With Project Helix On The Horizon, Xbox Is Now Letting You Add Games Manually On PC

We've heard a lot this month about Xbox's new Project Helix console and how it'll support both console and PC games, and the belief is that it'll work similarly to how the ROG Xbox Ally handheld currently does — you'll boot into an "Xbox Mode" interface, but with the ability to exit out to Windows if you want the freedom that comes with using a PC.

Microsoft is obviously keen to keep you within the Xbox app as much as possible though, and we saw an example of this when the ROG Xbox Ally was first released, with the team making it possible to not only load up Steam and other storefronts from within the Xbox app, but also to access games from those storefronts inside the Xbox app too.

There's still work to be done here to make this an even more intuitive process, but it's definitely proved a popular addition, and it's something I personally use with my ROG Xbox Ally X on a regular basis.

Now, they're taking it a step further. A new feature has rolled out in preview over the past few days (it should go public to everyone soon) that allows you to theoretically add any game or app to the Xbox PC interface so you don't have to go exiting out to Windows. It appears via a little "+" symbol in the "My Library" section, and when you click it, you get the "Add Games To Library" menu that we've shown off in the image up above.

I've been testing it with a few things, and it seems to work fine. The YARC Launcher, which allows access to an awesome Guitar Hero clone called YARG, for example, loads up for me with no issues. The same goes for iTunes and Audacity — they just boot up as normal from within the Xbox PC app. I've also used it with something called "Sider" that allows access to modding in eFootball PES 2021 on Steam, and this was previously unusable on the ROG Xbox Ally without using Windows 11 mode, but it now works perfectly through the Xbox app. The "Add Games To Library" menu does give you a drop-down list with recommended additions, but you can also hit the browse button and search for any .exe or .cmd file. You can also edit the name of the game/app, pathway and artwork manually.

On PC, this is mostly a novelty that probably won't mean much to a lot of people, but it's a more beneficial feature for ROG Xbox Ally owners who get better performance by remaining inside the Xbox Full-Screen Experience and avoiding some of the bloat and hassle that comes without exiting out to Windows.

We can only assume the same thing is going to happen with Xbox Project Helix, and therefore this could end up being a really important addition for the future. If you see yourself playing obscure games, retro games, using Microsoft Office apps, doing video or audio production, or anything else that could fall into this category, the ability to add these games and apps to the Xbox PC app may prevent you having to engage with full-fat Windows very often at all. It's still too early to know for sure, of course, but we're certainly liking this new feature in any case!

What are your thoughts on this? Tell us down in the comments section below.