Microsoft made some big claims a few years back about being carbon negative by 2030, and we’ve already seen them take some steps in that direction with the most recent being making Windows 11 updates happen when it’s most energy efficient. Today, a similar update is reaching Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and Series S consoles, along with changes in the materials used to make Xbox more sustainable.
The first big change coming to Microsoft’s consoles is a small but important tweak to the Xbox’s Energy Saver sleep mode. You’ll soon be able to download updates for both the system and your games even in Energy Saver mode, which uses about 20 times less power than the typical Standby mode when the console is not being used or being updated. While the older Xbox One consoles may take a while longer to boot up from Energy Saver mode, the Series X and Series S are much more powerful and faster, and so might be worth using Energy Saver to lower your power bills. Microsoft will also be making the Energy Saver mode the default option when gamers first set up their consoles out of the box.
Furthermore, when it comes to their Xbox Cloud Gaming offerings, Microsoft mentions that they’ll also be trying to reduce the environmental impact of their cloud gaming services. This includes shifting their Azure datacenters powering its cloud gaming services to use 100% renewable energy by 2025. There will also be an enhanced power monitoring system embedded into a small number of consoles for Microsoft to collect anonymous telemetry information. According to Microsoft, this will be to help identify the best way to introduce future power-saving improvements.
On top of that, Microsoft announced that since late 2021, they had switched to incorporating post-consumer recycled (PCR) resins into the production of the Xbox Series S’s body and internal components. PCR resins is a type of material made out of recycled plastic, typically used water bottles and packaging. They say that at least 28% of the mechanical component plastic by weight in the Series S will be made with these PCR resins. Microsoft is also promising to make all Xbox products and accessories 100% recyclable by 2030.
These are just part of Microsoft’s bigger scheme to become carbon negative, water positive and zero waste by 2030. For more information on Microsoft’s Xbox sustainability efforts, you can check out their full statement on it here.
