Starting today, select members of the Xbox Insiders program will be able to take several new “highly requested updates” for a test run before they become available to all Xbox console users.
These new features include the ability to create up to 10 Groups on Xbox Home (up from the previous two-Group limit), a custom UI color palette, visible profile badges when browsing player profiles via the Xbox Guide, and a feature that former Xbox Live director of programming Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb says he wanted to see implemented long before he left Xbox in 2023: a Quick Resume feature that can be customized on a per-game basis.
“Love this,” Hryb said in an X post responding to Xbox’s announcement. “I filed a feature request to make Quick Resume per title in 2021. Great to finally see it happen.”
“Quick Resume is one of the most loved features on Xbox, but we’ve heard that for certain games, it doesn’t always deliver the experience you expect, especially after long periods of inactivity,” Xbox shared in a blog post announcing the update. “With this update, you can disable Quick Resume on a per-game basis to ensure those games always launch fresh.”
Long-time Xbox CEO Phil Spencer suddenly retired last month and was replaced by Asha Sharma, who seems to have hit the brakes on the Spencer era’s controversial “This is an Xbox” campaign, and is now focused on Project Helix, Xbox’s mysterious upcoming PC/console platform.
There’s no word yet on when these features will roll out for non-Insiders, but given the public announcement of the test, it’s likely to be sometime soon. Players can join the Xbox Insider program by downloading the app on console or PC, but it doesn’t guarantee access to these new features, as they are currently available only to a select group of Xbox Insiders.