Microsoft is releasing the Xbox One’s next major update next week

It’s been more than six months since Microsoft launched its Xbox One console, and the company is now planning to refresh its Xbox.com service to bring some much needed features to the web. While Xbox.com has worked for Xbox One owners to sign in and view profiles, it has never been optimized for the new friend features, achievements, game clips, and activity feed. That’s all changing next week with a big feature update that includes some visual tweaks to the site. The regular Xbox One activity list will be viewable from Xbox.com, alongside a new profile page that lists game clips that have been uploaded or saved. Xbox Live achievements will also be viewable, with options to compare achievements between friends. Visually the site looks very different from the existing Xbox.com, and the refresh will match the appearance of the Xbox One dashboard.

Microsoft may still introduce Family Sharing, the ability to share a game library among up to 10 family members, to Xbox One consoles in future updates, head of Xbox Phil Spencer told Gamer Tag Radio in a recent interview. “We looked at the digital features that we had talked about last year and as a gamer, there were a lot of those features that I think really resonated and were smart features for people who really have a lot of games and maybe play on a couple consoles or have bunch of people in the house or want to share with friends,” Spencer said. “As I look at our monthly update roadmap, those kind of features are in our roadmap. There is a little bit of a challenge now that you’ve got DRM on a disc.” When Microsoft announced in June last year that it was removing the controversial restrictions from its new Xbox console — internet connection requirements and region-locked software — the company’s policy reversals resulted in some features such as Family Sharing being removed. Microsoft corporate vice president Marc Whitten explained the following month that some of those features that were removed as a byproduct, including Family Sharing, could return to Xbox One. Whitten said at the time that the return of features like Family Sharing could happen if it’s “something people are really excited about and want,” adding there are some technical issues to resolve for that to happen.