Microsoft is testing giving users more control over which games appear in their Xbox achievements and making changes to what achievements look like when earned. The changes are being introduced through the company’s free-to-join Xbox Insiders program, and will likely be rolled out to all Xbox owners at some point in the future.
Starting in late April, select Xbox Insiders will be able to hide games from their Achievements list, whether they’ve completed them or not. Hidden games will still count towards users’ GameScore, but the option should serve as another way to curate your public profile. Microsoft is also experimenting with changing the way achievements are displayed. Xbox Insiders will receive redesigned Achievements with new animations and notifications that match the custom color they chose for their Xbox interface. Games in which Insiders have earned 100 percent achievements will also be highlighted in their Achievements list, and Insiders will be able to filter their list to only see games they have fully completed.
According to Microsoft, being able to hide games from the Achievement list has been “one of the most requested features” from Xbox Insiders. The company’s March update that allowed users to selectively exclude games from Xbox’s Quick Resume feature was similarly long-requested. It would probably be wrong to characterize these changes as downstream of new Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma’s stated desire to “re-commit” to Xbox, but they don’t hurt when it comes to winning over fans — especially if the company’s continued presence in the console space rests on an expensive box that plays PC and Xbox games.
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