Check to see how long that new game will take to finish
The September update is rolling out for the Xbox app on PC, and it’s got one particularly neat feature. Microsoft has partnered with HowLongToBeat to show game completion estimates inside the app.
HowLongToBeat has long been a valuable resource in sifting and sorting through my games. It’s helped me decide which backlog games to start and when. Sometimes you want a long RPG adventure to pick away at, and sometimes you want something short-and-sweet, that you can finish in a weekend.
HLTB aggregates user contributions to share estimated completion times. This includes times for just the Main Story, or the Main Story and additional extras, or even a full completionist run.
With the September update, the Xbox app will display these numbers for “most” PC Game Pass games. So if Death Stranding is something you want to try out, you’ll know just how long it’ll take to beeline through it.
Other app improvements
The Xbox app is also getting some other updates. The Game Details pages are making it easier to find some sought-after details, like trailers, screenshots, and the game description.
Performance and reliability of the Xbox app are also getting a tune-up. Microsoft says that with the most recent update, the app now launches 15% faster, and it should be more responsive too. The Xbox post says the team has seen crash-free sessions improve to “99.9%”, and search results should be getting more relevant as well.
All of these are great improvements, but as someone who uses the Xbox app to peruse Game Pass games I might want to take a gander at, I really dig this Xbox and HowLongToBeat integration. Hopefully it doesn’t turn too many players away from longer games. But it is really nice to know an estimate for how much investment I’m getting into, for both lengthy and brief experiences.
