XBOX Insider Update Adds Highly Requested Features

A new update has gone live for XBOX Insiders to take for a whirl on console that adds more flexibility when making game captures, tracking achievement progress, and offers more control over cloud saves.

The XBOX Insider Program is a long-running feature that gives XBOX fans the chance to test XBOX system updates and features that are still in development on XBOX consoles and Windows PCs and provide feedback. It involves completing surveys and reporting issues to developers, which plays an integral role in shaping the future of XBOX systems.

Despite XBOX Insider updates going live first to members of the Program, the changes will gradually be available to all XBOX players.

There are four main updates for players on console and Windows 10/11 rigs to look forward to. Let's dive into all the changes you can expect to see when the updates eventually hit all systems.

Voice Chat Integrates With Game Captures

Perhaps the most highly requested XBOX feature in recent years is allowing voice chat to be part of game recordings. With the rollout of this update, XBOX Insiders in the Alpha Skip-Ahead group can choose to include chat audio when creating game captures.

When you’re in a party, you can decide whether or not party chat is included as part of your capture. Each player controls whether their voice can be captured, meaning voice audio is only included when players opt in.

Even if you’re not in a party, you can select to include game chat audio in your captures. Gameplay aside, this means you can take a snippet of a memorable moment exactly as it happened, with the voices of your friends intact.

The Organization of Game Achievements

In addition, sifting through pages of achievements is becoming a thing of the past, as finding what you’re looking for in your achievement history is expected to be more streamlined for XBOX Insiders in Alpha Skip-Ahead.

Along with the default last played achievements screen, you can now sort games by name, completion percentage, Gamerscore earned, or number of achievements unlocked. Every option can be sorted in ascending or descending order, allowing you to find the precise achievement you’re looking for on your list. This will be particularly useful for long-time XBOX players and completionists who have pages of achievements under their belts.

XBOX CEO, Asha Sharma, also responded to a fan on X asking for a PlayStation Platinum trophy equivalent on XBOX. Sharma stated that the “team is working on something for later this year,” which will undoubtedly change achievement hunting on XBOX.

Greater Freedom Over Cloud Saves

Already available for XBOX Insiders and coming to more players in the not-so-distant future is the ability to restore previously synced cloud saves directly from your XBOX console in supported games.

This means, if you need to recover a previous version of your save, you can browse available cloud save versions and restore an earlier save straight from your system. The feature is available for Forza Horizon 6 and is expected to come to more games.

Last but not least, all XBOX owners can now add up to 1,000 games to wishlists, keeping up with XBOX’s increasing catalog of games. Now, you can keep tabs on even more upcoming games and potentially add to your ever-growing backlog.

If you aren’t part of the XBOX Insider Program and are interested in testing new features, you can sign up to join the Program by downloading the XBOX Insider Hub on your XBOX console or Windows PC. As XBOX continues to improve its systems, there will be further opportunities to have your say on features still in development.