(Photo by Xbox)
A recent update aimed at reducing the power consumption of Xbox consoles has drawn criticism from some surprising quarters, including Sen. Ted Cruz and the morning show “Fox & Friends.”
On January 11, Microsoft’s Xbox division announced an update for the Xbox One and Series X|S gaming systems that will make them “the first carbon-aware consoles.” The update, which is currently being tested in the Xbox Insider Early Access program, introduces a new set of options to control how the console behaves when it’s in sleep mode to tie in with Microsoft’s goal of being a carbon negative company by 2030 Mr.
Initial news of the patch came and went without much comment, as it’s still limited to Xbox Insiders for testing the product and hasn’t yet been activated for typical Xbox owners. It also doesn’t affect the functionality of the devices in a way that can’t be turned off, and in fact it’s entirely possible that many Xbox players won’t notice the difference.
Even so, the Xbox “carbon emissions” update began drawing fire from the political sector on January 23, starting with a story in Blaze News that announced that Microsoft “will force gamers to turn off their Xbox consoles to fight climate change.”
The Blaze piece largely misrepresents the update’s features, presenting them as if the update will automatically force all Xboxes to use a power-saving shutdown mode, and as if this permanently disables several system features that are associated with the more power-intensive Sleep mode.
Additional commentary came on Jan. 24 from “Fox & Friends,” which accused Microsoft of “trying to recruit your kids into climate policy at a younger age,” and a tweet from Sen. Cruz, who linked the Xbox update to other recent carbon-related controversies.
“First gas stoves, then your coffee,” Cruz wrote, “now they’re after your Xbox.”
The Xbox Series X|S is unique among ninth-generation consoles in that it’s surprisingly hard to turn off. Out of the box, pressing the Series X|S’s power button activates Sleep or Shutdown mode, neither of which completely shuts down the console. To do this, you need to go into the system’s power settings and force it to shut down completely.
As of March 2022, Xboxes ship with Shutdown as a default option, but launch consoles have had sleep mode turned on right away. Sleep uses 10-15W versus Shutdown’s 0.5W, but allows users to instantly start Xbox and access it remotely. Sleep mode can also cause a few problems for users if the Xbox is allowed to run long enough without a full reboot like any other computer.
As part of Microsoft’s ongoing sustainability program, the January 11 “carbon aware” update adds some of the same features that were introduced last year for Windows 11. An Xbox that is turned on and connected to the Internet will automatically try to access to regional carbon intensity data to trigger automatic updates at times when your local power grid draws the most electricity from renewable sources.
“We encourage all players to learn more about the power tuning options available to you,” Blaine Hauglie, technical program manager at Xbox, wrote on the official Xbox blog. “Every small step we take has a bigger collective impact – and choosing to Switch Off (save energy) can have a real, meaningful impact.”
“For example, for every two consoles that switch to Shutdown (energy saving) in a year, we will save the equivalent amount of carbon removed by one tree planted and grown for a decade.”
While the update automatically enables shutdown mode for Xbox Insiders whose systems have been set to sleep, there’s nothing stopping them from changing it back. The update also adds a new feature to sleep mode that allows the option to adjust the Xbox’s active hours so it will switch from sleep mode to shutdown mode at user-defined times when no one is using the system . This is intended to reduce the overall power consumption of the console.
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