How to Use the Windows 10 Game Bar to Tell the World About Your Terrible Fortnite Skills
I’ll admit, I’ve never really used the Windows 10 Game Bar, because I’m probably the last person who should broadcast their gaming habits on an online service. I’m terrible at Fortnite, I have a min / max level in Pillars of Eternity, and I play a lot of Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms – not exactly the sexiest streaming games ever, unless you like watching me click on everything elements.
However, I love that Microsoft made it so easy to create content around Windows 10 gaming sessions. Screenshots? Light. Cinema? Even easier. Share your dream of 100 deaths without a kill in Fortnite? With a few clicks, you can connect to the network and all your friends can imitate you with a k / d ratio above zero.
To get started, all you have to do is press Windows Key + G while you are in the game. That’s all. Hello game bar. But for now, resist the urge to do so; it’s worth taking a little time to learn some Windows 10 settings for gaming first.
Playing with the settings is almost as much fun as playing a game
Click the Start button and type Settings, click on the first pop-up result – the Windows Settings app – and select Games. The very first option you’ll see, “Record Game Clips, Screenshots, and Broadcast Using Game Bar”, should be enabled by default. If it’s not for whatever reason, make sure you flip the switch so you can actually use the game bar in your games.
Video recorder for games
On the sidebar, click Game DVR. Turn on this feature and Windows will record all of your games in the background so you can quickly capture the highlights after you’ve accomplished the amazing feat. Just press Windows Key + ALT + G or the “Burn” button on the Game Bar when you’ve done something in your game that is worth saving for later.
In Game DVR, consider setting the maximum recording length for the video that Windows 10 captures in the background. If you don’t think you’ll need that much buffer for your game because you’re just using the DVR to capture the highlights instead of recording every time you play the game, feel free to go down to 30 minutes of recording time. You can also maximize the duration of the DVR recording up to four hours if you are truly a marathon of your gaming sessions.
I recommend making sure Windows also records audio as you play, otherwise your video will be really boring. It’s up to you to decide if you also want Windows to record audio from a connected webcam or microphone. While this can be helpful, if you’re really trying to make a “talk to viewers” video, make sure you don’t forget that your microphone is on. Nobody wants to watch you play World of Warcraft while you’re talking to your cat … I guess.
You can adjust the quality of the recorded audio, but your listeners may not notice a difference above the default 128Kbps. You can also adjust the frame rate of the video itself – 30 or 60 frames per second. I recommend setting 60fps if your system can handle it, as it will result in smoother recordings. Also, set the video quality to high because nobody likes ugly game videos.
Broadcasting
You will want to make similar changes to the Broadcast section in Windows 10 Game Settings. Specify whether you want Windows 10 to record audio while streaming (perhaps yes) and whether it should automatically turn on the microphone when you start a broadcast. Even if you don’t toggle this setting, you can always easily turn the microphone on and off on the game bar itself, so you don’t have to worry too much about this option.
Use the same advice if you want to overlay your webcam video onto your game stream. You can tell Windows to automatically use your webcam while streaming, but it’s also easy to launch from the game bar.
How to open the Game bar in a game on Windows 10
When you’re ready to start actually using the Game Bar while playing a game, simply press Windows Key + G. A translucent rectangular bar will appear at the bottom of the screen. You can ignore the tiny icons below the Xbox gamertag. Most of all, you will love the huge icons that Windows 10 is divided into four parts.
Screenshots
The first icon takes a screenshot. Light. If you’re in the middle of an insane gunfight, you probably just want to press the Windows key + print screen instead, which saves you the hassle of loading the Game Bar and pressing the screenshot button.
Video recording
To the right of it is the Record button on the Game Bar, which automatically records video from your last 30 seconds of gameplay. A button that looks like any other record button ever – big dot and all – is what you’ll use to tell Windows 10 to start recording a video of what you’re playing. (And you can turn the connected microphone on and off with the tiny button in the top right corner.)
When you’re in a game and stop recording, Windows 10 will redirect you to its Xbox app, specifically the Game DVR section, where you can edit the title of your video, trim it just to the highlights, and upload it to Xbox Live.
Streaming your game
To start broadcasting, click the next button on the right – the one that looks like a kind of radar dish. Windows will connect you to Mixer, Microsoft’s streaming site, and you’re asked for a name for your channel (which you can change at any time), choose what you want to stream (hopefully your game), and choose where the channel should go your webcam if you are using this feature.
Once the stream starts, you will see a preview in the upper right corner of your game (which you can minimize if you want). This preview window allows you to quickly turn your microphone and webcam on and off, and you can click on the “chat” link to see what people have to say about your horrific Fortnite death row.
While it’s a little annoying that you can only use the Game Bar’s broadcast feature to stream to Mixer and not another service (like Twitch or Facebook), Game Bar is still an incredibly easy way to start streaming without having to fiddle with what. -or third. -party apps or settings causing headaches.
Game bar button that may do nothing at all
Finally, let’s quickly talk about the fourth button on the game bar. This has nothing to do with content creation. Rather, clicking on it activates Windows 10’s somewhat mysterious Gaming Mode, which may or may not improve your game’s performance, depending on your computer’s performance. Give it a try if you feel like your system is struggling with problems, but you can probably brush it off if you don’t notice any quality issues.