Xbox Party Chat, Looking 4 Groups To Be Free In Approaching Update For Xbox Platforms

In regards to some definitive Xbox One attributes as of late, Microsoft is pulling the plug on the OneGuide feature in the approaching weeks. For those unfamiliar, the option allows users to directly search through television channels and networks that are available through the user’s respected cable provider. However, brighter horizons are on the way.

While users on PlayStation are well accustomed to the feature, Xbox owners are to find the ability for free-to-play entries to be as they are titled – free. So, games like Apex Legends and Rocket League will not cost Xbox owners to purchase Xbox Live Gold to enjoy these titles. But, there is more to the equation that was not mentioned initially.

In a new announcement from Xbox Insider on Twitter, it is now apparent that Xbox Live Party Chat and the Looking 4 Group feature will also be bundled in the free suite that is arriving to Xbox platforms later on in 2021.

Users already assigned into the Xbox Insider Alpha Ring will soon find the features in its latest form for free. What many – including myself found to be the impossible a decade ago with only private chat available – is now up for free and no online subscription will cost its owners to interact with other users and friends.

Overall, Xbox Live is facing a complete revamp as per the jump from the associated service to what is now ‘Xbox Network’. Earlier this week, Microsoft in a statement to Eurogamer disclosed that despite the name change, Xbox Live Gold will still be in operation. “We are making ongoing adjustments to create a simpler, more descriptive messaging system for Xbox in different areas,” a spokesperson told the outlet.

While the group search feature is being added to Xbox’s free services in the coming weeks, the same tool on PlayStation is heading for the door. In an update on PlayStation Support, Sony Interactive Entertainment presses that PlayStation Communities will be gone by early April. You can read the full report by heading here.

Are you excited for free party chat on Xbox?