Xbox Goes Green: Revolutionary Update Helps Users Significantly Reduce Carbon Footprint

Microsoft MSFT’s Xbox is getting a new update that aims to help console owners reduce their carbon emissions.

The video gaming brand -which consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications, streaming services, an online service (Xbox Network), and a development arm (Xbox Game Studios)- is pushing an update for Xbox Insiders, as per IGN.

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Through an Xbox Wire post, the firm announced that those users who are members of the Xbox Insiders program and own Xbox Series X / S consoles will automatically have a new “Shutdown (energy saving)” option available. Moreover, Microsoft assured that the feature will be accessible to all the other console owners later on.

Xbox: The First Carbon-Aware Console

What does this new feature do? It reduces power use by up to 20x while the console is turned off without harming performance.

On its official webpage, Microsoft explained: “When your console is plugged in, connected to the Internet and regional carbon intensity data is available, Xbox will schedule game, app, and OS updates for your console at specific times during the nightly maintenance window that may result in lower carbon emissions because a higher proportion of electricity is coming from lower-carbon sources on the electric grid.”

“For example, instead of your Xbox waking up during the nightly maintenance window at a random time between 2:00 AM – 6:00 AM, your console will wake up at a time when it can use the most renewable energy in your local energy grid. This decreases fossil fuel dependency and CO2 emissions, and could potentially save you money,” Microsoft added.

Furthermore, the company estimated that, for every two consoles that switch to “Shutdown” for one year, the equivalent amount of carbon removed by one tree for a decade can be saved.

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All in all, this is not the first decision Microsoft makes in order to be more “green”: in 2019, it joined the “Playing for the Planet Alliance,” and it also pledged carbon negativity, water positivity, and zero waste by 2030.

Photo by Billy Freeman on Unsplash