New Xbox Insider Update Shows Mutual Friends on Player Profiles

The Xbox team is continuing to ship new Xbox console features at a faster pace. This week, select Xbox Insiders will get to test a new way to discover mutual friends on the Xbox network, bigger game artworks in My games & apps, and more.

When checking someone else’s profile, Xbox Insiders will now be able to check a list of mutual friends, but only if their privacy settings allow it. “If you’re viewing someone you are not already friends with, you’ll also see how many mutual friends you share, making it simpler to discover new people and build connections, whether you met through multiplayer, or across the XBOX community,” the Xbox team explained.

The Xbox team is also bringing rich poster-style artworks for installed games in My Games & apps. Instead of the small square game artwork, Xbox gamers will get the option to display a larger, film poster-like artwork for their installed games.

Microsoft is also making it easier to wishlist upcoming games by adding an “Add to wishlisht” button on the Game card of upcoming games. As of today, Xbox gamers need to visit the Microsoft Store and search for store listings to add games to their wishlist.

Lastly, Microsoft said that it recently rolled out an update to enable the Shutdown (energy saving) power option on the consoles of Xbox Insiders who were using the more power-hungry Sleep mode. “The Shutdown (energy saving) power option can significantly reduce power consumption by up to 20X while your console is off, without impacting performance, gameplay, or your ability to receive system, games or apps updates overnight,” the Xbox team explained.

I guess Xbox Insiders will still be able to re-enable the Sleep mode if they want to. This mode allows the console to be woken remotely, and it’s also required for using Xbox Remote Play on mobile. However, Sleep mode can use between 10-15W of power, while the Shutdown (energy-saving) mode just uses 0.5W.