If you use a Steam Deck, then the first thing I would always recommend is to install Decky Loader. From there, one of the first plugins I’d recommend is SteamGridDB, because let’s face it, the box art isn’t always the best artwork you can have in your games library.
Now, though, SteamGridDB is also on Windows 11. We first covered SteamGridDB for Windows 11 a while ago, but until recently I hadn’t really given it much notice.
I’ve started using the Xbox App on Windows 11 as my go-to launcher since I’m in there a lot for Game Pass games, anyway.
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But while it’s convenient having the Xbox App launch games also from Steam, Epic Games, Ubisoft, etc., one thing made me twitch; the artwork pulled in was awful. Low-res icons mostly rather than full artwork.
This is where SteamGridDB comes in. Just as on the Steam Deck, you can use it to select custom art for your games, and in this case, bring your non-Xbox titles up to the standard of those you’re getting directly through the app.
SteamGridDB is not an app, as such, but instead a Game Bar widget. So to make your changes you have to go through Game Bar, but I actually think I prefer it this way. It can’t hook into the Xbox App like it can hook into SteamOS, so it’s probably the next best thing this way.
These days you can get it directly from the Microsoft Store, and once it’s installed, you may just need to launch it from the Widgets Menu on the Game Bar.
But it’s as simple as selecting a game, hitting the search icon, and compatible artwork will show up. The selections in my experience aren’t quite as plentiful as they are on SteamOS, but there’s not been a game I’ve come across where there isn’t something that’s a whole heck of a lot better than a crummy low-res icon.
(Image credit: Windows Central)
Once you choose your artwork, the next time you go to your library in the Xbox App, it’ll have been applied, and it won’t make your eyes bleed any longer.
I’m using it on my desktop PC, but it’s particularly useful if you’re on a handheld gaming PC such as the Xbox Ally or Lenovo Legion Go series. Clean library, clean mind!
Game Bar is one of those features I use a lot without really exploring what it can do, and SteamGridDB is now a permanently pinned widget. It only takes seconds to make a change, and it’s so worth it.
It’s a must-have if, like me, you’re using the Xbox App to launch games from elsewhere.
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