Microsoft Edge gets a gaming button

Microsoft is adding a new feature to Edge, but you probably won’t like it. The Chromium-based browser now has a games button, because why not?

The person also shared some screenshots on the social website to highlight the feature. The Gaming button toggle is located on the Edge > Settings > Appearance page. It’s not enabled by default, which is a good thing. Turning it on adds the button to the browser toolbar. Clicking that button displays a modal that pulls content from MSN Games.

That’s what it is, the panel is a glorified web wrapper for Microsoft’s online gaming portal. Great, that’s just what we want, more swelling!

I mean, take a look at this list, some of these are useful options. Do we really need a button to take you to the MSN Games page to clutter up the toolbar? That’s what makes it bloat, right?

I have all three Edge channels installed on my computer (for testing purposes), but the Games button is not available to me in the latest version of Edge Canary, 99.0.1117.0. So the option is likely only available to users in specific regions for soft testing purposes, or maybe it’s already been retired as “follow the website.” feature that’s like an RSS feed.

If you provided something useful, like quick access to Steam, Epic Games, GOG, or the Xbox GamePass store, I can understand how that might be helpful, a faster way to find game fronts might be helpful. But, the screenshots tell a different story, and since I can’t test the feature myself, I can’t comment on how the Games button and panel will work. I wouldn’t be surprised if it shows game announcements or notifications, invitations from other players, but this is pure speculation of course.

Where is Microsoft Edge headed?

When Microsoft introduced features like vertical tabs, sleep tabs, etc., I thought Edge browser was very impressive and modern. But the browser has been in a downward spiral for a while.

The Redmond company has been criticized for making it difficult for users to change default apps in Windows 11. Even if you set a different browser as your default driver, web searches are forced to open in Edge. And then there’s all the negative marketing that Microsoft has been involved in, ridiculing Chrome as an outdated browser, promoting itself when the user searches for rival browsers. Perhaps they’re doing all of this deliberately, to take the heat off Windows 11’s performance issues? How about that for 4D chess?

Jokes aside, I can hardly find a reason to recommend Edge these days. Sure, it’s well optimized and therefore faster than other browsers on Windows, but that’s about the only positive thing I have to say about it.

Remember when useful features like EPUB support were removed from the browser, despite getting a lot of votes in the Feedback Hub? We’ve seen several weird features come to Edge, like shopping coupons, a buy now pay option, and a later option that’s pretty controversial, and now we’ve got a nearly useless games button.

What do you think Microsoft will add to Edge next?

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