Xbox overhauls the Home UI for Xbox Series X|S consoles in time for Starfield

Xbox is currently rolling out a major update to the UI for the OS found across Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One consoles, with Microsoft noting that the new UI design was based on player feedback to make game discovery easier. From custom backgrounds for tiles to subtle changes - let's take a look.

First up, one of the more subtle and welcome additions is the addition of a new shortcut bar at the top of the Home screen that includes quick access to your Library, the Microsoft Store, Xbox Game Pass, Search, and Settings. It's a great addition, as before this update accessing Xbox system settings required a couple of steps.

The biggest overhaul comes with the overall presentation of tiles to access recent apps and games, with more space for custom backgrounds and an option to change the background to match the game highlighted. This is reminiscent of the PlayStation 5's UI, which changes the background and even music depending on what game is currently highlighted. Seeing Starfield in Xbox's demonstration of the new UI is a nice reminder that the highly anticipated game is right around the corner.

The team at Xbox has been working on this new update to the UI for over a year now, and it presents a major change to how you'll use your Xbox console. It supports curated lists of games, with the ability to pin things like Quick Resume to the Home screen, groups, and more.

On the community side, there's a Friends & Community Updates row so you can see what you're friends have been up to, and the entertainment side for apps like YouTube and Netflix has been expanded with a watch and spotlight list.

It's pretty exciting and hopefully marks a new direction for Xbox console UI design which has seen several overhauls over the years. The team at Xbox notes that the rollout is underway, but it could take a few weeks to reach every system - so hang tight if the update isn't available for your console just yet.