Microsoft Teams is now part of the Xbox Game Bar so you can stream gameplay to friends

Microsoft has added a new Microsoft Teams feature to its Xbox Game Bar that allows you to stream your gameplay to friends through Microsoft Teams. The new “Microsoft teams play togetherThe widget is available for Xbox Game Bar and supports streaming from your entire desktop in Teams and also the ability to join video calls to see friends overlay on top of games.

Microsoft describes the new Game Bar integration for Teams as “a place to hang out while you watch and play,” which is a lot like what people use for Discord. You’ll see friends overlay at the top of a game, and up to 20 people can join a call at any time.

However, the integration is pretty basic. I briefly tested the transmission shadow Of The Tomb Raider, and while image quality was solid on the web and mobile clients, it largely streamed at 30fps or lower, which isn’t how you want to watch a PC game stream.

I also couldn’t see the video participants overlaid on top of the game during my test, so that feature may not be fully working yet. Either way, this feature definitely won’t be replacing Discord or Twitch any time soon.

Microsoft has been trying to bring communities to Microsoft Teams in recent months. The free version of Microsoft Teams for Windows 11 got Discord-like communities back in June. These are Microsoft’s response to what you might find on Facebook or how people use apps like Discord, WhatsApp, and Reddit to organize groups.