Microsoft has announced that it has begun testing out new features for Xbox Series X/S through its Xbox Insider program. The goals of this round of features are to improve its social features, offer users more customization for the My Games & Apps screen, and give users the ability to quickly add games to their wishlists. The company has noted that these features were developed after taking community feedback into account.
For Xbox Series X/S users who make heavy use of the console’s social features, the update will now make it easier to find mutual friends. Viewing another player’s profile now reveals how many mutual friends you share with them.
The My Games & Apps screen customization options being tested now present users with poster-style artwork when looking at games. Along with this, personalization settings have also been made easier to navigate. This was achieved by splitting My Games & Apps into separate sections, along with adding new shortcuts throughout the menus. These UI tweaks are joined by another one throughout the console that gives users the ability to add games to their wishlist directly from the Game Card.
Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One users who make frequent use of the consoles’ Sleep modes might now find that they now have access to the Shutdown (energy-saving) option. The feature was originally introduced in Xbox Insider builds all the way back in 2023, and revolves around bringing in significant reductions to the console’s power consumption. Microsoft claims that, using the feature, Xbox One and Series X/S players can reduce their power consumption by up to 20 times. The company has also noted that this is achieved without any impacts to gameplay, performance, or other things that the console might need to do while asleep, like firmware or game updates.
Going forward, the company has said that Xbox Insider members who want to provide more feedback can do so through the company’s new Player Voice system, which was introduced just last month. The system is essentially a forum where Xbox users can provide feedback on things that they think should be improved, and new features that should be brought into the Xbox ecosystem.
Along with simply posting feedback and new ideas, users can also vote for their features of choice. When a user submits feedback, Xbox’s teams review and organize it so that it can be considered internally alongside other work that the team might be doing. While the team might take longer to address some feedback, the company has promised to be more transparent about the future of Xbox. “When there are meaningful updates, we’ll share them,” it said when it first announced Player Voice.
The Xbox Player Voice portal is meant to work alongside other feedback-oriented frameworks that Microsoft has already set up – Xbox Insider Hub, Support Forums, and Social Channels. Each of these is meant for separate things. Xbox Insider Hub, for example, is designed around the idea of users helping Microsoft out with testing new software features and reporting bugs. Social channels, on the other hand, have been designed for ongoing conversations.
