How to sign up for the ‘Xbox Insider’ program

Yesterday Microsoft announced that group chat, previously only available to Xbox Live Gold members, will soon be free for all Xbox players. The company revealed the news in a Tweeter with expressions such as “Alpha”, “Alpha Skip-Ahead” and “flighting”. Meanwhile, a accompanying blog post had a string of numbers: 2104-210323-0000. What does all this mean?

The short version is that it’s all a bunch of references to the Xbox Insider Program, which allows Xbox users to test upcoming features before they are made available to the general population. Earlier this month, for example, the authorized program some members suspend games while other games are being downloaded, which can dramatically increase download speeds. In some cases, members can even preview upcoming games.

That’s not all. In January, Microsoft ad (as part of a flip-flop over a drastic Xbox Live price increase proposal) that this year the Xbox Live Gold membership will no longer be required to play free games, reversing a multi-year precedent.

This latest Xbox Insider rollout gets the ball rolling, lifting this restriction for players in the Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead levels of the program. Soon, Beta- and lower-level members will also be able to play Fortnite, a free game, without paying any money for a monthly Xbox Live Gold subscription. Microsoft has yet to say when this change will roll out to the general playerbase.

Alright, I’m in it. How do I register?

Easy: turn on your Xbox. Go to the store. Open the search function and type “insider”. Download the Xbox Insider Bundle app, start it, and click the “join” button. (He’s the only one.) That’s all. There you are!

So how does it work?

Xbox Insider offers benefits based on a tier system. There are five levels, three of which you can actually achieve:

• Omega: This is the starting level. You’ll receive updates just before they go live in the general playerbase – still early access, but without bragging rights and the shiny VIP polish.
• Delta: Once you’ve been in the program for at least one month, you’ll be eligible to reach Delta level, provided you have also reached Xbox Insider XP level two. (Yes, like a video game, Xbox Insider has levels. I agree. is boring.) You are guaranteed to receive updates before the general playerbase. In some cases, when updates require additional testing, you may get them before people at Alpha and Beta levels. Fancy.
• Beta: If you’ve been in the Xbox Insider program for three months and you’ve reached level five, you will be eligible for beta. These people have access to updates shortly after the Alpha level updates.

The ultra-exclusive Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead levels are by invitation only. Do not worry.

You won’t automatically jump between levels when you unlock them. Once you have reached a new level, go to the “Previews” tab, click on “Xbox update preview”, open the “info” submenu, and click on “Manage”. This should bring up a list of all the levels you’ve unlocked. (Note: This method will also disable the program. Just follow these steps and click “Exit Preview”.)

One more thing: you don’t have to start from scratch if you switch consoles. Like Xbox, save the data, Xbox Insider status will track your account. Once you open the app on your new machine, you’ll have access to everything you had access to on your old machine.

Why not level up automatically?

Vaunted tiers offer early access to new features, which is super cool, but those features have generally undergone less testing at this point and therefore come with a higher risk of bugs. By giving yourself the ability to level up, you will have control over your risk of encounter bugs or encounter Xbox features in an unfinished state.

How to level up?

In the Xbox Insider app, go to the “Activities” tab. You will see a series of short polls, each of which will give you a portion of XP to answer multiple choice questions. One of these activities is the “weekly pulse,” which requires responding to a severe brain wringer. This week? “When was the last time you filed a bug report?” It’s an easy 5 XP.

You even get experience points by completing the tutorial, which is called “My First Quest”. It consists of two questions. You will get 10 XP for sitting there, a task that will take you 17 seconds.

It takes 20 XP to reach level two. Rang Delta, here I am!

Yeah, yeah, good for you. How much will it cost me?

Zero dollar. Come on, you’re basically testing product updates for Microsoft, and that doesn’t mean anything to the pureata that you submit with each completed questionnaire. If anything, you should be get paid.

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