XBOX has started previewing a new set of console features with Insiders in the Alpha Skip-Ahead ring, touching gamertags, XBOX 360 achievements, cloud gaming, and wishlists. It’s the latest in a run of quality-of-life updates XBOX has been testing through the Insider program.
On the personalization side, XBOX is bringing back support for unique gamertags up to 15 characters, up from the current 12-character limit. That only applies to names that are unique and available. Gamertags that aren’t unique or use non-Latin characters keep the 12-character cap and a suffix.
XBOX 360 titles are also picking up game hubs on their game cards. Opening the card for any installed XBOX 360 game now surfaces achievement progress, captures, and other details, while detailed achievement popups have been added to every XBOX 360 game’s achievement list in your profile, extending the achievements overhaul XBOX began testing earlier this year.
Game Pass members also get a way around the wait that updates usually impose. If a game needs an update and is available to stream through Game Pass, you can jump in immediately with cloud gaming while the update installs in the background, and the launch-via-cloud option shows up on the game card during installs and updates.
The wishlist gets a change too, letting you add both released and upcoming games directly from their game cards. That builds on the mobile wishlist alerts XBOX added in April, which flag when a wishlisted game goes on sale, hits Game Pass, or opens for preorder.
For now, all four features are limited to the Alpha Skip-Ahead ring, with the rest of the Insider rings next in line. In case you missed it, XBOX is also gathering feedback through its Player Voice portal along the way.
