Achievements, party chat and game hubs are affected

Mar 21, 2015 06:14 GMT  ·  By

The team at Microsoft in charge of the Xbox One is announcing that the April update for the home console is now in the process of being delivered to all those who are part of the Preview program, with a first set of changes being implemented right now while another one is set to be introduced during the coming week.

The general population will get access to the same modifications and new features at the start of next month and changes might be made based on the feedback of the community.

Larry Hryb, aka Major Nelson, the main communications liaison for the Xbox One, says that the Party Chat system is being improved and now features troubleshooting guidance, allowing players to easily set up their microphone and their privacy settings to make sure that they can talk to their friends.

Activity feed items on the Xbox One can now be used to deliver video games and content associated with them.

Microsoft says, "You’ll see activity feed items when any of your friends follow a game, and you’ll also be able to get back to a game’s hub from activity feed posts related to the game – including feed items about the game’s achievements, game clips and screenshots."

When it comes to Achievements, gamers will now get a description in the notification, making it easier to see how their actions have translated into Gamerpoints.

Major Nelson is not saying what changes will be implemented next week for the home console.

Xbox One might get a new app environment soon

The incremental changes that Microsoft is making to the Xbox One are a good way of keeping users satisfied, especially when the changes reflect their earlier feedback.

But rumors are saying that a much bigger set of modifications will arrive later in the year, when the platform will get a new and open environment for apps, with developers able to create a wider range of applications with less direct supervision.

At the moment, the Xbox One is still lagging behind the PlayStation 4 from Sony in terms of sales both in the United States and worldwide, despite the fact that a price cut was implemented at the start of the year and Microsoft has also been offering plenty of promotions for the device.