Microsoft is seemingly planning to remove the ability for Xbox users to share game screenshots and video directly to social media platforms such as Twitter.
As spotted by Windows Central, the latest Xbox Insider build published to members on Friday removes Twitter sharing entirely from the Xbox Dashboard.
Instead, Twitter has been moved to a “mobile sharing” option alongside other social media platforms, which means that Xbox users will have to upload clips to their phones and then share them from there, adding a second step to the process.
At the time of publishing, it’s not clear why Microsoft has decided to make the change. However, as noted by Windows Central, Microsoft often removes features citing “low usage” from its users.
Halo The Series (2022) | Official Trailer 2 | Paramount+
Both PlayStation consoles and Nintendo Switch support sharing directly to Twitter.
Just months ago, Xbox’s director of program management, Jason Ronald acknowledged that improving the quality of video capture and the way it’s shared on Xbox Series X/S was high on the company’s priority list.
“I will definitely say that Game DVR is the one area – the capture and share experience – that I wish we were able to make more progress [on] this year than we were able to,” Ronald said in November. “It is definitely a priority for us.”
Ronald explained that while the team had been improving the quality of video capture on Xbox consoles, it knows there’s still work to be done.
“We definitely hear the feedback,” he said. “We have made some changes and we have made some improvements to the reliability and the quality of the captures but we know we still have work to do here.
“So that is definitely a priority for us and something that we’re going to continue to iterate on.
“You know, the best thing I can recommend is if you’re not in the [Xbox] Insider rings, get on the Insider rings, so that as we bring new capabilities and improvements, we want that feedback to know where we’re meeting the bar, and where we’re not meeting the bar.
“But definitely, message heard, and like I said, it’s definitely an area that I wish were able to make more progress this year than we did but it will definitely be a priority for 2022.”
