Microsoft has reversed its position on Xbox One DRM and online connectivity following a host of negative reactions online. Now it faces… a host of negative reactions online. For something that precisely nobody, nowhere has actually encountered yet.
Overnight, Microsoft announced in a blog post that it was reversing its stated position on internet connectivity and games DRM for its upcoming Xbox One platform. Specifically, where the console was to require online connectivity to “phone home” (in effect) once every twenty four hours, it will now only require a one-time online setup, after which you’re apparently free to never have it connected to that pesky Internet ever again.
Very few online commenters seem to have an issue with this, but it’s the second part of Microsoft’s announcement that has folks up in digital arms. Xbox One games were going to be installable but tied to a single console, with murky pictures emerging on how second-hand sales would work. The plus side to that was the promise of digital sharing, with consumers able to share games with up to ten “family” members, although Microsoft really didn’t give a stuff if they were your relations or not — I wrote about that here at Kotaku.
That’s all gone, and what’s replacing it is pretty much the status quo. To quote from Microsoft:
“Trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today – There will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today on Xbox 360.”
One interesting new quirk here is that there will apparently be no region locking for any Xbox One console title. I’m willing to bet the same won’t be true for Blu-Ray discs, though.
That aside, there’s a split on this between those celebrating (because they wanted physical discs to remain property, something I’ve written about before here on Fat Duck Tech and those bemoaning the fact that Microsoft has — by their world view — given in to public pressure; there will, it seems, be no game sharing, and the spectre is raised that games prices may remain artificially high to prop up physical retail.
I’m not so sure that’s true, although I guess time will tell, but here’s the reality right now.
Nobody’s lost or gained jack squat.
Nobody can have gained or lost jack squat, because nobody actually has an Xbox One as yet. If the stories are accurate, even those playing early code at E3 weren’t playing on Xbox One consoles; they were apparently on high-spec PCs sitting behind cupboard doors. Yes, Microsoft has changed its plans in relation to the Xbox One, but it’s done so well before anyone actually buys a single console. It’s a strategy shift, but there’s not much point in moaning about a loss, or cheering a victory for a product that nobody actually owns yet, is there?
Oh, wait, it’s the Internet. Despite what Avenue Q has to say on the matter, the Internet is in fact for arguing. Do carry on.
Source: Microsoft