Microsoft is making (another) big push into PC gaming. Windows overwhelmingly dominates PC gaming, sure, but Microsoft has struggled to marry its massive Windows userbase with the Xbox brand. That's apparently changing, as Microsoft aims to make Windows the "number one platform for gaming." That starts with what Microsoft calls an "Aggregated Gaming Library" in the Xbox PC app, which will automatically scan games from storefronts like Steam and add them to the Xbox PC app. The goal is clear — make a single launcher for everyone's PC games and lay the foundation for devices like the ROG Xbox Ally X.

It's a noble goal, but there's one problem: the Xbox PC app looks terrible now. Microsoft has started rolling out the unified library to Xbox Insiders, and my machine was on the list for an update. As much as Microsoft is clearly trying to make the Xbox PC app a mainstay, the unified library has given me even less reason to ever interact with the app.

This is embarrassing, Microsoft

Bottom of the barrel feels generous

Stick with me for a minute here. The unified library in the Xbox PC app looks terrible, and you can plainly see that when looking at the screenshots above. But the problems with the unified library go beyond esthetics. It's also woefully unusable.

All the update does is scan your game folders for executables and add a shortcut, fit with a low-res, blown-up icon, to your Xbox library. By default, it integrates with Steam and the Epic Games Store, but integrations with the EA App and Ubisoft Connect are still available; they've been around for a while. That's it, and I really mean that's it. The Xbox PC app finds an executable and adds it to the app with the icon assigned to that executable. It doesn't matter how terrible that icon looks, if it's broken, or if the Xbox PC app fails to pick up on what the icon is. What you see in the app is what you get.

Indie darling Pseudoregalia is the Unreal logo. Slay the Spire is the Java logo. And both Elden Ring: Nightreign and Halo: The Master Chief Collection are represented by the BattlEye logo. Perhaps the most embarrassing example of this is Doom: The Dark Ages. This game, which was published by Microsoft, shows up in the Xbox PC app with the id Tech 8 logo. That's why I say the integration doesn't do anything more than scan for executables. Nightreign launches BattlEye before loading the game, and Doom shows a warning from id Tech 8 before launching the actual game.

At best, this is an extremely lazy attempt at a unified library, but it gets worse. If the logo is wrong, or it looks terrible, or the Xbox PC app decided not to pick up on a logo in the first place, you're out of luck. There are no customization options at all. You can't update the logo, change the name, add metadata, or do anything else other than launch the executable file from the Xbox PC app. It's unironically worse than adding a shortcut to your desktop. The best you can do is hide all your games from these integrations.

That can pose issues, too. For instance, the official score for Mafia: Definitive Edition showed up in the Xbox PC app because I have the files saved in my "Music" folder within Steam. I can't remove or hide it from the Xbox PC app, nor can I get rid of things like SteamVR that I don't want gumming up my library. You also can't search for games in your library, nor can you use the vast majority of the filtering options in the library view because these non-Xbox apps don't have any metadata.

Don't get it twisted — this could easily be so much better

It's literally right there

It's not just the fact that the integration with Steam and the Epic Games Store is lazy. It's that they could be so much better so easily. Although it's easy to forget, the Xbox PC app isn't just for PC Game Pass. Microsoft has a huge catalog of games that it sells through the Xbox PC app that aren't, and never have been, available on Game Pass. It has a massive database of games, complete with artwork, tags, metadata, and so much more. There are descriptions for every game, achievements for games where they're available, and recommendations for other similar games which are almost certainly based off of tags.

Microsoft — one of the wealthiest companies in the world that posted over $170 billion in revenue and $88 billion in profit last year — can't figure out how to tie that database to your library? It's right there. Even if Microsoft did as little as connect the dots for its first-party titles, that'd be better than what's available now. That's not to mention the treasure trove of game databases online from TheGamesDB to IGDB. Microsoft can do these types of integrations, too. With all Xbox PC titles, you get a HowLongToBeat section in your library, for example. Non-Xbox games? Nope, nothing.

Understandably, there are some things a unified launcher like this can't do. You can't manage your installation or track your achievements, for example, nor can you easily manage screenshots that are stored in a completely different location. It doesn't need to be a flawless app where all of your non-Xbox games come complete with all the features available for Xbox games. I'm under no illusions that's possible, much less practical. But there isn't so much as an attempt here.

This update isn't available broadly yet, and Microsoft ships half-baked software to Insiders all the time. The integration here feels more like a mock-up than some sort of beta software, though. It feels like a proof of concept to show that the Xbox PC app can add executables from other locations to your library, not an early version of software that should be going out to even Insiders. Even the most basic of customization options, like hiding an app or changing the logo, would make the integrations leagues better, but they're nowhere to be found.

This is hurting, not helping

You know what they say about first impressions

You might argue that something is better than nothing. You couldn't launch any external games in the Xbox app before, and now you can. I'd argue that Microsoft should be held to a higher standard. Integrating the Xbox library with other storefronts is nothing unique, and it should be something that Microsoft should be able to accomplish considering it's arguably the wealthiest software company in the world. It's also hard to have sympathy for a company that's eliminated over 20,000 roles over the past two years while posting record-breaking profits.

This is supposedly Microsoft's first big push at bringing the Xbox brand more in-line with PC, and it does little more than show how far behind the Xbox PC app really is. Steam handles non-Steam apps better, of course, but there are plenty of other unified launchers available. GOG Galaxy is the most prominent example, probably, and there are open-source tools like Playnite that not only offer better library management, but also a trove of extensions contributed by the community. But it's not just these unified launchers that are better.

Even apps that you probably never interact with do a better job scanning your games and adding them to a library. The Nvidia app handles it better. So does AMD Software. Right now, I'm in the process of reviewing an Alienware laptop, and even the mediocre Alienware Command Center does a better job. Microsoft is primarily a software company, and it can't even manage to match the library scanning capabilities of half-baked apps from hardware companies. If this is what Microsoft's push to bring Xbox and Windows closer together looks like, I don't want any part of it.

It's hard to extend Microsoft grace right now

Let's not baby Microsoft like some bootstrapping startup

It's hard not to criticize Microsoft in this moment. There are the layoffs, sure, but more importantly, there are several years of history with the Xbox app. Anyone who's been playing on PC long enough knows how bad the Xbox app on PC was for years, and how long it took for the app to even get basic features like installing games on different drives. This is just Microsoft's first attempt at an aggregated library, and I'm sure it will get better over time. I just don't suspect it'll get better in a timely manner, and I certainly don't expect that Microsoft will go above and beyond the features available in Steam, GOG Galaxy, or Playnite.

To be clear, this is a criticism of Microsoft, not the laborers actually making this happen. I don't know what's going on inside Microsoft, but I'd wager that issues like these come from structural, managerial, or budgeting issues within Microsoft's walls. You might be able to make some more petty, cynical assumptions about the integrations, too. Like, for instance, that Microsoft wants you to buy games through the Xbox PC app, so it intentionally made non-Xbox apps look terrible. I'm not saying that's true, but I wouldn't blame anyone for having that takeaway.

The solution here is to simply continue on with your business and not use the Xbox app for anything outside of Game Pass games, which I suspect the vast majority of people are already doing. Let's just hope Windows users aren't left in the same situation they've been in with Bing, Edge, and Copilot, with Microsoft nearly forcing them onto users who've clearly shown they aren't interested.