There aren’t a ton of new features in the upcoming Xbox update, but there are a couple of big ones.
Back in July, we wrote about a new feature coming to Xbox: voice reporting. The Xbox September Update is finally adding that function, as well as some other anticipated features.
The voice reporting feature is designed so that people can catch people in the act of being abusive or inappropriate during in-game voice chat. Prior to this feature, for the past 20 years, the unfortunate reality was that people could get away with saying anything when no one was recording them.
The new feature allows victims of abuse or harassment to capture a 60-second video clip on the activity and submit it for review. The Xbox Safety Team, then, reviews it with human eyes and ears and determines if it was actually an issue or not.
At that point, their new strike enforcement system would take over to determine the punishment. At least it’s going to keep the voice chats clear from a bad time going forward.
In addition, you’re now going to be able to stream your games from your Xbox directly to your Discord friends. Those that don’t need or want a big following while they play, can have a party or talk one-on-one with people while they watch you play a game.
They mention that this is fantastic for Starfield for players to show off their ships or discover planets with their friends watching. Honestly, it’s great for friends who are helping cheer you on your coach you through a situation/mission without the need to jump onto Twitch.
Xbox is getting a Variable Refresh Rate update as well for their newest lineup of consoles. This allows players to set it so that their TV or monitor adjusts dynamically for refresh rate based on the frame rate if you so wish.
One other feature that I’m surprised hasn’t been available until this update is the ability to request to join a friend’s gaming session. In the past, you had to directly message them to ask if you could join their match or team, to which they’d say yes or no. Now, you can be proactive and hit the “Ask to join game” button.
There are some other features getting updates and facelifts, such as the rewards system and the ability to pair accessories to your Xbox. You can find all of the details and more over on Xbox’s blog, Xbox Wire.