News > Gaming Microsoft Testing Night Mode for Xbox Consoles It may reduce eye strain for late-night gaming sessions By Cesar Cadenas Cesar Cadenas Twitter Writer California State University - Long Beach Cesar Cadenas has been writing about the tech industry since 2016 on a variety of topics like cryptocurrency, video games, the latest gadgets, and much more. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on August 9, 2021 02:52PM EDT Fact checked by Rich Scherr Fact checked by Rich Scherr Twitter University of Maryland Baltimore County Rich Scherr is a seasoned technology and financial journalist who spent nearly two decades as the editor of Potomac and Bay Area Tech Wire. lifewire's fact checking process Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Gaming Mobile Phones Internet & Security Computers & Tablets Smart Life Home Theater & Entertainment Software & Apps Social Media Streaming Gaming Microsoft is testing a new night mode for its Xbox Series consoles as part of its Alpha Skip-Ahead insider program. The announcement was made on the company’s Xbox Wire news blog, which gave details about the features of Night Mode, as well as information on the fixes that are coming. Westend61/Getty Images According to the post, Night Mode allows players to dim and filter their screen, and control the level of brightness on the console and controller LED. HDR also can be blocked. HDR influences the level of brightness of a display by enhancing the level of detail and contrast shown. Users can schedule the console's blue light filter to turn on or off at sunrise and sunset, or configure the feature to follow a different schedule. Night Mode is currently only available to users on the Alpha Skip-Ahead insider program, which is an invite-only group that receives preview builds of future releases. Gamers can join Alpha Skip-Ahead by applying via the Xbox Insider Hub on their consoles. Anton Porsche/Pexels In the same preview build, some fixes were implemented, including fixing some language issues on the console and an issue on Xbox Cloud Gaming that prevented users from launching certain games. Other fixes, including some audio issues, are coming down the pipeline, according to the post. Currently, night mode is available for English users on the Alpha Skip-Ahead program, with localization into other languages underway. Microsoft has yet to say when this feature and the other fixes will become available as permanent features. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up! Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit