An upcoming Xbox One update will allow you to view party participants without joining

The holiday period is over, and Microsoft is back in the office, ramping up patches and updates to its various platforms.

A new Windows 10 Mobile Insider build is rolling out, in addition to a minor bug fix patch for the latest Xbox One dashboard – however, a more major update could be on the way.

Earlier today, Xbox platform lead Mike Ybarra teased an upcoming feature to the Xbox One. No longer will you jump into a party, only to find yourself awkwardly making excuses to leave because that one annoying guy is present. The ability to view your friend's current party participants before joining is on its way.

Mike Ybarra tweeted the following video, showing that an upcoming Xbox One update will allow you to view your friend's party members via the Guide menu.

(If you're viewing this article in our app, you'll need to swipe over and hit "View in browser" to see the embedded video.)

Hmm, what am I doing here on Xbox One... #Xbox pic.twitter.com/gnvs4TEFgG— Mike Ybarra (@XboxQwik) January 9, 2016

When accessing the friends list via the Guide menu, there's a new option that appears under the "Join" menu, which allows you to view your friend's current party list.

This functionality is already available in the Windows 10 Xbox app. When you select a friend's profile from the friends list, if they're in an open party it'll say "Joinable", followed by a list of current party members, as seen here (via XboxQwik).

Throughout 2015, Microsoft delivered dozens of features both major and minor to the Xbox One with downloadable patches. Some noteworthy updates Xbox One owners can expect in 2016 include the addition of Cortana, USB mouse support and background music playback.

Stay tuned to WindowsCentral.com for all the latest on future Xbox One updates.

Jez Corden
Co-Managing Editor

Jez Corden is a Managing Editor at Windows Central, focusing primarily on all things Xbox and gaming. Jez is known for breaking exclusive news and analysis as relates to the Microsoft ecosystem while being powered by tea. Follow on Twitter @JezCorden and listen to his XB2 Podcast, all about, you guessed it, Xbox!