Microsoft Confirms New Xbox One Policies; No "Always On" & No DRM Restrictions

[cereal killer]

The outcry in the community has worked. Microsoft was paying attention to their fanbase and has updated their policies on the two biggest issues gamers have complained about with the Xbox One. They officially updated their policies page removing the DRM restrictions and the requirement to be "always online." We have source link below, but their servers are getting hammered right now, so here's a full quote,

Last week at E3, the excitement, creativity and future of our industry was on display for a global audience.

For us, the future comes in the form of Xbox One, a system designed to be the best place to play games this year and for many years to come. As is our heritage with Xbox, we designed a system that could take full advantage of advances in technology in order to deliver a breakthrough in game play and entertainment. We imagined a new set of benefits such as easier roaming, family sharing, and new ways to try and buy games. We believe in the benefits of a connected, digital future.

Since unveiling our plans for Xbox One, my team and I have heard directly from many of you, read your comments and listened to your feedback. I would like to take the opportunity today to thank you for your assistance in helping us to reshape the future of Xbox One.

You told us how much you loved the flexibility you have today with games delivered on disc. The ability to lend, share, and resell these games at your discretion is of incredible importance to you. Also important to you is the freedom to play offline, for any length of time, anywhere in the world.

So, today I am announcing the following changes to Xbox One and how you can play, share, lend, and resell your games exactly as you do today on Xbox 360. Here is what that means:

An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games – After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again. There is no 24 hour connection requirement and you can take your Xbox One anywhere you want and play your games, just like on Xbox 360.

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.

In addition to buying a disc from a retailer, you can also download games from Xbox Live on day of release. If you choose to download your games, you will be able to play them offline just like you do today. Xbox One games will be playable on any Xbox One console -- there will be no regional restrictions.

These changes will impact some of the scenarios we previously announced for Xbox One. The sharing of games will work as it does today, you will simply share the disc. Downloaded titles cannot be shared or resold. Also, similar to today, playing disc based games will require that the disc be in the tray.

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.

Thank you again for your candid feedback. Our team remains committed to listening, taking feedback and delivering a great product for you later this year.

We can't help but feel a sense of appreciation to Microsoft for doing this. Even though many of their biggest fans were willing to accept the new changes, the fact that they were willing to listen to their customers and adapt their strategy reflects very positively on them. We can all do a happy dance now!!!

Article by dgstorm

Source: Xbox One Forums

 

[pc747]

The outcry in the community has worked. Microsoft was paying attention to their fanbase and has updated their policies on the two biggest issues gamers have complained about with the Xbox One. They officially updated their policies page removing the DRM restrictions and the requirement to be "always online." We have source link below, but their servers are getting hammered right now, so here's a full quote,



We can't help but feel a sense of appreciation to Microsoft for doing this. Even though many of their biggest fans were willing to accept the new changes, the fact that they were willing to listen to their customers and adapt their strategy reflects very positively on them. We can all do a happy dance now!!!

Article by dgstorm

Source: Xbox One Forums

Oh, I though the reason was because they were losing people to Sony over those policies.

I was mistaken it was because they cared .

 

[devdeuce]

Oh, I though the reason was because they were losing people to Sony over those policies.

I was mistaken it was because they cared .

+1. It was clearly because of presale numbers.

 

[Gremlin]

Have to wait for a week to see if there is a change in the pre sale numbers.. I mean MS could make the publisher of the games go all digital next year instead of any discs than you will have the same problem again..

 

[pc747]

Have to wait for a week to see if there is a change in the pre sale numbers.. I mean MS could make the publisher of the games go all digital next year instead of any discs than you will have the same problem again..

My thoughts as well. They may just be throwing a bone out there to save face only to pull a switcheroo later.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Mustang02]

I'd get it...but I just bought my slim 360 a year ago. I can't justify the extra expense.

 

[cereal killer]

After digesting this for a couple of hours I've come to the conclusion that the decision was a terrible one. The One is essentially going to be just like the PS4 now (a slightly upgraded console) What advantage they had over the competition is now lost. They had a great game plan in place and caved to the vocal minority...yes you read that right minority. These are strictly my opinion(s)

I'm disappointed in the move and their decision has changed my mind on purchasing the One. The 360 will stay underneath my tv for a while. Onward and upward!

 

[ruvy01]

too late now microsuck... pre-ordered my PS4 already.

