Members of the Xbox Insider Program received a questionnaire asking for their opinion on the potential addition of features aimed at reducing the energy consumption of Xbox consoles during gaming sessions.
The coming winter is uncertain from an energy point of view. Europe in particular is preparing for shortages and the terms “energy saving” have been on everyone’s lips since this summer. Microsoft, aware of the situation and the state of its game consoles, is therefore thinking internally of proposing solutions to help reduce the electricity consumption of players.
Players interviewed
A reporter from the Windows Central site, a member of the Xbox Insider program, shared a questionnaire published on the application of the program. This is entirely focused on the energy consumption of the Xbox Series X and S consoles and the PC during game sessions and offers some ways to reduce it and thus reduce the bill at the end of the month. We can read in this questionnaire some tracks considered by Microsoft, which asks the opinion of the players.
In the future, it may be possible to activate in-game energy saving options, which would adjust their performance. The system could lower the graphics settings, frames per second or resolution in order to reduce the use of the GPU and therefore, by extension, the consumption of the medium. Players may also see the arrival of a default option that lowers the frame rate or resolution when the game is idle.
Microsoft continues on a greener path
Obviously, it is for the moment only a survey, a temperature measurement. It is not said that Microsoft will necessarily implement these solutions. Nevertheless, the tech giant’s interest in energy and, more broadly, ecology, is not new. It is therefore very possible to see improvements on this side for the Xbox Series X and S consoles or even the PC.
Its latest consoles, as well as the PlayStation 5, were singled out last year for their consumption deemed too high even in standby mode. A study by the Natural Resources Defense Council in the United States had highlighted the relative effectiveness of the “energy saving” mode. Sony and Microsoft have since improved on the subject and the latter even released a system update in October on Xbox to help better differentiate the names of the power options. The company has also put in place an ambitious program to become carbon neutral by 2030.