Xbox Series consoles can mute unwanted sounds in group conversation

Microsoft is releasing an update for the Xbox Series X and S consoles that will give users the option to mute certain unwanted sounds and background noise in a group conversation.

Microsoft writes in a support document that the current system update adds noise suppression to parties. This gives users the ability to filter out ‘unwanted sounds’ such as gamepad clicks, breathing and background noise. This option is enabled by default. Players who do want to keep certain types of background noise such as music in their group conversations can disable the mute function in the settings.

The update adds another new option that allows players to quickly join friends’ gaming sessions. Friends can join directly from shared video clips and screenshots by pressing ‘play’ from those clips or screenshots, after which they can play directly in a browser. This is limited to mobile devices or a PC with cloud gaming capability; in the latter case, the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription is required in some cases.