XBOX Unveils UI Upgrades, Gamescom Slate & Hardware Moves

Microsoft just rolled out a fresh console update packed with quality-of-life changes. On top of that, you've got a full breakdown of what's showing up at the XBOX booth during Gamescom. There are also pricing details on the 25th anniversary controller.

A couple of quirky brand collaborations are in the mix as well. There's even some fresh insight into how the next generation of consoles might stay under a thousand dollars. Starting with the console update itself, this one leans more toward quality of life than raw performance gains, but it still makes the whole experience feel more polished.

These quality-of-life changes are the biggest focus of this latest console update.

Since Asha Sharma took over, you've been getting these bi-weekly updates to the Series consoles, and this batch brings a handful of things players have wanted for years. First up is the home screen. You can now fully clear away the tiles sitting at the top of Home and just look at your background instead.

Insiders can try this starting now, and you're able to remove anything from that recent games and apps row using the Menu button, including the play history tile, so the screen stays focused on what actually matters to you. There's also a new way to fade everything out entirely.

Click the right stick down and the tiles disappear, leaving just your chosen backdrop on screen, which is something people have asked for pretty much since these consoles launched. Next is local storage management. Your saves are already backed up automatically to the cloud, and unlike some competitors, that backup isn't locked behind a paywall or subscription.

But local storage, whether that's an expansion card or your internal drive, still fills up constantly. Now you can view, sort, and delete unused local saves whenever you want, either one at a time or all at once, just by heading into Settings, then System Storage, then managing your local games from there.

Beyond storage management, a couple of smaller interface tweaks round out this update too.

Then there are badge updates. Previously you could see the little icons on your profile without much explanation of what they actually meant, and you'd basically have to guess based on the artwork. Now clicking into a badge tells you exactly what it's for and the date you unlocked it, along with a full description underneath.

And finally, your wishlist got smarter too — anything you've already purchased will automatically drop off the list instead of just sitting there afterward, which is a small annoyance finally solved. None of these changes are massive on their own, but together they add up to a noticeably better everyday experience, and it sounds like more updates like this are planned before the year wraps up.

Moving over to hardware, one of the biggest reveals at the recent FanFest in LA was the 25th anniversary edition of the XBOX Series X and its matching controller, though no pricing or release window came with that announcement at the time.

Now some of those blanks are getting filled in, at least for the controller. The XBOX Wireless Controller X25 Special Edition is reportedly landing at $80 USD, with pre-orders opening August 26th, right in the middle of Gamescom week.

Pricing details are one thing, but the console itself remains a bigger question mark.

It would make sense for this to get an official reveal around the same event, though there's still no word on when the console itself will get pricing or a release date. Given the ongoing component shortages affecting the whole industry, it's possible Microsoft is holding that information back for a separate announcement, or the leak simply didn't extend that far this time.

Either way, the controller alone looks like a genuinely well-made tribute piece worth getting excited about. Speaking of Gamescom, the full lineup for the XBOX booth is now public, and there's a ton to look forward to across two days of streamed showcases on YouTube and Twitch, airing August 26th and 27th.

Day one brings Minecraft Dungeons 2, Gears of War: E-Day, Alien: Death Storm, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Atlantis, Mega Man: Dual Override, Forza Horizon 6, Fable, Crazy Taxi: World Tour, Persona 4 Revival, Where Winds Meet, Star Wars Galactic Racer, Warhammer 40k: Dark Heresy, and Terrible Lizard.

That's a stacked slate, and Gears of War: E-Day in particular already looks great based on earlier hands-on time with the multiplayer, so a deeper dive that avoids spoiling the October release is a welcome approach. Day two shifts toward smaller and more indie-leaning titles.

Day two's lineup trades blockbuster names for a much wider spread of titles.

These include Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, Turok: Origins, Stranger Than Heaven, Stuntman: Hollywood, Planet Zoo 2, Cassette Beasts 2002, Dune: Awakening, Kingdom III: Rising Realms, Armatus, Deep Dish Dungeon, The Séance of Blake Manor, DayZ, Son of Thanjai, Arkheron, Holstin, Tides of Annihilation, Albion Online, and Militsioner.

A handful of those names are pretty unfamiliar, which makes them worth keeping an eye on, and Turok: Origins along with Tides of Annihilation stand out as ones to watch closely. On top of everything confirmed, there are still rumors floating around about a surprise announcement tied to one of Microsoft's dormant IPs potentially being handed to a third-party studio, though nothing concrete has surfaced yet.

Alongside all the game reveals, XBOX has been ramping up its marketing pretty heavily lately as the 25th anniversary approaches in November, and a couple of new partnerships just got announced. First is a collaboration between Gears of War: E-Day and Gibson for a custom guitar set.

Both instruments carry Gears branding, including the COG symbol, and the idea plays into the franchise's long history of guitar-driven scores. The two designs are the Marcus Fenix Brutality Les Paul and the Dominic Santiago Gibson SG, and both will be on display at Gamescom, though they aren't actually for sale — you'll only be able to win one through a sweepstakes entry.

Unlike the guitars, this next partnership doesn't require winning anything to own it.

The other collaboration is something you can actually buy, and it's a Mattel Brick Shop building set modeled after the original XBOX console. It's designed so that once assembled, it lights up to reveal a lineup of games tucked inside, including Halo, Morrowind, and Psychonauts, alongside a small controller piece as part of the display.

It looks like a genuinely striking piece, likely sized close to the real original XBOX given the reported $330 price tag, but that cost puts it firmly in collector territory rather than impulse-buy range for most people. Combined with the IKEA collaboration announced the day before, it's clear Microsoft plans to keep rolling out these kinds of partnerships leading up to the actual anniversary date in November.

Finally, there's fresh discussion around Project Helix, the next-generation XBOX console, and how Microsoft, along with Sony, might manage to keep pricing under $1,000. That threshold matters a lot, since crossing into four-figure territory tends to scare off a huge chunk of the buying audience regardless of how strong the exclusive lineup looks on paper.

A new report lays out three possible paths, warning that missing the mark could mean 38% fewer console sales over the first five years compared to this current generation of hardware. The first option is delaying launch until after 2028, hoping ongoing component shortages ease up by then, though there's a fair argument that the crisis won't meaningfully improve in that timeframe anyway.

Delaying the console isn't the only route Microsoft and Sony could take on pricing.

The second option keeps the expected 2028 launch window but leans on heavier hardware subsidies, new monetization approaches, more aggressive digital sales pushes, and better optimized retail channels. Subsidizing hardware would likely be the most effective of those three options. But reports suggest neither company is eager to eat that cost anymore. Aggressive monetization tends to alienate players rather than help long-term sales.

This is especially true given the pushback Sony has already faced. That pushback came over rumors of moving away from physical discs by 2028. The third path focuses on hardware innovation rather than chasing raw graphical power, and this is where XBOX's rumored strategy comes into play, licensing its "Magnus" chip out to other manufacturers so they can build cheaper, lower-power devices that still run on the XBOX ecosystem.

That approach could end up being the most realistic long-term solution, even if it doesn't solve pricing on the flagship console itself. Whatever direction Microsoft and Sony end up taking, keeping next-gen pricing reasonable is going to play a massive role in how well either console actually performs once it lands on shelves.