Microsoft's solution to PC gamers alt-tabbing to browsers requires a big sacrifice

Microsoft has announced a "better way" of browsing the internet while PC gaming, with the company unveiling "Microsoft Edge Game Assist," the new way of browsing the internet while gaming.

Microsoft has taken to its Windows Blog to announce Microsoft Edge Game Assist, a new way to browse the internet in-game without having to alt-tab or pick up your phone, enabling a seamless gaming/browsing experience. Microsoft writes that "88% of PC players use a browser while gaming," and the browser is typically used for help on the game, tracking their in-game progress, or simply chatting with friends. Microsoft wants to remove the steps needed to access a browser, which if in fullscreen, requires a user to alt-tab.

The company explains that Game Assist is a "special version of Microsoft Edge" that has been optimized for PC gaming, and is able to appear "on top of your game in Game Bar". Microsoft writes it's "game aware and will suggest tips and guides for what you're playing." Additionally, the Game Assist Edge browser will share the same data as the standalone Edge browser, which means users won't need to log back into accounts.

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At the moment, Microsoft has nine games available with "game aware" support, which means Game Assist will be recommending guides, information about the game, and other potentially valuable information. Microsoft explained that Game Assist can be pinned on the top of the game you are playing, meaning PC gamers won't have to alt-tab from a game they are playing to check the YouTube video of the guide they are watching. Additionally, the window for the video playback can be resized and moved.

Games Available Today

• Baldur's Gate 3
• Diablo IV
• Fortnite
• Hellblade II: Senua's Saga
• League of Legends
• Minecraft
• Overwatch 2
• Roblox
• Valorant

The browser part of Game Assist can be used with any game, but only the ones listed above are compatible with Microsoft's "game-aware" support, which includes recommendations for guides, etc.

Is this going to be worth it? Personally, I believe there are already better solutions to this problem on the market. For example, Steam currently has a browser, and most PC gamers are using Steam. As for the ones that don't, alt-tabbing versus pressing the Windows Key + G seems to be pretty much identical, and the features that Game Assist offers with the Edge overlay would only really apply to gamers that require a lengthy guide, as video chatting with friends, which could possibly be a use case for this feature, has already been covered by Discord and it's extremely popular Game Overlay. Not to mention Borderless Window.

Lastly, I will leave you with some classic Microsoft shenanigans: To use Microsoft Edge Game Assist, you need to set Edge as your default browser. Now, who is really going to make that sacrifice of switching browsers for this feature?

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