Alpha Skip-Ahead ring initiates can have gamertags up to 15 characters long.
Xbox is rolling out a few new features for its Insiders in the Alpha Skip-Ahead ring, its invite-only tier that grants access to experimental builds earlier than any of its other testers. It restores support for gamertags to 15 characters, after limiting them to 12 characters a few years ago, due to feedback from gamers who told Microsoft’s gaming division that they wanted more flexibility in choosing usernames.
As long as the gamertag they want to use is unique and available, it can be up to 15 characters long. If they are not unique and the system will have to add numbers to them because the base name is already taken, they can only be 12 characters long. Xbox will also continue to support 12 characters for any gamertag containing non-Latin characters.
Xbox has also added Game Hubs in Game Cards for Xbox 360 titles. When Insiders open a Game Card for one of their installed 360 games, they will see their achievement progress, captures, and other relevant information. They will now also see detailed achievements of their 360 games on their profile.
Another thing they can now enjoy is being able to play a game even if it is being updated. If the game they want to play is available to stream through their Game Pass subscription, they can start playing immediately on the cloud while the update downloads in the background. They will see the ability to play on the cloud directly from the game card during the update. Finally, they will be able to add released and upcoming games to their wishlist directly from the game cards.
Although the Alpha Skip-Ahead ring is invite-only, players can let Xbox know they want to participate by launching Insider Hub on their console, selecting Activities, and scrolling down under Available until they see the “Join New Rings” option. They must then complete a survey. Xbox says it looks at several factors when determining whether to send a user an invitation, such as whether they have submitted high-quality feedback, participated in quests and surveys, and the amount or games they play.
