The “video game” description covers a wide range of experiences, from a 4-hour fun through a horror campaign to a long, winding journey through a fantasy world. On Wednesday, Microsoft announced a useful new tool coming to the Xbox app on PC to help solve this exact problem: It’s a feature that tells you how long it takes on average to beat a game.
The announcement read: “We’ve partnered with HowLongToBeat for a unique feature that makes it easier to choose your next PC game – starting today, you can see an estimate of how long it will take to play. Complete a game in the game details pages for most PC Game Pass games. “
HowLongToBeat is a long-running community project where players can submit data on how long it takes them to complete a game, and calculate in a variety of playstyles. For example, blasting through the game’s main mission and defeating the final boss could take 20 hours on average based on player submissions; doing all the side quests and unlocking optional paths can take 35, while playing the game to 100% complete can take 50.
This is a great quality of life feature to have, especially since Xbox Game Pass has such an extensive library to sift through. Sometimes, you’re in the mood to mingle and enjoy a 100+ hour RPG; other times, you just want something relaxing that you can knock down for a couple of evenings.
There are a number of other changes to the Xbox app on PC, including easier browsing and a better layout for each game’s page. The latest update also enhances app performance and reliability, launching 15% faster and almost halving player reports of failed downloads.
