The evolution of Xbox continues – if you have sharp ears. There's a new start-up sound coming to the consoles in a matter of days, the latest in a series of changes for Microsoft's consoles.
Asha Sharma, the CEO of Xbox, shared the sound herself on Twitter. "Sound on!" she captioned the post sharing a clip of the audio and an accompanying visual. I'll be real – it sounds pretty similar to the existing soundbite you find when starting up your Xbox Series X/S.
It doesn't go quite as high in the first second, but then it's right into familiar territory for the last couple of seconds. At least, that's what my ears are hearing; my recently played artists will tell you I am by no means a musical authority. After checking it against all the previous boot up sounds, I'm just nostalgic for the pure sci-fi of the original Xbox. Bring back the blocky UI, please!
New boot up coming next Wednesday. Sound on! pic.twitter.com/9HHrZHwjpHMay 6, 2026
I don't think that's happening. An update will bring this start-up to your consoles on Wednesday, May 13, just so you're not suddenly wondering what's happened to your system. Sharma's made this announcement amid a mixed period for the PS5's green-themed rival.
Firstly, longtime face of the brand Phil Spencer stepped away in February, introducing Sharma as his replacement. There's just been considerable staff changeover internally otherwise. Financial calls also recently revealed that hardware sales remain down quarter-on-quarter for Xbox.
On a distinctly brighter note, Copilot features are being rolled back across Xbox systems. There are no numbers on the adoption rates for such additions, but I can't imagine they were particularly inspiring.
