The Xbox Dashboard Is Coming To The Web

Xbox Cloud Gaming is getting a UI update for browsers, with the updated interface looking more like what you would see on an Xbox console or the Xbox PC app. The interface includes upgraded social and quality-of-life features, including the ability to start a party chat directly from your browser.

The new interface isn't in general release yet, and is instead being previewed first to Xbox Insiders. A video by The Verge editor Tom Warren shows off some details of the new browser interface, which now navigates similarly to the user interface on an Xbox console.

The new UI is similar to the Xbox console's guide, the quick-start menu that can be accessed by pressing the Xbox button on the controller. The browser-based guide makes it easier to jump back into games you've been playing, with a shortcut to your most recently played game and a recently played list.

The guide also lets you start an Xbox party chat directly from your browser, with a shortcut on the default page. While Xbox Cloud Gaming already allows Xbox party chat, you currently have to be loaded into a game to initiate the chat, which will close as soon as you close the game. The new upgrade will allow players to keep the same chat active while switching between games.

The new UI also includes standard social features including messaging and an easy-access friends list, and like the console guide, this menu can also be accessed at any point in the interface, including when you're already in game.

Microsoft hasn't said when the feature will be broadly available to all Xbox Cloud Gaming users, as it's currently in early access for Insiders only. Some features are still being worked on--the text chat feature for instance is listed as "coming soon," and Xbox party chat isn't yet available for Xbox Cloud Gaming on Smart TVs.