XBOX Speeds Up PC App Load Times as Sony Preps its Future PS6

Insiders can test the new look now, a mystery project is in the works, and Sony says its PS6 plans are on schedule.

XBOX has announced a faster, simpler redesign of the XBOX PC app, and it covers the web and XBOX Cloud Gaming as well. XBOX Insiders can try the update starting today. The company says it launches up to 60% faster and makes it easier to find games, connect with friends, and start playing. The timing matters because of Project Helix, a hybrid of a PC and a console that XBOX hasn't fully explained.

One option keeps the current Series X and S interface on the console side and plain Windows 11 on the PC side. Another locks the PC side into the XBOX full-screen experience, which would keep you in the ecosystem and could limit your ability to buy games through Steam or Epic Games, though games from other launchers would stay accessible.

Nothing is confirmed, but more signs point toward a less open approach. The XBOX PC app could also get a shorter name. If XBOX goes that way, the XBOX PC app has to feel as close to a console as possible. If you've connected a PC to your TV and set it to boot into XBOX, you can already launch games and switch applications.

The weak spots are a slow startup and having to switch to mouse mode to dismiss certain pop-ups, which is clumsy with a controller. The announcement came from the VP of XBOX Experiences, who described a faster, simpler experience coming to PC, web and cloud.

Preview images of the XBOX PC app show a cleaner layout, though the sidebar stays, with your games, Picks for You, some advertising, and recent games in the top right, similar to the XBOX button flyout on a console. Library, Game Pass, Store, friends, and downloads sit on the left. Hovering over a game, and presumably moving the stick onto it, makes the tile pop forward with a short video preview.

The XBOX PC app can lag for around 30 seconds after opening before it moves smoothly, so speed is the main focus.

Waiting through initial loading has been a major frustration. XBOX says the new version launches up to 60% faster, pages like Home, Store,e and Game Pass load up to 50% faster, and in-app windows open up to 65% faster. The XBOX PC app library has simpler navigation, updated filters, rs and new ways to organize games. 

Finding games wasn't a major problem before, but XBOX is still refining it. Friends are easier to reach too: the list used to live mainly in the XBOX button flyout, but now sits in the main navigation so you can start chats and join parties from there. Search is reworked as well, after years of shovelware turning up for well-known titles, and now covers games, installed titles, add-ons and people from one place.

The XBOX PC gets a refresh, and some Game Pass titles now show full box art. There's still no option to make the whole first row full box art or remove the advertising row, even for subscribers. A new library tab gathers XBOX Cloud Gaming titles you own or access through Game Pass, with sorting and filters for recently played, genre, and input options. 

Desktop mode works better on larger displays, and it adds dark and light modes plus five new contrast options.
For Project Helix to work, the experience has to feel the same across PC, console, handheld, and cloud. XBOX has started bringing the refreshed look and navigation to supported TVs and VR headsets through XBOX Cloud Gaming, and a refreshed web experience is coming too.

Each screen calls for something different, but the basics should feel familiar.

Consoles aren't part of this rollout because they have their own interface, and a sudden change would confuse players, especially those who have never opened the XBOX PC app. Whether XBOX wants the PC version and the console interface to end up identical is still unknown.

In the Insider build of the XBOX PC app, a green arrow lets you switch between the old and new experience. The Library tab lists installed games, including Call of Duty and Counter-Strike 2 from Steam, though it still doesn't pull in box art from other launchers, including Steam, even though it works with some applications. The subscription tab shows your tier, a Featured section, and a games list with partner badges for Ubisoft and others. 

Hover pop-ups show details, though no previews are play, and filters cover Ultimate, the PC tier, Core, EA Play, Ubisoft+, genre,, and multiplayer. You can browse by publisher, and a benefits section lists monthly perks like extra content for 2XKO and Skate.

The refreshed Store also loads faster, with cleaner sections and a collapsible sidebar.

The Store in the XBOX PC app, historically slow, now looks cleaner and moves faster, with Picks for You, Trending Games, Top Free Games, Games Coming Soon and a Deals tab. The friends list and download queue stay on the left, and the sidebar collapses to your profile picture, a layout suited to handhelds.

Some kinks remain in the XBOX PC app, and XBOX will gather feedback from XBOX Insiders during testing. More changes are likely before Project Helix launches, to make the ecosystem, PC app and console as cohesive as possible. XBOX has also teased a separate project.

A lead on the Insider program said a small team built something after months of work, that a long road remains, and that XBOX Insiders will experience it first, with time to iterate, learn, and make mistakes. A GIF with the post doesn't reveal it. Replies guess at DirectX 12 optimizations, the classic blades interface, or a console UI overhaul, but nothing is confirmed. It fits XBOX Labs having room to build new things, in an area many felt lagged for a couple of years.

On the PlayStation side, the next generation looks set to be interesting.

The overall console market is shrinking, and XBOX and PlayStation are both looking for ways to bring players into their ecosystems beyond traditional hardware. Console sales are down year over year across XBOX, PlayStation, and Nintendo, largely because of price increases, and prices are expected to keep climbing, which is likely to hurt hardware sales and push platform holders toward other routes.

A PS6 is still coming, and more than one way to get PlayStation hardware is expected, including a dedicated handheld. Sony says PS6 development is on schedule, and PS5 lifetime shipments have reached 97.9 million units, another successful generation.

Sony's CFO confirmed the figure and said 2.6 million PS5 consoles sold last quarter, a drop of around 35% from a year earlier. The CFO described the decline as expected at this stage of the console life cycle and said the PlayStation platform continues to grow steadily. 

Next fiscal year, Sony aims to build user engagement and strengthen monetization through strong releases and an expansion of its services, while making solid progress on its next-generation platform. From then on, investment will go toward that platform for future growth. The CFO said Sony places great importance on the hardware, will invest rationally to support platform health, and will share announcements at an appropriate time.

A PS6 home console is widely expected, and Sony is clearly treating its platform as something bigger than console hardware.

Pulling select games from PC looks like a short-term move to cut costs and protect margins, and leadership followed it by stressing the need to monetize the existing user base further. With nearly 98 million PS5 consoles sold, the immediate focus is raising revenue per user before the next generation arrives.

Some form of expansion beyond the standard console box is expected in the PS6 era, based on rising hardware costs and slowing sales. Part of the drop is natural late-cycle decline, but pricing pressure is the bigger factor. As hardware gets more expensive, the traditional console market is unlikely to grow, even though platform holders need growth every generation to keep revenue climbing.