The October 2018 update for the Xbox One has started rolling out to all users, and it finally brings us the revamped Avatar system.
In a post detailing the update on the Xbox website, Microsoft says that the new Avatars are “expressive, creative and, most importantly, bring to life the community of fans they represent”. There will be loads of ways to customise your Avatar’s appearance, with a wide range of body types and different clothing accessories available. You’ll also be able to edit all aspects of your Avatar’s appearance such as skin and hair. There’s also an Avatar Store (unsurprisingly) where you can spend real money to buy different outfits for your Avatar, including licensed designs for the likes of Halo and Gears of War. The store will be updated with new content every month (unsurprisingly) to make sure that people keep spending that cash. Once your Avatar is suited and booted, you’ll be able to take a picture to use as your Gamerpic using the Photobooth editor. If you’re not a fan of the new system then don’t worry, you’ll still be able to use your Xbox Original Avatar if you so wish.
Avatars will appear across your Xbox One, in places such as your Profile, on activity feed posts, Gamerscore leaderboards and club headers. This new Avatar feature has already been available to members of the Xbox Insider Program for some time, having been in beta-testing since June.
Elsewhere, the update also adds the Xbox Skill for Cortana and Alexa for players in the U.S. This feature gives you the ability to interact with the Xbox through Cortana and Alexa-enabled devices, meaning you can use voice commands to power on/off your console, adjust volume, launch games and apps, capture screenshots and more. For example, with a simple “Alexa, launch Halo 5”, your console will automatically turn on, sign you in and launch Halo 5; as long as you have an Amazon Echo that is, otherwise you’ll just be a crazy person talking to nobody. As an extra bonus, starting tomorrow in the U.S., anyone who buys a qualified Xbox One S or Xbox One X bundle at Amazon will get a new Amazon Echo Dot for absolutely nothing! The offer is only available while supplies last, so don’t wait around.
The update also adds Dolby Vision HDR video streaming support, which “enables select TV’s to deliver enhanced HDR with dynamic scene-by-scene precision and accuracy versus standard HDR, which is static for the entire movie/show you are watching. If you have a TV that supports the latest version of Dolby Vision and a Premium Netflix subscription, jump in and experience incredible brightness, contrast, and colour for yourself today!” Dolby Vision will only work on Netflix for people with a premium subscription at launch but more Dolby Vision supported apps will be added in the coming months.
Check out the YouTube video below for the full rundown on the October 2018 update.
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