An evolution of the Xbox Full Screen Experience
- by Ben Kerry
As part of this week’s GDC news, Microsoft has announced ‘Xbox Mode‘ for Windows 11 PCs, and it sounds like a big step forward for the team’s existing Xbox Full Screen Experience.
Xbox Mode will be a new way to play games on PC starting next month, aiming to streamline the Windows gaming experience. Much like the ‘Full Screen Experience’ that works on the likes of the ROG Xbox Ally, this mode will allow you to launch into a gaming OS of sorts, while stripping back some of the other Windows functions that you don’t need for just playing games.
Xbox Mode looks and sounds like an evolution of the Full Screen Experience, then, and one that Microsoft will be putting a big focus on over the next few years.
“Starting in April, Xbox mode will start rolling out to users in select markets on all Windows 11 PC form factors, including laptops, desktops and tablets, bringing the experience to a broader set of devices. Xbox mode makes it easier for players to jump into a streamlined, full‑screen, dedicated gaming experience whenever they want to lean back and play.
Xbox mode delivers a controller-optimized experience to your Windows 11 device, letting players browse their library, launch games, use Game Bar and switch between apps. Designed to keep players immersed, the experience features a clean, distraction-free interface, while still giving them the flexibility to seamlessly switch back to the Windows desktop at any time.”
If you feel like you’ve heard about this before, well, something very similar did roll out to Xbox Insiders late last year. At the time, Microsoft was yet to name it ‘Xbox Mode’, but that Insider feature did aim to bring an ROG Xbox Ally-like experience to a broader set of Windows PC users. This week’s announcement is a broadening of that program even further, and a step towards the future for Microsoft Gaming.
A future where, as we now know, console and PC will merge much closer together for Xbox. In recent weeks, Microsoft has announced that its next-gen Project Helix console will play Xbox and PC games – and we’re very much expecting the device to have an operating system that’s closely modelled off this new Xbox Mode, and how it evolves in the run up to the console’s launch.
What are your thoughts on this, folks? Discuss Xbox Mode with us down in the comments section below.
Ben is a News Writer at Pure Xbox, and is a fan of action, racing and straight-up shootin’ in any Xbox game he can get his hands on. When he’s not clutching an Xbox controller like his life depends on it, Ben spends his time listening to music that’s far too old for him, watching football on the telly and probably eating somewhere.
