Gamers Win: Microsoft Reverses Xbox One DRM Policy

[admin]

In a major change of strategy, Microsoft has abandoned its controversial changes to the Xbox One's licensing system, and will now adopt a similar scheme to that used by its existing Xbox 360 console.

Microsoft's original plans would see game licensing move from a disc based system like on existing consoles (and the PS4), to a digital licensing system. Doing so would have required games to re-connect to authentication servers every 24 hours, eliminate the ability to rent games, and introduce a complicated trading/sharing system to emulate what would typically take place with discs. In exchange, gamers would no longer need the game disc after the initial install, as opposed to having to insert the disc every time the game it to be started.

But after a huge public outcry, and a lackluster debut at E3 in which rival Sony's PS4 stole the spotlight, Microsoft has decided to abandon its controversial plans.

In a blog post on the official Xbox blog, Don Mattrick, President of Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft broke the good news to gamers. In essence, Xbox One game discs will now work in exactly the same way as Xbox 360 discs, with no Internet requirement (for offline games), and no restrictions on game sharing, trading or resale.

Digital licensing will still exist, as all games will be available via digital purchasing from the day of release. These digitally purchased games will also no longer require a 24 hour based Internet re-authentication and will work in the same way as digital downloads on the Xbox 360.

These changes means that the previously announced new Xbox One features for digital downloads, including re-sale, sharing and trading, will no longer be available. Games purchased on discs will again require the disc to be inserted every time the game is played.

And in another big win for gamers, Xbox One games will no longer feature regional restrictions, a change in policy from Xbox 360 games.

In closing, Mattrick acknowledged the role gamers played in forcing Microsoft to change its stance.

"We appreciate your passion, support and willingness to challenge the assumptions of digital licensing and connectivity. While we believe that the majority of people will play games online and access the cloud for both games and entertainment, we will give consumers the choice of both physical and digital content. We have listened and we have heard loud and clear from your feedback that you want the best of both worlds," writes Mattrick.

[drfsupercenter]

I actually liked the instant install feature they were proposing, but as long as they do day-one download editions, I guess I can buy those instead.

It's funny, they actually got a lot of people ranting saying they wanted the original proposed Xbox One back, and that Microsoft was "just copying the PS4" - I guess they can never win.

[admin]

I think Microsoft failed to anticipate the sentiment of the console gaming community. They wanted to bring Steam to consoles, but just because Steam is loved on PC, it doesn't mean the same thing will be loved by console users, especially when Microsoft added a few annoying changes (but to be fair, also a couple of good additions) to the Steam model.

For example, PC gamers don't usually rent/trade/gift/resell used games and PCs come with large and upgradable HDDs that can allow your entire digital game library to be installed if you want do. And PCs are almost always connected to the Internet these days, whereas consoles may not be.

Plus, the best thing about Steam are the sales, and even if Microsoft had plans for similar sales in the future, they could not demonstrate this right now.

I hope Microsoft doesn't completely give up on their digital vision. They need to get rid of the once every 24 hour connection requirement, replace it with something reasonable and allow some kind of alternative to connecting online via the Xbox One (eg. if the disc is inserted, then no need to go online, but if no disc is inserted, online authentication happens. Or even a mobile app that generates a QR code that Kinect can read to authenticate the game).

They should also continue to implement a digital game trading/resale/rental system, as this would be a step towards the right direction for digital purchasing (which often won't even allow for refunds, let alone used game trading).

[drfsupercenter]

Yeah, I agree with you there - I think they would be smart to move towards the Steam model (where basically all the disc does is install it, the real game would be booted from the hard drive), but rather than how Steam works "once it's yours, it's yours"... something like that each disc has its own unique activation and that you can de-activate it either temporarily (if you loan the game) or permanently (if you give it away/sell it) - that way people could still buy used games on disc but wouldn't HAVE to, and could also buy them directly as downloads and still be able to give them away.

I actually didn't mind getting rid of used games, since PC games never had that concept and unlike the 90s generation (where the entire game was stored on a cartridge - if you give away the cartridge you give away the game), everything now is all digital and I liked how Microsoft was at least trying to push towards that.