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You will soon be able to open non-Xbox games from the Xbox app, which could be a great way to further avoid the Epic Games Store

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Operating Systems

Good news for Windows handhelds: Microsoft is now letting you launch installed Steam, Battle.net, and other storefront games from the Xbox app

17 September 2025

Xbox is becoming more of an all-encompassing platform.

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(Image credit: Future)

Xbox on PC is now officially rolling out a feature that might have it become a single stop for all your games. As Xbox’s VP of Experiences Jason Beaumont explains, in addition to “updated app functionality”, one new feature currently rolling out on Windows is an “aggregated gaming library”. Beaumont has also announced that “cross-device play history” will be coming, but that will be later this month.

The main library aggregation update rolled out to Insiders a few months ago, but it looks like it’s now being released to non-Insiders in regular updates.
Those considering using aggregator apps like Playnite, in other words, might not need to do so anymore because they’ll be able to use the Xbox app to view their entire game library, not just games bought on the Xbox app itself. This will “show your installed games from multiple PC storefronts, including your Xbox library, Xbox Game Pass, Battle.net and other leading PC storefronts.”

Related Articles

You will soon be able to open non-Xbox games from the Xbox app, which could be a great way to further avoid the Epic Games Store

You can now stream Xbox-only games to your PC if you’re an Insider with Game Pass Ultimate

‘This is an Xbox’, Microsoft claims over an image of a car that will soon offer cloud game streaming

Getting to those storefronts should be easier, too, as you can use the new ‘My Apps’ tab in your library to house Battle.net and so on.

It’s worth noting, though, that third-party apps like Playnite and other aggregators might not be rendered completely redundant by this new Xbox feature. That’s because the new feature is only for installed games, whereas Playnite (for example) also acts as a home for owned but uninstalled games.
This also seems like more of a move for Windows handhelds—especially the Asus ROG Xbox Ally—than PCs, which explains why all the promo pics are all of the Xbox Ally. Although it’s nice to have all games from different platforms in one place on a desktop or laptop, it makes most sense for a handheld device where you’re expected to stay within the confines of the Xbox app, in the ‘full screen experience’.

(Image credit: Microsoft Xbox @ Xbox Wire)
It also fits in with Microsoft’s seeming push towards an all-encompassing platform.

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I’ve come up with a new term for the Microsoft Xbox platform: ‘Gloop’. The Gloop is a globby mass of various features and services all schlopped together into an increasingly large ball of putty. At least, that’s how my peculiarly abstract brain likes to think about it.
Microsoft is even claiming that game streaming inside a car ‘is an Xbox’. With it seeming like the ROG Xbox Ally handheld ‘console’ is, well, just a Windows handheld with some optimisations, and with Xbox expanding and pushing its cloud gaming services across various devices, Xbox is starting to become synonymous as just ‘whatever runs on the Xbox app.’
Thus: Gloop. I’m not complaining, it’s just a metaphor. You’re welcome. It only makes sense to throw our mutli-platform game libraries into that mix, I suppose.

Best handheld PC 2025All our current recommendations

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Hardware Writer

Jacob got his hands on a gaming PC for the first time when he was about 12 years old. He swiftly realised the local PC repair store had ripped him off with his build and vowed never to let another soul build his rig again. With this vow, Jacob the hardware junkie was born. Since then, Jacob’s led a double-life as part-hardware geek, part-philosophy nerd, first working as a Hardware Writer for PCGamesN in 2020, then working towards a PhD in Philosophy for a few years while freelancing on the side for sites such as TechRadar, Pocket-lint, and yours truly, PC Gamer. Eventually, he gave up the ruthless mercenary life to join the world’s #1 PC Gaming site full-time. It’s definitely not an ego thing, he assures us.

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You will soon be able to open non-Xbox games from the Xbox app, which could be a great way to further avoid the Epic Games Store

You can now stream Xbox-only games to your PC if you’re an Insider with Game Pass Ultimate

‘This is an Xbox’, Microsoft claims over an image of a car that will soon offer cloud game streaming

Windows on Arm gamers will be able to download Xbox app games locally but cloud gaming might still be a better option

The ROG Xbox Ally borrows a heck of a lot from the Steam Deck, proving that the old gated console concept is a thing of the past

Xbox emulator devs shoot down rumours they’re in cahoots with Microsoft to bring Xbox games to PC: ‘What f****** AI ChatGPT stuff have you been reading?’

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