 

[dezymond]

I don't know how anyone else feels, but this made me lose all respect and trust in MS. No I wasn't planning on getting a One anytime soon, but what's stopping them from "flipping the switch" again? I forgot who got chewed out by "Angry Joe", but he said "it's not as simple as a switch", well 4 days later DRM is gone. So it is that simple.

My opinion, they did this solely to save face. Had they stuck to their guns with DRM, I don't think it the One would've flopped as much as the internet rumor mill is saying. Fanboys will stay fanboys and buy the product. Not to mention once the E3 hype dies down (remember it's only been 9 days since the PS4 reveal), people forget and will buy into the new direction. I still think an almost "all digital" or "cloud gaming" much like Steam, is possible on a console, but it's the other limitations that MS put on the system and basically them disregarding multiple countries (Japan included, a major major gaming population) was them shooting themselves in the foot. Not to mention you still got the whole Kinect thing too.

So yes they'll win back some of the population, but now they're the laughing stock. They tried and pushed their original business model so hard that they lost alot of potential customers and some loyal fans. Them doing a complete 180 barely a week over after E3 is a desperate plea at winning the public back. Alot of damage done to their public image was done over E3, but people (especially consumers) forget quickly and will forgive once the console rolled out.

I also got a feeling they'll bring back some DRM limitations in the future as well once the initial release is over. Over at Sony they could pressure devs to put the DRM limits on as well. So I wouldn't say the playing field is even yet, but MS has alot of catching up to do.

 

[New2u]

I don't know how anyone else feels, but this made me lose all respect and trust in MS. No I wasn't planning on getting a One anytime soon, but what's stopping them from "flipping the switch" again? I forgot who got chewed out by "Angry Joe", but he said "it's not as simple as a switch", well 4 days later DRM is gone. So it is that simple.

My opinion, they did this solely to save face. Had they stuck to their guns with DRM, I don't think it the One would've flopped as much as the internet rumor mill is saying. Fanboys will stay fanboys and buy the product. Not to mention once the E3 hype dies down (remember it's only been 9 days since the PS4 reveal), people forget and will buy into the new direction. I still think an almost "all digital" or "cloud gaming" much like Steam, is possible on a console, but it's the other limitations that MS put on the system and basically them disregarding multiple countries (Japan included, a major major gaming population) was them shooting themselves in the foot. Not to mention you still got the whole Kinect thing too.

So yes they'll win back some of the population, but now they're the laughing stock. They tried and pushed their original business model so hard that they lost alot of potential customers and some loyal fans. Them doing a complete 180 barely a week over after E3 is a desperate plea at winning the public back. Alot of damage done to their public image was done over E3, but people (especially consumers) forget quickly and will forgive once the console rolled out.

I also got a feeling they'll bring back some DRM limitations in the future as well once the initial release is over. Over at Sony they could pressure devs to put the DRM limits on as well. So I wouldn't say the playing field is even yet, but MS has alot of catching up to do.

They did this not only as a way to save face, but every single person I know that owned a xbox 360 stated that they hated the policy about used games and having to check-in. I don't think this was a small minority as CK suggests. This was a complete consumer backlash over their policies. The check-in once a day was changed because of areas and countries that sometimes don't have the greatest internet and a once a day check-in is not always possible, this was stated in an article written in contrast to their policy. The check-in policy wasn't a big worry for most people I know because it was always connected to the internet anyways.

In my eyes DRM is horrible, the idea behind it is good, but the implementation is terrible. The DRM and their used-game policy was a major upset to many people who wanted to buy an xbox one. When you have two systems which are pretty identical in hardware, most people stated that they would rather just pay 100$ less for the system that wouldn't limit them with DRM and used-games. The fact that both systems now use an x86 architecture means cross platform games will be more prominent and needing one system over the other is a moot point. The price is another major problem for the xbox one, this was a strategy done with the xbox 360 vs ps3, where the ps3 was priced 100$ higher then the xbox 360, and it had terrible sales until the price was lowered. I know that the xbox one comes with a camera and the ps4 doesn't, but the stated price is still the stated price. People often said with the ps3 that "well you get a blu-ray player with it so it's worth the extra money" but people didn't care so much and many liked the appeal of the lower priced system. This is also why the Wii had good sales too because the system wasn't priced very high.

I know many people also don't like that fact of the xbox one always on kinect system (or close to always on). If someone figured out how to crack MS kinect they could easily spy on people, while most people would say well then they would watch be do funny things while playing my xbox, this may be true but the new kinect is very powerful and could be used for harm if found a way to crack it.

