Are they even still doing that weird campaign about how everything is an Xbox?

As part of their Xbox Developer Summit keynote at GDC this week, Microsoft shared that a new and refined Xbox mode will soon begin rolling out to Windows 11 users "in select markets." Starting at some point this April, Microsoft will start to release a new "Xbox mode" for Windows 11 that will make the Xbox experience more "consistent across screens."

An early version of this Xbox-like experience debuted with the ROG Xbox Ally handhelds. Microsoft says this Xbox mode will let players "seamlessly switch between productivity and play, with a familiar full screen and controller optimized Xbox experience while embracing the openness of Windows." They claim that this will lead to more seamless cross-device play for users while also giving developers "a simpler, more unified path to reach more players while helping reduce development costs."


Those who are Windows Insiders may already have access to the Xbox mode on their computers. The Dev and Beta channels were both updated back in November 2025 with access to early builds of the Xbox mode, or Xbox Full Screen Experience (FSE) as they called it in the Insider blog update. An image of that early Xbox FSE is included above.

The next Xbox, codenamed Project Helix, is confirmed to play both Xbox and PC games. It's probably easy to assume that the next Xbox will be using some version of this Windows 11 "Xbox mode" when it releases.