The Holiday Update for the Xbox One has begun rolling out. The update has plenty of new features that make it easy to connect and interact with your friends on Xbox Live.
Here are the biggest features detailed over on the Xbox news site:
Clubs for Xbox Live
If you have a PlayStation 4, then you likely already know how Clubs will work, since they are very similar to Communities on Sony’s console. Clubs are player-created groups that let you interact more easily with people; joining matches, setting up events, sending messages, etc. Clubs can either be open to everyone, or you can make it so people need an invite to join. This means that there will be both massive clubs centered around broad topics such as First Person Shooters or Halo 5, as well as smaller clubs for groups of friends who know each other personally.
Looking for Group on Xbox Live
If you’ve ever played an MMO, then you know what this one is about. Most games have matchmaking built into the game itself, but many people prefer to find other players to group up with before jumping into the game. This allows you to find like-minded players without relying on the randomness of matchmaking. And for games like Destiny, which have no matchmaking for things like raids, it means you won’t have to go make a post on a message board somewhere looking for players to join you, as you can do it right from the Xbox.
Achievement Rarity
Now when you get an achievement, you can see how rare it is in comparison to everyone else who has played that game. This feature has been on PlayStation consoles for quite some time, and it can be interesting to know that less than one percent of people get certain achievements, and it makes it feel all the more special when you get one of them.
Group Messaging on Xbox Live
It’s a little surprising that this is only being implemented now, but it’s finally here. No longer will you have to individually message every single person you want to play with, as you can now just have one big group chat.
Gamerscore Leaderboard
Now you can compare your Gamerscore with both your friends and everyone on Xbox Live. In addition, there’s a 30-day reset, meaning that you can compete every month to see who can get the highest Gamerscore.
Emojis for your Xbox One Virtual Keyboard
This one is fairly self-explanatory —Emojis have been added to the keyboard on Xbox One. You will never have to use real words again when chatting with friends.