Microsoft Revives Xbox Friend Requests After a 10-Year Hiatus: A New Era for Online Gaming

Xbox Revives Friend Requests: A More Traditional Approach

After more than a decade, Xbox is finally bringing back friend requests, introducing a more traditional "two-way, invite-approved" system. This new feature will sit alongside the existing "one-way" follower system, giving users more control and flexibility.

A Brief History

Xbox eliminated friend requests in 2013, transitioning to a social-media-style system that allowed users to follow activity feeds without explicit approval. If the other party reciprocates, a follower becomes a friend, enabling chat, messaging, and gaming. However, with the latest update, Xbox is re-introducing a more traditional approach to friend requests.

What’s Changing

The new "friends and followers experience" will enable users to send, accept, or delete friend requests from the Xbox guide’s People tab. All existing friends and followers will update automatically when the system goes live, with their status remaining unchanged.

New Privacy and Notification Settings

To give users more control over their online interactions, the updated friend system will also include new privacy and notification settings. These settings will allow players to set notifications and determine who can send them friend requests or follow their account, available both on-machine and online.

Initial Rollout and Feedback

The updated friend system will initially launch for Alpha Skip-Ahead users on Xbox consoles, PC Gaming preview members on Windows PCs and handheld devices, starting this week. It will then be rolled out to everyone once testing is complete. Microsoft thanks Xbox Insiders for their feedback, stating that it’s a key part of their development process.

Key Features: