Amid the ongoing changes and restructuring at Xbox, the PC app is getting optimized. The tool is now going to be considerably faster, making it a greater competitor to the likes of Steam and the Epic Games Store.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma revealed the updates on Twitter herself. "We're making Xbox on Windows faster and more responsive," she writes. "Starting today, we're rolling out updates that make our app up to 60% faster."
Accompanying her post is a short video demonstrating what's been improved. The start-up time has now been reduced to just over five seconds, where it used to take over 15. That's an impressive bit of optimization, making the interface feel immediately sleeker.
We’re making XBOX on Windows faster and more responsive. Starting today, we’re rolling out updates that make our app up to 60% faster. A meaningful improvement, with plenty more to do. https://t.co/h5kzHSpR8HNovember 5, 2026
Sharma calls it "a meaningful improvement," to which I'd agree, and she adds there's "plenty more to do" as well. Seems like the PC experience is becoming a greater priority in whatever form the Xbox company is taking going forward.
This new and improved startup time holds up well against Valve and Epic's offerings. For comparison, it generally takes between 5.23 and seven seconds for Steam to fully open based on recent clocking, and the Epic Games Store does so in 5.47 seconds. Both Steam and Epic made recent efforts to boost their respective launcher speeds, so it feels like – intentionally or not – there's a three-way competition happening here.
Should these alterations hold up to scrutiny, the Xbox PC app now beats both stores. It sits at 5.2 in the official video, and it seems the race is now on to go below the five second mark. That said, you should always take those times with a grain of salt. That'll be in ideal conditions all around. But to be even in the same league is a strong start if the goal is growing the PC audience.
