Xbox Starts Testing Refreshed Achievement Alerts, Hidden Games, and 100% Completion Highlights

Microsoft is starting to rework one of Xbox's oldest social surfaces: the Achievement layer that follows players across profiles, notifications, and Gamerscore history. In an Xbox Wire post dated April 8, 2026, the company said select Xbox Insiders can begin testing a new batch of Achievement features immediately, with wider Insider access coming over time and broader rollout planned later for all players. The changes are not a full reinvention of the system, but they do address several requests that have lingered for years.

The first change is visual. Microsoft says Achievement notifications now have refreshed icons and animations, and that classic and rare Achievement pop-ups will match the player's custom color. That sounds cosmetic, but it matters because Achievements are one of the most visible recurring feedback loops on Xbox. A cleaner look, plus better personal theming, makes the system feel less like leftover interface furniture from older console generations.

What the new Xbox Achievement test includes

Refreshed notification visuals for classic and rare Achievements, including updated icons, animations, and custom-color matching.

A new option coming later in April 2026 that lets players hide any game from their Achievement history on profile pages.

Highlighting for 100% completed games so finished titles stand out at a glance.

New filter options to surface fully completed games and titles a player has chosen to hide.

The profile-control piece may be the most meaningful addition. Microsoft says hiding a game only changes how the profile appears; it does not remove Gamerscore and does not stop activity from being reported across Xbox. That distinction matters because it lets players clean up old, abandoned, or unwanted entries without breaking the underlying record. For completionists, the new 100% highlight is the other obvious win. It turns full completion into a visible status rather than a buried data point.

Microsoft describes this as an early step in a broader effort to better recognize completion and milestone moments. That wording suggests the company knows Achievements still carry emotional value even if the system has been stagnant. For now, the April 8 Insider test is a practical update rather than a sweeping overhaul. But if Microsoft follows through, it could finally make the profile side of Xbox feel more curated, more personal, and more respectful of the time players put into finishing games.