Xbox is the process of creating connections on its gaming platform. His new method works like almost any social platform you would send a friend request to, which is either accepted or rejected.
This sounds like an obvious way for this feature to work, but Xbox took a more passive approach to friends for the last console generation. The way it works in the current system is that anyone can add another Xbox account to their watchlist. When two accounts follow each other, they become friends.
The change shouldn’t make much of a difference to players’ social tabs. If you’re already friends, you’ll stay friends. If you do not reciprocate, you will continue to follow the account. This means you can still follow updates from individuals, clubs and games within the Xbox ecosystem.
Xbox is also rolling out new privacy and notification options to help manage friendship returns, so players can specify who can follow them or send them friend requests. The blog post didn’t give a release date for when the new friends system will be available to the public, but it’s available as a preview to people in the Xbox Insider program starting this week.
Today’s announcement is the latest in a wave of Xbox news over the past month. The company also introduced plan and for the all-digital Xbox Series X.