Xbox One update boosts Party Chat

Microsoft announced another update for the Xbox One and the Xbox app for Windows 10, including a welcome change for players of Xbox 360 backwards compatible games. You can now purchase such games directly on your Xbox One from the store as you do for all your Xbox One titles.

Microsoft claims that players have spent more than 30 million hours inside Xbox 360 games on the Xbox One, and this feature was one of the top requested ones on its feedback forums. There's also important news for regular Twitch users, as you can now broadcast the chatter happening within your party when using the Twitch app.

Party leaders can invite other people to include their chat audio in your broadcast, or viewers can opt-in to be heard on the broadcast though they aren't in control of whether they actually are. As the host, you can mute anyone you like and even have Windows 10 members have their say on the broadcast.

Alongside including party chat in Twitch, the feature is getting two more changes. The first of those allows you to host bigger parties than before, up from 12-person parties to 16-person ones. This feature will be available to both Xbox One preview members and beta testers of the Xbox app.