Microsoft reveals the new features coming inside of the April 2023XboxUpdate, as well as a slight timeframe as to when players can expect to see them live. Recently, it seems like most of the news surroundingMicrosoft has been with it’s continued attempts to finalize its Activision Blizzard acquisition. While there isn’t a final decision as of yet, Microsoft does appear to be getting closer with many regulating bodies having already approved of it, the UK softening on the acquisition, and Microsoft continuing to make deals with companies to further pave the path.
In the meantime, 2023 continues to be an important year for Microsoft and its Xbox brand. Fans have more exclusives to look forward to including Arkane Studio’sRedfall, the long awaited and highly anticipatedStarfield, as well as the visually stunning racing sim,Forza Motorsport. Game Pass continues to be a key cog as well with new games constantly coming in each month. In fact,Microsoft is also gifting 2 months of Game Pass to users. Updates to the Xbox ecosystem are also frequent, with the latest getting detailed by Microsoft.
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In a new blog post byMicrosoftPrincipal Group Product Manager Jonathan Hildebrandt, the April 2023 update got a full rundown as well as a tease as to when fans can expect to see it arrive. Starting to roll out this week is a newly refreshed search experience, which includes everything from games, apps, and entertainment. With results displayed in a gallery style, players can use filter categories with LB/RB to navigate to further pair down what is displayed. Players can access this experience by tapping the search bar, selecting the magnifying glass, or pressing Y on the controller anywhere in the console UI.
The April 2023 update also has new options forXbox players who want to be more carbon aware. From the General settings menu, players can adjust their active hours for those who have the Sleep option enabled. By default, this is set to always active, but players can change it to manual and then set the Start active hours as well as the end active hours. During these active hours, the Xbox will boot faster and be readily available for Remote Play and mobile game installations.
While it may not be the flashiest update that Xbox has seen, these smaller quality of life updates serve to make the experience better overall. For those who want some exciting reveals and announcements,Microsoft seemingly has a jam packed Xbox Games Showcase coming in June. WhileStarfieldwill have a major presence, industry insiders have also indicated that the show will be around two hours, with 30 minutes forStarfieldand 90 minutes for the main Xbox show.
