Throughout the last several months, Microsoft and Xbox have made a wide range of improvements to the platform on consoles and PC, including an overhaul to the Achievements system, visual updates for its user interface, and the introduction of more customization options, among other things.
Now, in the latest Xbox update — available now for Xbox Insiders in the Alpha Skip-Ahead ring of the Xbox Insider Program, and hopefully soon to all — Microsoft has further elevated the Xbox user experience with a few major feature enhancements and additions.
The first and arguably most exciting part of the update is a change for Xbox gamertags that expands their character limit from 12 to 15. Provided you create a gamertag that's both unique and doesn't contain non-Latin characters, you can take advantage of this. Non-unique gamertags will still have a 12-character limit, and will be assigned a random numerical suffix.
"This update applies to gamertags that are unique and available, giving you more room to create a gamertag that feels like you," reads Microsoft's blog post.
Xbox 360 games playable through the Xbox Backwards Compatibility feature have also been updated so that they have game hubs within their game cards in the Xbox UI. These allow you to "quickly view achievement progress, captures, and other useful information," and give these titles parity with Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S games in the Xbox Dashboard.
Another big addition for Xbox Game Pass subscribers specifically is the ability to play a game through Xbox Cloud Gaming while you're updating it. This allows you to circumvent the time you'd normally have to spend waiting for an update to finish entirely, and jump right in while one downloads in the background. Do note that this feature will only work with games that support play through streaming.
Finally, you now also have the ability to add games to your wishlist directly from game cards, making it quick and easy to bookmark a title you're interested in when you come across it on the Xbox Dashboard. This works with "both released and upcoming games," notably.
All in all, I think these are some excellent improvements to the Xbox platform, and continue the streak of speedy updates that have come after Xbox's new CEO Asha Sharma stepped into the position earlier this year.
They also come about a month and a half after Sharma vowed to deliver new Xbox updates every two weeks, admitting that "We have to sweat every single detail" and announcing that one of her core goals this year would be to "fix the fundamentals on console and PC."
That objective is part of a wider plan to make Xbox "where the world plays," and coincides with an ongoing 100-day "reset" of the brand. Sadly, it's been reported that this reorganization will likely bring layoffs as well as a variety of studio closures and/or divestments, but one silver lining is that the Xbox user experience has been getting quite a lot better.
Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.