Microsoft has announced a slew of new Xbox One features (via Xbox Wire) coming to everybody in the Insiders program. Arguably the biggest change is a new party overlay that makes it possible to see who's speaking in your party, which can be of great help when playing with a lot of people or those you don't know very well. This is how it's described:
"We've recently shipped several multitasking features, including the Achievement tracker, to improve your gaming experience. With this update, we are adding a new overlay that will tell you who's speaking in your Party, without having to open the Guide. When you are in a Party, go to the Guide to enable the overlay. Just like the Achievement tracker, you can choose where on the screen you want to place the overlay and how transparent it will be. The window will show the Gamertag of the player whenever they speak, and when no one is talking, the window will be invisible. This is particularly useful for Looking for Group and other scenarios where you might not know all the members of your Party."
Microsoft also continues to expand the Arena feature for Insiders, which makes it possible to arrange tournaments within Clubs on Xbox Live, with Killer Instinct supporting this feature right now, and Halo Wars 2 and Smite coming soon. Microsoft writes:
"Want to create your own Killer Instinct tournament? Starting this month, Club owners and administrators can create and host tournaments in their Clubs. Download the Xbox app (beta) on your Windows 10 PC, go to your Club and click on the "Tournaments" tab then select "Create tournament." Fill out your tournament info and publish your event. Other members of that Club, or guests if they are allowed, on either PC or Xbox One can then discover, join, and play in your tournament."
"As Arena continues to grow, be on the lookout for more tournaments with games like Halo Wars 2 and Smite, as well as gamer-created tournaments for World of Tanks."
There's still no word on when these features will leave the Insider program and be available to everyone, but it shouldn't be too far off. Which is the more welcome of these features though?