Microsoft Edge Game Assist lets you check out guides, tips, and videos without leaving your game
"It's game-aware and will suggest tips and guides for what you’re playing."
Microsoft is introducing a "seamless, full-featured in-game browser" to support gamers.
Microsoft Edge Game Assist - currently available to try via an opt-in preview - is described as "a rich gaming-centric browsing experience" that lets you get help, track progress, listen to music or chat with friends without taking you out of the game.
Microsoft reckons 40 percent of PC players look up tips and guides whilst playing, and 88 percent use a browser whilst gaming to get help, which means we're forever interrupting our sessions by switching windows or monitors or grabbing our phones.
"Game Assist is a special version of Microsoft Edge that’s optimised for PC gaming and can appear on top of your game in Game Bar," Microsoft explained. "It's game-aware and will suggest tips and guides for what you're playing. It also shares the same browser data with Edge on your PC so the information you care about is always accessible while you play - including your favorites, history, cookies, form fills, and more.
"This means you don't need to log into sites again, and it's easy to get to what you care about. You can even quickly access your favorite services like Discord, Twitch, Spotify, or any other page or site in the sidebar. And, like other Game Bar widgets, you can pin Game Assist above your game so you can reference a guide or watch a video while you play."
You can access Game Assist (Preview) via a Game Bar that overlays your game if you have Microsoft Edge Beta 132 and Windows 11. If you're interested, opt-in to the public preview and then hit Win+G from within your Game Bar to access it.
Right now it only support English, though, and supports just a "selection of popular PC games": Baldur's Gate 3, Diablo 4, Fortnite, Hellblade 2: Senua's Saga, League of Legends, Minecraft, Overwatch 2, Roblox, and Valorant.
Earlier this month, hundreds of staff at Bethesda parent company ZeniMax went on strike in protest at parent company Microsoft outsourcing work without bargaining with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union.
The one-day walkout by staff who work on Fallout, Starfield and Doom came after concerns over the "unilateral decision" to outsource quality assurance (QA) work to external teams at a time of uncertainty and layoffs.