Community Update November 2023 – Xbox Wire

Please read:

You can feel the fall air in the office. There are falling leaves, a faint pumpkin-flavored smell permeating the office and a dark night full of horrors. (That’s from when everyone still liked that show, right?)

Indeed, the winds of change blow heavily this year; our beloved program caught in the gale’s tempestuous grasp. So put on your favorite flannel, equip your thickest framed glasses, spin that classic blue (or green, or red, or white) record, and gather ‘round to hear all about the upcoming improvements, new initiatives, and much more coming to the Xbox Insider Program!

I’m Speaking To Myself

My favorite game show host likes to say, “The only way to begin is by beginning,” and since I grew up in the South that means introductions are in order.

Hi! I’m Wynn; the newest member of the wonderful Xbox Insider team. I’ve been brought on to lead all things Comms and Community (or as I like to call it: Comm(s)unity) for the Xbox Insider Program, so you’ll be hearing from me more and more in the coming months. I’m super excited to be joining this team right now and I hope that my passion for both gaming and Xbox Insiders can help our 10th anniversary be a banner year for the program.

More about me? Well, I’m a huge Sci-Fi/Fantasy nerd, I wake up early on the weekends to watch Liverpool (YNWA), and I love achievement hunting. I’m also something of a writer myself (if using the word “tempestuous” in the opening section wasn’t a dead giveaway). But that’s enough self-indulgence, let’s talk about ~the future~.

The New Mindset: Breathing in a new mentality

From our social presence to new content being developed, from our releases to things we only dared dream of, there’s so many exciting projects we’re looking forward to sharing with everyone. We’re truly redoubling our efforts on having an “Xbox Insiders-first” mentality, and we hope everyone is as stoked by these changes as we are. Below you’ll see the first look at our Content Roadmap. The road map includes old favorites returning and some retiring for the moment. A few things, with a hint at new opportunities on the horizon.

The View From Above is Amazing!

My first week here, I scrolled back through all 205 pages (yes, all of them) of Xbox Wire articles we’ve posted. The history of the Xbox Wire program was something I wanted to learn about. One of the changes we discussed was a shift away from “people-content” and a move to “program-content”. Q&As, Community Spotlights, and deep dives had slowly faded from the limelight. Now, not anymore! A primary goal for this refresh is to demystify and de- “black box” things where we’re able to. The team is filled with rock stars. Several of the team members have been around since the Very BeginningXbox Insiders are invited to read their experiences.

There’s also all the amazing Xbox Insiders themselves. Who can forget The Wee Bear’s dominance on the XP Leaderboards (or the way he always called it “Xbox Insiders Programme”)? Beard surpassed 125K GamerScores in a month, which is approximately 6 games if you adjust for Xitilon/Ratalaika’s inflation. As we know, our community contains a wide range of perspectives. We want to share these stories and highlight achievements and awards within the program. These spotlights will be returning very soon ™.

Void Created

We want to make things more transparent, and that can sometimes require us to own up our errors. We spoke about how to be more conscious of the way we gather and communicate feedback with Xbox Insiders last week. Feature Fridays, a subreddit item of this kind is one example.

First, we want to give an enormous, heartfelt, “Thank you” to everyone that has participated in these threads over the last five years. We cannot overstate the importance of your contributions. This experience may have disappointed some. As such, it’s our intent to retire the current Feedback Friday threads at the end of this year in preparation for launching a better, more transparent process. Note: Plans are subject to change. If we need more time to implement the new pipeline, we’ll make sure to keep everyone informed.)

This does not, to be crystal-clear, Hydaelyn level, mean that we have abandoned our feature request pipe. It’s an incredibly valuable tool not only for the Xbox Insider Team, but tons of other engineering and development teams within Xbox. The current vehicle isn’t working as intended, so we’re retuning the engine and giving it a fresh coat of paint. It’s still early days but our proverbial “North Star” is firmly set. Ensure Xbox Insiders receive the proper information and expectations about what will happen after they request a new feature. We’ll also be opening threads on the subreddit to gather feedback around this topic in the coming days. See y’all there!

Changes in Times

You might find that things become less clear as you look further into the future. There are many teasers on the road map, but nothing solid. The planning stages for these projects have just begun and we don’t want to overpromise there. It’s just the beginning. We’ll continue to send out these Community Update letters on a regular basis (aiming for the first Tuesday of every month) to discuss more about what the future holds. Maybe the roadmap holds more information than you think?

It Couldn’t Be Anything After This

I said, “could”, right? It’s getting long. I want to thank all Xbox Insiders again for spending their valuable time delivering feedback and reporting issues. Without y’all, none of this would be possible.

I hope everyone has enjoyed the first Xbox Insider Program community update! If you haven’t already, drop us a follow @xboxinsiderJoin our community on our official subreddit: r/XboxInsiders. Join our [REDACTED]Where are we? [REDACTED]! There’s also [REDACTED]The following are some examples of how to get started: [MEGA REDACTED]For those who like that.