Arena on Xbox Live coming to Xbox One in preview

Back at E3, Microsft announced some exciting new features for Xbox Live members. The online gaming community for Xbox One owners would be receiving new social features called Clubs, Looking for Group, and Arena. Both Clubs and Looking for Group (LFG) became available to Xbox One Preview members earlier last month. These features enable Xbox One gamers to more easily find other like minded players based on specific games or types of gameplay, and also allow gamers to form their own social clubs.

Microsoft just announced today that the third new social feature, Arena on Xbox Live is rolling out today to Preview members. Arena on Xbox Live is a tournament system for Xbox One games which Microsoft describes saying it will “make eSports more accessible for gamers everywhere, regardless of skill-level.” At launch, Preview members will only be able to play one game in the new Arena on Xbox Live system, but it’s a fairly popular one. Killer Instinct will be the first game that Xbox Live members will be able to enter tournaments for.

Arena on Xbox Live will roll out today for Preview members on Xbox One and the beta Xbox app for Windows 10. The update includes more than just the Arena feature, here is the full list:

• Arena on Xbox Live: Beginning today, Arena launches to Preview on Xbox One with the pilot title and legendary fighting game, Killer Instinct. During Preview, you can look forward to competing in daily Killer Instinct tournaments across Xbox One and the Xbox app (beta) on Windows 10 PC. For the initial roll out, Arena will only be accessible to Preview members through practice tournaments on Xbox One in the U.S., with plans to add additional features and expand to the broader Preview audience later in To start competing, all you have to do is register on the Tournament tab in the Killer Instinct Game Hub. We’re really excited about the potential of Arena and eager to hear your thoughts as we evolve it and make eSports more accessible for gamers everywhere, regardless of skill-level.
• Achievement Rarity: You might have already seen some buzz about Achievement Rarity from @XboxQwik and @majornelson. If you missed it, Achievement Rarity, a top fan request on Xbox Feedback, launched to Preview a few weeks ago. Now, you’ll be able to discover just how unique an Achievement is among players of a given game and celebrate the Achievement itself with a special notification and diamond icon highlighting it. Unlock one today and let us know how you like the new animation.
• New Looking for Group (LFG) Features: Starting today, you will be able to create LFG posts for future gaming sessions – up to seven days in advance! Additionally, based on your feedback, you can now create LFG posts directly in a Club and control who sees them: just members of the Club or everyone on Xbox Live. When creating LFG posts, you can also note what language the party will be speaking and filter your LFG searches based on the language.
• Group Messaging on Xbox Live: Last week, we launched Group Messaging on Xbox One and the Xbox app (beta) on Windows 10 PC. Group Messaging helps you coordinate and keep in touch with your friends and fellow gamers by sending a single group message to everyone in the group. You can also add people to the group and dynamically change the conversation topic. Group Messaging will soon work across the Xbox app (beta) on iOS and Android devices.

If you are a Preview member you can start testing out Arena and these other latest feature updates starting today. Let us know what you think of the new features in the comment section below.