The Xbox One is nearly a year old, and Microsoft has already changed a ton of things about the console through updates. And Xbox boss Phil Spencer wants to add a ton more to the system next year.
Spencer revealed that the Xbox One’s monthly updates will continue throughout 2015. On a podcast with Microsoft evangelist Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb, Spencer explained that his team is planning only a minor upgrade for December before picking up the pace again in January. The company adopted a monthly update schedule early on in the Xbox One’s life, and that has enabled it to quickly add new features and improve the system’s overall usability. This method has also helped Microsoft avoid big issues with its updates — unlike Sony, which is currently seeing a number of issues with the big 2.0 firmware update for PlayStation 4.
“As we roll into 2015 we definitely have a road map for monthly updates,” said Spencer. “We’re kind of working through the schedules on those things now, but it’s a commitment that we have as a platform team that we’ll continue monthly updates.”
We already know that Microsoft plans on a feature that enables players to take screenshots of games. This is something that the PlayStation 4 has had since launch. It’s also a trend we’ve seen previously with Xbox One’s updates. Microsoft used updates to add other features the PS4 already had including livestreaming to Twitch and the capability to purchase games digitally and start downloading them remotely.
As for next month’s update, Spencer explained why you shouldn’t expect a lot of changes.
“December I expect to be a time that we’re just going to make sure people are turning on consoles and the games are playing well and everything’s working great,” he said. “That’s job number one for us.”
Microsoft has made a big deal out of its monthly update schedule. The company even has a Xbox update preview program where players can try out new features before they are ready for everyone. This has enabled the engineers at Microsoft to find and eliminate problems before they impact a wider audience.
Spencer is also a big proponent of inviting fans to submit their ideas for consideration. Microsoft has a website where fans can voice their desires for updates and vote on others. The company has already used this to add features like custom background images on the Xbox One dashboard and enabling the console to boot directly into television mode.