While the vast array of video games is amazing, the real magic of the Xbox gaming experience is the connection with a community of passionate gamers. It is vital for thousands of gamers to be able to share their gaming experiences with other players. This area has been a major focus of Xbox over the past few years.
Xbox announced a partnership in October 2021 with Medal.tv. It would allow users upload, edit, share, and even remix their Xbox game clips right from Medal.tv. A little over a year later, the partnership with Medal.tv was expanded to include the Xbox Game Bar for PC. Users can now jump directly into Medal.tv and edit or share their PC captures.
To find out how much it offers Xbox players, I spent time with Medal.tv’s Xbox integration. I came to a messy conclusion. While Medal.tv’s Xbox integration makes it great for existing Medal.tv viewers, what does it mean for Xbox-only users as well? More importantly — Xbox has all the pieces it needs to be a thriving gaming social network, so why hasn’t it happened?
Use Medal.tv and Xbox together
Medal.tv, a social network devoted to video games, has hundreds of thousands active users who edit and share their game clips and record from thousands of games. This platform is similar to TikTok’s video only format. It offers seamless viewing on a website as well as a fully-featured desktop application and a mobile application for Android and iOS.
Medal.tv isn’t a nascent, just-blooming service trying to prove itself with a unique premise and a bare list of features — It’s a successful, mature platform with an active community that’s continuing to grow. In an effort to reach new users, the social media platform is now integrating with Xbox. What is the experience like using Medal.tv in conjunction with Xbox?
Medal.tv can be divided into three levels of usability: the website which allows you to only view content, the mobile apps which allow you to upload and share simple posts with no in-depth editing, and the fully-featured desktop application which includes powerful editing tools and additional options. A premium monthly subscription offers additional features but I didn’t find any indication that the free account wasn’t long-term usable.
Both the mobile and desktop apps can import cloud-uploaded Xbox games clips from your connected Xbox account. This allows you to share to your feed, and generate a Medal.tv hyperlink to share to other platforms. Microsoft’s Xbox Game Bar feature for PC allows players to direct their game clips to Medal.tv’s desktop app and editing suite. This ensures a seamless experience.
It all works perfectly! It was very easy to sign up with Medal.tv and my Xbox account. You can also connect your Xbox account to Medal.tv if you are an existing Medal.tv user. My Xbox cloud-uploaded video clips, which showed my poor gameplay in Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5, appeared quickly in Medal.tv. It took only minutes to upload them and share them. Medal.tv desktop software is capable of more advanced editing and tweaking. It was easy to record a short clip in Counter Strike: Global Offensive, and then upload it to Medal.tv via the Xbox Game Bar. Just one click brought me into editing, and I could share it within seconds.
It feels good for Medal.tv users that Xbox is integrated into Medal.tv. These features are dependent on how much you invest in Medal.tv and if you use it regularly. Medal.tv integration may be a good option for Xbox gamers who want to share their game clips more consistently and with fewer friends. One, Medal.tv cannot be used entirely on your Xbox. Second, your game clips must be kept on Medal.tv. Or they can be shared to other platforms using a unique Medal.tv Link. While this is logical for Medal.tv it also highlights the failure of Xbox to make use of the platform.
Below you can find more information about Medal.tv’s website and mobile apps.
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Imagine the possibilities of what the Xbox platform might look like
Xbox has long recognized the importance and benefits of providing seamless, native social experiences. Activity Feeds allows users to post their Achievements, captures, or other posts to their profile. Official Game Clubs enable players to find out updates from their favorite Xbox game and interact with others. Every Xbox Series X|S console comes with a built-in “Share” button to make the capture and sharing of game clips even more effortless.
Xbox has been unable to fulfill its short-term investments. Many of its Xbox social features have fallen by the wayside, and were eventually pushed to the background. It is difficult to find community-created content. There are many layers that obscure the issue. Users also appear to have little engagement with Official Game Clubs. The Xbox DVR, which is the platform’s foundation, is plagued with bugs and unreliable and lacks useful features.
No matter whether you’re using a mobile or desktop application, sharing and finding your game captures can be difficult. Sharing a game clip on Twitter can be a complicated task. Because of the frequent glitches in my Xbox, I’ve given up on using it to upload my captures to OneDrive.
Xbox is currently testing a new Xbox Captures app with Xbox Insiders in an attempt to resolve some of the problems plaguing Xbox DVR. However, one could argue that Xbox is failing to promote community connections. Using Medal.tv for a matter of hours has highlighted how I fervently wish Xbox would deliver a similar experience native to its expansive ecosystem — a social network where users can explore and interact with content created by fellow gamers, built upon a reliable, polished, and powerful backend of capturing, editing, and sharing features.
Although I know that it would be a massive undertaking for an Xbox just starting to shake off excess weight and other bizarre decisions, many of the essential components are already available within the Xbox ecosystem. The integration of Xbox into Medal.tv is a great news for Medal.tv viewers, but it leaves us with an incomplete experience. With the introduction of services such as Xbox Game Pass and gamer-centric features such as Quick Resume and Smart Delivery, it has never been easier for Xbox users to play games. However, sharing that experience with other gamers has never been easier.
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