Xbox Insider Program’s Factory Resets Are Unfortunate, But This Is What You Signed Up For
A major issue with a new Xbox Insider program update has been resetting consoles to factory settings, but as frustrating as the situation is for Insider Program members, it isn't necessarily a massive shock. For the most part, the Xbox Insider concept is likely to appeal to major Xbox fans, as the program offers early looks at changes and updates on both console and PC. While unpaid testing and feedback opportunities might not sound exciting to casual users, there's definitely a ready and willing audience that enjoys being the first to experience new features.
On the whole, it's easy to argue that Xbox Insider has generally been a success, especially considering the rollout of a similar Beta Program for PlayStation this week. Having an overarching program that users can sign up for makes the overall process of beta testing a bit more organized, and the clarity likely helps get more users on board. The latest hitch in the system, however, proves that it's certainly not all sunshine and rainbows.
Xbox Insider Program Update Is Causing Consoles To Factory Reset
Not The Change Anyone Wants To See
As reported by VGC, Xbox Insider members on the advanced Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead tiers started having their Xbox profiles and settings removed with the program's newest update. While the factory reset doesn't result in the loss of installed games, it can wipe other settings and data like wallpapers and quick resume data.
The Xbox Insider update — labeled as 2504.250227-2200 — was intended to fix issues with profile customization, Dolby Vision, and local language consistency.
Xbox Insider has already rolled out a fix in the form of another update, thankfully, so the problem was clearly treated as a priority. It's still possible that some members could experience issues — and the announcement of the fix also clarifies that setting up the console on the mobile app may not work — but the situation has certainly gotten better rather than worse.
This Xbox Insider Situation Could Have Been Much Worse
Briefly Losing Settings Is A Relatively Minor Problem
As frustrating as an unexpected factory reset could be, the Xbox Insider problem could have been far worse. While the disappearance of Quick Resume data might be concerning, it's nothing compared to a full library of save files being wiped or consoles being bricked in a way that leaves them unable to play games. A system update that hasn't been thoroughly tested has the potential to completely upend a device, as exemplified by a 2024 update that temporarily rendered some Xbox One consoles unusable, as reported by Eurogamer.
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Even when prioritized, fixes to major problems can also take much longer than the quick turnaround on the Xbox Insider issue. A recent PS Plus outage left every PS Plus user without online services for nearly 24 hours, and that was an issue affecting the entire scope of a major user base. When it comes to niche software problems, it's not uncommon for fixes to take weeks or months, and that's if they arrive at all. In this case, Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead users certainly aren't the majority of Xbox players, so an ultimately small number of people were affected.
Issues Like This Are Exactly Why Insider Programs Exist
Alpha Testing Roots Out Issues Before They Affect Everyone
Although it would obviously be ideal for the factory resets to never have happened at all, they prove the merits of the Xbox Insider program more than they discredit it. Rolling out a test update to a small percentage of Xbox users made the problem obvious and prevented the risk of Xbox users who aren't opted into alpha testing experiencing issues. Embracing the risks of early feature rollouts is what Xbox Insider program Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead users signed up for, even if that's not the side of the experience that anyone is excited about.
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Since Xbox Insider program users are aware that they're opting in for potentially unfinished updates, sudden problems are also much less likely to seem deeply confusing or alienating. If factory resets hit every Xbox user, many of them wouldn't necessarily have the technical knowledge or awareness to understand and assess the situation in the same way.
Ultimately, the whole affair just comes with the territory. While I'd like to think that Xbox will manage to catch future problems of this scale during internal testing phases, it's a risk that anyone signing up for Xbox Insider is ultimately accepting. Xbox Insider's track record has generally been good over the years, with issues of this scale being few and far between, but serving as the guinea pig so that the wider user base doesn't have to is what alpha testing is all about.
Sources: VGC, Eurogamer
- Brand
- Xbox
- Original Release Date
- November 10, 2020
- Hardware Versions
- Xbox Series X/S, Xbox Series S
- Original MSRP (USD)
- Series X priced at US$499 and the Series S priced at US$299
- Weight
- 9.8 lb
