Microsoft Responds to Xbox One Energy Consumption Concerns

In a new post on Xbox Wire, Microsoft addressed Xbox One energy consumption concerns. The blog post comes in the wake of a recent Natural Resources Defense Council report that blasted the Xbox One's Instant on mode, with senior scientist Noah Horowitz calling the mode "poorly designed" and the system wasteful in terms of the amount of energy it uses.

Microsoft doesn't see it that way.

The company writes that the Xbox One's Instant-on mode--which makes the console boot up quickly and allows it to download updates in the background--is a feature that fans have called for since the Xbox 360 era.

"When factoring the monthly system updates, new features in apps, and games and automatic mobile purchase downloads, the Instant-on setting easily saves users countless hours of needlessly waiting," the company wrote.

Microsoft goes on to say that it has already improved the Xbox One's power consumption, claiming that the company has reduced the total power used while in Instant-on by a third.

"At Microsoft, sustainability is core to our business practices," Microsoft said. "We continue to work to reduce the environmental impact of our products and services, and we are committed to carbon neutrality as a company."

The Xbox One also features an Energy-saving mode. The lower-power mode uses less energy and can save users about $6-15 per year on average--but of course it doesn't have the background downloading or other features included with Instant on.

Microsoft added that, in the "coming months," people who buy a new Xbox One will be given the choice to use this power state when setting up their console for the first time instead of the default Instant-on. If you already own an Xbox One, you can choose the Energy-saving option through the Settings menu.

"By providing multiple power states in Xbox One and empowering our fans with choice, we sought to balance energy efficiency and functionality," Microsoft said. "At the same time, we know many Xbox One fans are vigilant about their household's energy consumption; after all, environmental leadership often begins at home."

Updated April 13 with correct yearly energy cost savings estimates.