We recently reported on some of Microsoft's plans to replace Game Hubs with a new "Official Clubs" feature for Xbox One, and it seems some aspects of those updates are now available to Xbox Insiders. I noticed recently on the Alpha ring of the Xbox Insider Program that Official Clubs had begun encroaching on Game Hubs, and has since replaced them altogether. The idea behind them is basically the same, but it merges the terminology with Microsoft's Xbox Clubs platform, which hasn't really seen a huge amount of traction when pitted against the likes of Reddit, Discord, and indeed, Steam, for gamer community creation. We've detailed some of the ways Microsoft is looking at improving Clubs in the past, but these early moves are an encouraging signal of further investment. Best VPN providers 2020: Learn about ExpressVPN, NordVPN & more

Official Clubs for dev engagement

While Xbox Clubs might not have set the world on fire when it comes to gamer communities, Official Clubs have more potential for developers building games that feature on-going updates. While many will defer to news sites, Reddit, or simple word of mouth for getting information on their favorite games, having it appear directly where they're playing their games cuts out the middleman, in a lot of cases. Many games, like The Division, simply place news feeds within the launch page of their games, but with Official Clubs, Microsoft is potentially removing the pressure on developers to build their own systems, surfacing related content directly in the Xbox Guide menu, and potentially other places in the future, such as the Microsoft Store (like Steam).