Xbox Series X users could save £132 a year by enabling Energy Saver mode

An Xbox Series X in standby could cost owners could add £132 in annual energy costs, unless the console’s Energy Saving mode has been enabled.

As reported by The Guardian‘s UK technology editor, Alex Hern, the standby mode for Xbox Series X is the default off-state for any consoles that were set up prior to May 2022.

Hern recommends that anyone using standby mode switches over to Xbox Series X’s Energy Saver mode, as “at current electricity prices, leaving an Xbox Series X on standby, its default switched off mode, will cost you £132 a year.”

Meanwhile, The Verge senior editor Tom Warren pointed out that the Xbox Series X’s Instant On mode uses £59 in energy each year.

Earlier in the year (via The Verge), Dave McCarthy, corporate vice president of Xbox operations, shared that “Energy Saver mode consumes about 20 times less power than Standby mode when the console is not being used or receiving updates.”

McCarthy added that system and game updates can still be downloaded while the console is in Energy Saver mode, “further saving energy.”

The advice comes in the midst of skyrocketing energy prices, which is set to rise even further in October. As it stands, one in four adults in the UK will be unable to pay their fuel bills, and UK grassroots venues face paying an extra £90million a year in energy costs.

“Without action from the government, we are now modelling that this will close more venues than the pandemic,” Music Venue Trust CEO Mark Davyd told NME. “We don’t see any other outcome.”

“The government should bring in a price cap immediately,” added Davyd. “At the moment, there’s a certain amount of just sitting back and seeing what happens. Something either works or it doesn’t, and this doesn’t work.”

In other gaming news, Duke Smoochem 3D has taken aim at Liz Truss and a “dystopian” This Morning competition in its latest update.