X

Details emerge on the Xbox One March update

The next big update for the Xbox One will improve the "multiplayer and party experience".

Nic Healey Senior Editor / Australia
Nic Healey is a Senior Editor with CNET, based in the Australia office. His passions include bourbon, video games and boring strangers with photos of his cat.
See full bio
Nic Healey
2 min read

Earlier this month we reported on the two new updates coming for the Xbox One.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

The first update, initially scheduled for 11 February and now to arrive sometime later this week, adds some small useful functions such as a battery indicator for the controller and management controls for the storage on the Xbox One.

At the time, Microsoft also announced the March 4 update, colloquially called the "Ready for Titanfall" update, which would focus on some of the multiplayer features. Xbox Product Manage Marc Whitten has now revealed a few more details about the update. The upcoming changes include:

  • Easier access for the friends list: "The friends list will be front and centre on the homepage of the Friends app."

  • Party chat active by default: "When you party up, chat audio will be turned on by default."

  • Inter-game friends chat: "Party chat will be separated from people playing your game, so you can chat with your friends who are online or you can chat with everyone playing the game."

  • An 'invite friends' option for multiplayer games: "Similar to Xbox 360 titles, this will appear inside a game's menu and offer a simple and quicker way to set up your multiplayer battles."

Whitten notes that there are "many more great features", presumably not just for multiplayer functionality. Microsoft will reveal more details about these features "in the days and weeks ahead".

We're still waiting for a reply from Microsoft Australia on the size of the update and whether it will contain any changes that are only specific to Titanfall. We'll update if a reply is forthcoming.