recognize the shortcut being pressed. This can sometimes be remedied by alternating between "Full Screen" mode and "Windowed" mode in the graphics settings for the game you're playing. Xbox Game Bar is also known to randomly crash, which can interrupt gameplay capture.

Social and Gameplay Capture Utility for Casual Gamers

For anyone just looking for an easy-to-use solution for gameplay capture and social interaction, Xbox Game Bar is a solid solution. The interface is incredibly easy to use and the overlay itself does not feel laggy or slow. In some cases, you'll find that the overlay fails to appear despite using the keyboard shortcut, and it can sometimes be remedied with changing the viewing mode in the current game. Keep in mind that the overlay can also crash at random.

Pros

• Stay in touch with friends without tabbing out
• Capture gameplay effortlessly
• Stream with ease
• Compatibility with controllers and keyboards

Cons

• Keyboard shortcut sometimes fails
• Crashes and bugs