I do agree though that not releasing it for certain countries right off the bat is a bad move. But i disagree with you that MS is the laughing stop because they changed their policies. Many companies of the recent years have changed policies due to consumer backlash over their proposed policies. MS is doing what is best for their shareholders and their company because as stated I don't think they ran out and changed their policies over a small minority. I'm sure they did research and opinion polls on their policies to find out if they were doing the right thing.

 

[dezymond]

They did this not only as a way to save face, but every single person I know that owned a xbox 360 stated that they hated the policy about used games and having to check-in. I don't think this was a small minority as CK suggests. This was a complete consumer backlash over their policies. The check-in once a day was changed because of areas and countries that sometimes don't have the greatest internet and a once a day check-in is not always possible, this was stated in an article written in contrast to their policy. The check-in policy wasn't a big worry for most people I know because it was always connected to the internet anyways.

In my eyes DRM is horrible, the idea behind it is good, but the implementation is terrible. The DRM and their used-game policy was a major upset to many people who wanted to buy an xbox one. When you have two systems which are pretty identical in hardware, most people stated that they would rather just pay 100$ less for the system that wouldn't limit them with DRM and used-games. The fact that both systems now use an x86 architecture means cross platform games will be more prominent and needing one system over the other is a moot point. The price is another major problem for the xbox one, this was a strategy done with the xbox 360 vs ps3, where the ps3 was priced 100$ higher then the xbox 360, and it had terrible sales until the price was lowered. I know that the xbox one comes with a camera and the ps4 doesn't, but the stated price is still the stated price. People often said with the ps3 that "well you get a blu-ray player with it so it's worth the extra money" but people didn't care so much and many liked the appeal of the lower priced system. This is also why the Wii had good sales too because the system wasn't priced very high.

I know many people also don't like that fact of the xbox one always on kinect system (or close to always on). If someone figured out how to crack MS kinect they could easily spy on people, while most people would say well then they would watch be do funny things while playing my xbox, this may be true but the new kinect is very powerful and could be used for harm if found a way to crack it.

I do agree though that not releasing it for certain countries right off the bat is a bad move. But i disagree with you that MS is the laughing stop because they changed their policies. Many companies of the recent years have changed policies due to consumer backlash over their proposed policies. MS is doing what is best for their shareholders and their company because as stated I don't think they ran out and changed their policies over a small minority. I'm sure they did research and opinion polls on their policies to find out if they were doing the right thing.

Oh don't get me wrong they definitely took their time evaluating the "playing field", this was a huge decision on their part to remove DRM. No one completely ditches an initial game plan without evaluating the situation. Does it look bad? Yeah it does, because it's barely a week since the reveal of the PS4 which was the complete opposite of what the One was. DRM will make its case back with the next generation of systems, heck maybe even the One again, but with a much different implementation.

Price is the same. $500 is $500, especially to the parents who don't know much about games other than "my kid wants it". That's a hurdle that MS will overcome eventually once prices drop, but it depends how quickly their price drops that is the key. Yes it has all the bells and whistles, but again, not what most parents seek out when buying a video game system, so the $400 price of the PS4 will definitely be more attractive.

I agree the Kinect camera still remains as another hurdle for most consumers. I still know many who put a piece of electrical tape over their cameras on their laptops or all-in-ones. The question is, would someone want to take the time to hack it?

I am glad to see that MS took action into changing their policies, but it's the timing that seems a bit off to me. Again, just 9 days since E3 started and their whole policy change completely changes the One experience. You can play it like a traditional system, you can share physical copies of your games, you don't need an internet connection, etc. So much of what they pushed and took pride in was all down the drain in a matter of a month. Not to mention some of the other things that were said to really hurt their image (Mattrick's "well we have the 360 for that" comment really hit the wrong nerves with many).

Again we'll see how things go, but this surely tips some consumers and loyal fans back in the favor of the One. We just gotta wait for the numbers to roll in to see if it was too late for MS or not.

 

[New2u]

Oh don't get me wrong they definitely took their time evaluating the "playing field", this was a huge decision on their part to remove DRM. No one completely ditches an initial game plan without evaluating the situation. Does it look bad? Yeah it does, because it's barely a week since the reveal of the PS4 which was the complete opposite of what the One was. DRM will make its case back with the next generation of systems, heck maybe even the One again, but with a much different implementation.

