Xbox has just announced on its website that it is rolling out new Xbox Series X|S console features for Xbox Insiders before sending them out to the general public, one of which has been requested by many Xbox players since the days of the Xbox One.
These new features include being able to have voice chat included in game captures, more options for viewing achievements, more control over Cloud save data, and improvements to Xbox wishlists.
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Voice Chat in Game Captures
The first and possibly biggest new feature of this bunch is allowing gameplay captures to include your voice and those of your chat party instead of just the gameplay audio alone.
Each player can choose if they want to have their voice included in the clip, and you can also choose to include in-game chat audio in your captures if you’re not using the Xbox app’s voice chat party feature.
This feature is now available for Xbox Insider users in the Alpha Skip-Ahead ring.
New methods of viewing your Xbox Achievements
Keeping track of your Xbox Achievements has now been made less of a hassle for Xbox Insider users in the Alpha Skip-Ahead ring.
In addition to the ‘last played’ view option, players can now sort games by title, completion percentage, Gamerscore earned, and the number of Achievements unlocked.
These options can also be sorted in ascending or descending order, whichever a user prefers.
This feature will no doubt be super useful for those hunting for the newly announced Xbox Platinum Achievements coming soon.
More Control Over Your Cloud Saves
This feature is already available for Xbox Insiders, but starting next week, more Xbox players will have the option to restore previously synced cloud save data directly from their Xbox console with games that support it, starting with Forza Horizon 6.
This means that if you need to recover a precious version of your save, you can browse cloud save versions and restore it to an easier save file directly from your console instead of just the Cloud.
You can access this feature for Forza Horizon 6 by going into the Xbox console’s ‘Manage game & add-ons’ options menu, going to ‘Saved data’, and then clicking ‘Restore saved data’.
More Xbox games will support this feature in future updates.
Add More Games To Your Wishlist
The final new feature announced is available for all Xbox users and it’s a simple one.
Starting today, you can now add up to 1,000 Xbox games to your wishlist, instead of only 301, allowing you to keep track of more upcoming Xbox you’re interested in playing and when they’ll go on sale.
Windows Central’s take
New console features are rolling out to XBOX insiders!💬Voice chat in game captures🏆 New ways to view achievements☁️ More control over cloud saves🎮 More games on wishlistRead more about these upcoming features: https://t.co/eBIUKNYxkoAugust 5, 2026
All these features are all fine and dandy, but the one me and my friends are hyped about mostly is the voice chat becoming available to be included in game captures.
Some of my favorite gaming moments have been listening to my friends freaking out being mauled by monsters in Monster Hunter, or screaming triumphantly after killing a boss I’ve been stuck on for hours in Elden Ring.
Yes, you can do this already if you’re a livestreamer, but that usually requires going out of your way to purchase recording capture cards and learning how to stream, which can be expensive and time-consuming.
With this new feature, you can have your voice in gameplay clips with just your Xbox console alone; no capture gear or streaming knowledge needed, which is good for me, as I never want to become a streamer anytime soon due to stage fright.
But what about you? Are you happy that voice chat in recorded game clips is now possible? Are there any other features you want Xbox consoles to include?
If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know through the poll, the comments section, or our Reddit page.
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