On the heels of Xbox’s summer update, the team and I are thrilled to announce Clubs and Looking for Group (LFG) on Xbox Live will start rolling out to Preview members on Xbox One today and on the Xbox app on Windows 10, iOS, and Android devices soon. As we shared at E3, we have been working hard to deliver new features that bring more choice in how you play games, which includes Clubs, LFG, and Arena on Xbox Live. While you can start enjoying Clubs and LFG today, you can look forward to more news about Arena, our online tournaments platform for gamers of all skill-levels, in the coming weeks.

As gamers ourselves, we know how important the playing environment is to enjoying the games you play. We want to give you access to more people to play with as well as choice in how you play. Clubs, LFG, and Arena support our vision for uniting gamers across devices and fostering a welcoming experience on Xbox Live where everyone is included, respected, and supported.

Here is a little more about Clubs and LFG – two great new social destinations that will improve your gaming experience – as well as a glimpse into other features starting to roll out today and in the coming weeks.

Clubs on Xbox Live

Clubs are gamer-created and managed groups that can help you meet people and grow communities of gamers who love the same things you do. Anyone can join or create a Club and you’ll probably see a Club for just about everything. For example, I created a Club for all my college buddies so we can keep in touch and coordinate competitive Halo gaming nights.

As a Club member, you’ll be able to set up parties, play games, share content, and easily communicate using voice and text chat with the Club across Xbox One and the Xbox app. You can search for Clubs (or create your own) in the Community tab on Xbox One and the Clubs section on other devices, and Clubs associated with a game will be accessible in the title’s Game Hub. As a Club admin, you’ll have the tools to ensure that everyone is having a great time and help create a lively and inclusive environment. Reserve your Club name today as no two can be the same!

Looking for Group (LFG) on Xbox Live

LFG helps you quickly find other players that you want to game with. It’s like posting a gaming “want-ad” to the Xbox community. Need to do daily quests or on the hunt for certain achievements? We have you covered – just create a LFG post. You’ll be able to add certain requirements to make sure that you’re finding the right gamers. You can specify the game, the game mode, how many people you need, rules like no trash talking or casual friendly, and any other in-game requirements like level, gear or character type.

A quick primer on how LFG works: gamers can browse open LFGs and request to join the ones that they’re interested in. The LFG host chooses from the list of gamers who have expressed interest and, once the group is full or the host is ready, the host can quickly get those people into party chat and start playing. Quick, easy, and simple. Whether you’re playing a FPS on Xbox One or your favorite PC title, you can quickly find other gamers to play with on Xbox Live. As with Clubs, Preview members will start seeing LFG on Xbox One today and on the Xbox app in the coming weeks.

In addition to Clubs and LFG and on Xbox Live, we’re also pleased to share that Preview members can start enjoying a few other features starting today:

Gamerscore Leaderboard. The Gamerscore Leaderboard on Xbox One and the Xbox app on Windows 10 devices is faster and more reliable. The Leaderboard also now resets at the beginning of each month instead of displaying results for a 30-day rolling period, meaning you and your friends will have a clean slate to compete against one another at the start of each month! You can keep an eye on the Gamerscore Leaderboard through the Achievement tab or by using the guide.

Emojis for your Xbox One virtual keyboard. Emojis will be joining your virtual keyboard on Xbox One! In addition to the existing alphabet and symbols that you can use, you’ll now be able to express your likes, dislikes and more with a host of different emojis on Xbox Live. Once on your virtual keyboard, you can get to emojis by pulling the right trigger until they show up. From there, press and hold on an emoji and you’ll get more versions of the one you’ve selected.

Whether you’re playing on an Xbox One or using the Xbox app, we’d love to hear what you think; be sure to let us know at Xbox Feedback! Stay tuned for more details about Arena and additional features like Achievement Rarity (ever wondered how truly epic an achievement that you earned is?) as we continue to bring more features to Preview and march towards our exciting holiday update.