Price is the same. $500 is $500, especially to the parents who don't know much about games other than "my kid wants it". That's a hurdle that MS will overcome eventually once prices drop, but it depends how quickly their price drops that is the key. Yes it has all the bells and whistles, but again, not what most parents seek out when buying a video game system, so the $400 price of the PS4 will definitely be more attractive.

I agree the Kinect camera still remains as another hurdle for most consumers. I still know many who put a piece of electrical tape over their cameras on their laptops or all-in-ones. The question is, would someone want to take the time to hack it?

I am glad to see that MS took action into changing their policies, but it's the timing that seems a bit off to me. Again, just 9 days since E3 started and their whole policy change completely changes the One experience. You can play it like a traditional system, you can share physical copies of your games, you don't need an internet connection, etc. So much of what they pushed and took pride in was all down the drain in a matter of a month. Not to mention some of the other things that were said to really hurt their image (Mattrick's "well we have the 360 for that" comment really hit the wrong nerves with many).

Again we'll see how things go, but this surely tips some consumers and loyal fans back in the favor of the One. We just gotta wait for the numbers to roll in to see if it was too late for MS or not.

Well the timing is what is was because of Sony, and of course they changed their ways because Sony didn't include DRM, and made it to where their used games were the way they used to be for the PS3. The real thing though is that Sony had released this information prior to their official release, this was known in late february that Sony wasn't going to block used games which led most to assume no DRM, it was confirmed as of may 31st that MS would contain DRM. So it's been in the works for longer then 9 days i'm sure. This is why I said it doesn't look that bad.

The price dropping from 500$ is a moot point because at the same time Sony could easily drop their price too and the problem is still there.

The problem with the kinect is that not only would it allow hackers to possibly gain access to their system, but the government too. The voice recognition has already been stated to be able to pick certain voices out of a room of people. I'm not saying that would happen but it is possible, and that scares many people.

I also agree that the 360 comment was like a slap in the face to many people, but you have to imagine though that they created these policies awhile back and the E3 was most likely planned while they were contemplating the changes. It does suck that they made their decision 9 days after E3, but i'm sure they were thinking about changing it prior to E3.

 

[dezymond]

Well the timing is what is was because of Sony, and of course they changed their ways because Sony didn't include DRM, and made it to where their used games were the way they used to be for the PS3. The real thing though is that Sony had released this information prior to their official release, this was known in late february that Sony wasn't going to block used games which led most to assume no DRM, it was confirmed as of may 31st that MS would contain DRM. So it's been in the works for longer then 9 days i'm sure. This is why I said it doesn't look that bad.

The price dropping from 500$ is a moot point because at the same time Sony could easily drop their price too and the problem is still there.

The problem with the kinect is that not only would it allow hackers to possibly gain access to their system, but the government too. The voice recognition has already been stated to be able to pick certain voices out of a room of people. I'm not saying that would happen but it is possible, and that scares many people.

I also agree that the 360 comment was like a slap in the face to many people, but you have to imagine though that they created these policies awhile back and the E3 was most likely planned while they were contemplating the changes. It does suck that they made their decision 9 days after E3, but i'm sure they were thinking about changing it prior to E3.

I agree. The thing is, to me at least, is that MS basically knew what Sony bringing to the table back in February and yet they still insisted on DRM during their announcement and then confirmed it more at E3.

Don't get me wrong I understand a major change like this takes time but even if they were waiting on confirmation from what Sony is doing they could've stole the show by announcing the lifting of DRM. Even if Sony went with DRM then that would've given the upper hand to MS as another feature that Sony wouldn't offer. But since that wasn't confirmed till E3 it is also a moot point.

Instead their timing was off and their response to the public prior to today was absolutely a slap to the face. First people were mad at the restrictions and then MS handles all the questions wrong. Their timing and their initial responses is what is causing this MS circus and in full force on damage control.

They're on the right path to winning consumers back but again , the damage may have already been done. Even a few of my friends who were die hard Xbox won't go back because of this debacle.

It'll be a great system no doubt but man they got alot of apologizing to do. Especially to those that were told to buy an 8yr old system

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[Briankbl]

Here are some reactions around the web to this news. Also, full credit for breaking this story goes to Patrick Klepick from Giant Bomb.

Giant Bomb
[video=youtube;Mk3z8rKjpkg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk3z8rKjpkg&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/video]

Sent from my Droid DNA using Tapatalk 2!

 

[Briankbl]

Adam Sessler & Tech Feed
[video=youtube;MJmdRDUHeVc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJmdRDUHeVc&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/video]

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