Microsoft is starting to preview its upcoming October Xbox One update today. While the summer update was primarily focused on bringing universal apps and Cortana to Xbox One, the October update includes some highly requested gaming features. Xbox Live Clubs and Looking for Group are both entering into testing today, allowing Xbox One preview members to create clubs and start finding Xbox Live members to play multiplayer games with.

Clubs are designed to be created by anyone on Xbox Live, and you can create unique names for these groups just like a gamertag is unique. They're effectively Microsoft's version of clans, and they make creating parties, sharing game clips, and chatting a lot easier for groups of friends or people interested in the same game. Microsoft is rolling out the club functionality across the Xbox One initially, and Xbox apps for Windows 10, iOS, and Android soon.

Xbox LFG makes it really easy to create a party

Alongside Clubs, Microsoft is creating its own Looking for Group (LFG) service. Most games that involve a multiplayer element usually have community driven LFG sites that are designed for gamers to find random players to help complete quests, raids, or strikes with, or just play competitive PvP (player vs. player). Just like any LFG site, Xbox LFG will let you create a post with certain requirements, like game modes, skill level, gear, and character types. As Microsoft is hosting things, it makes creating a party a lot easier on both Xbox One and PC.

Microsoft is also creating Arena on Xbox Live, an online tournaments platform. Clubs and LFG are both available this week, but Arena should arrive in preview in the coming weeks. While Xbox One owners await Arena, Microsoft is also tweaking the Gamerscore leaderboard to make it more reliable and faster. It will reset every 30 days now to keep the leaderboard competitive among friends. You'll also be able to comment with emoji now as Microsoft is adding the Windows 10 set of emoji to the Xbox One virtual keyboard. All of these features are available immediately to Xbox One Preview members, and they should arrive to all console owners in the next month or so.

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