Certain Xbox One owners will be invited to test the system update early starting this Thursday. MajorNelson has announced that some users will receive a Xbox Live message that includes a code to register themselves. Those who jump on this code will garner early access to the upcoming social-centric March system update starting sometime next week.

Testers can play with the update's changes to friend and chat functions, as detailed below, while expressing concerns on the private testers forum. Those selected will continue to be enrolled in receiving early system updates unless they opt-out of the program online.

Xbox One March update features


Get to your Friends List faster. The friends list will be front and centre on the homepage of the Friends app. Click the Social tile on Home, or say "Xbox, go to Friends" to see who's online and what they're up to. From there you can quickly send messages and get into a party.

Party chat will be turned on by default: When you party up, chat audio will be turned on by default.

Chat with friends playing different games: Party chat will be separated from people playing your game, so you can chat with your friends who are online or you can chat with everyone playing the game.

We're adding an "Invite friends to game" option to your multiplayer titles moving forward: Similar to Xbox 360 titles, this will appear inside a game's menu and offer a simple and quicker way to set up your multiplayer battles. Selecting "Invite friends" will let you invite friends to your game and party.

We're adding "Recent Players": This is a simple list that shows you Xbox Live members you've recently played with, making it easier to stay in touch with people, or add new friends after your multiplayer battles.

Posted: Feb 20, 2014 4:44 pm
Related Forum: Xbox Forum