Xbox takes green to a new level with groundbreaking console update
MicrosoftTo reduce Xbox’s carbon footprint, Microsoft has introduced carbon-aware features in a new console update that will soon unlock access to energy settings.
In recent years, the likes of Microsoft and Sony have to great lengths to be more environmentally friendly. Sony Corp. launched its Green Management 2025 plan in 2020, for example, committing to limiting plastic use. And the PS5’s fully recyclable packaging reflected as much.
Last year, Microsoft promised all Xbox consoles and games would prove 100% recyclable by the end of the decade.
But it’s clear the Xbox maker has even greater ambitions in mind with respect to reducing its “environmental impact.”
New update will make Xbox the first carbon-aware console
Hoping to reduce its carbon footprint, Microsoft has devised a system to make “carbon-aware game downloads and updates” a possibility. Windows 11 PCs adopted a similar system last year, now it’s Xbox’s turn.
In an Xbox Wire post, the company stated that a future update will allow internet-connected consoles to schedule game and system software updates at strategic times during nightly maintenance.
This should result in “lower carbon emissions because a higher proportion of electricity is coming from lower-carbon sources on the electric grid.”
Instead of the Xbox waking up randomly between, say, 2:00 AM and 6:00 AM, the console will wake up at a time when using the local grid’s renewable energy is most optimal.
These carbon-aware changes with Xbox hardware should diminish CO2 emissions and dependency on fossil fuels. It may even save players money in the long run.
For now, only Xbox Insiders can take advantage of the new update, which includes a “Shutdown (energy saving)” feature accessible through the console’s “Settings” menu.
All Xbox players can expect the update in question to arrive sometime “soon,” Microsoft said in the blog post.