Rumor? Microsoft To Pull Out On Xbox One DRM Policies

[Masamune 72]

According to Giantbomb and What Hi Fi, Microsoft may be announcing a huge change in its Xbox One DRM policies later today. The next-gen console was previously confirmed to have a 24 hour online check in to play games with restrictions on used games and borrowing. This rumor, if it pans out, could eliminate all that.

 

According to the report, the policy change would mean no online requirement or check ins for gaming, no barriers to game trading or lending, and no region locks. An online connection would only be required when setting up the Xbox One for the first time.

If this is true, this can be a huge shift in the next-gen console war.

 

Source: Gametrailers.com

 

This is something MS needs to do as the PS3 has the lead in sales in pretty much every major store, even website shops, including Amazon.

[Lestat 2167]

I've already read something like this previously. The entire hassle about having to be online 24/7 to play games is nonsense in the first place. Same like you can just turn the Kinect camera off if you want to. It really isn't keeping an eye on you when you're sleeping or have your XBOX turned off. 

 

I mean... Microsoft really isn't that dumb. I think personally that the presentation of the One has just somehow gotten out of hand and people have gotten a wrong idea about its concept in general. 

[stylelover 1086]

http://news.xbox.com/2013/06/update

 

official.

[Masamune 72]

Yup its been confirmed now, still not getting one though as its still mandatory to have connect and the camera plus the price is still way to high.

[stylelover 1086]

what do you mean with "connect"? and well the camera is optional now , but its still in the package. personall i dont mind it, but i will never use it. i hate kinect

[SUBLIMINAL 52]

Their attempt at being Steam failed, they're going back to treating the Xbox One like a console and not a PC. But the damage might already be done. And the price is still $100 short of a decent gaming PC, so... too much. 

[Zeus 7997]

Sorry if this comes off as inflammatory but whatever. It needs to be said.
 
If you're considering switching over to XBOX One now because "Microsoft removed the DRM", I'm here to tell you that's a stupid idea. Remember when the backlash first started in small fits and the PR team claimed - very vehemently at that - that it could not be turned off? Oh, look, they just managed to find a way to. And I'm very well aware that "can't do it" is programmer parlance for "it would be very difficult to do so given the time constraints", and that many engineers will be spending long hours re-engineering the console from the ground up in order to get it ready for launch day, but look, they can and they caved under the nightmare the was our reaction.
 
What's really happening here isn't that Microsoft is "listening to us". That's utter crap. Microsoft was hedging their bets on Sony following a very similar policy with the PS4, so you had no alternative. It looked like Sony would too, with their acquisition of a patent blocking used games on consoles and the whole spyware scandal concerning pirating media everyone seems to forget about.
 
But after the biggest feint in video game history mimicking some Red Wedding type shit, Microsoft is realizing that draconian DRM such as this has no place on video game consoles. The preorder numbers for the new console send this message home. It is something most gamers do not want. We have told them this before. If they were truly listening to you, they wouldn't have tried to pull this in the first place. If PS4 had ended up doing the same thing, this switch would have never happened and everyone would be screwed. The point here is that if Microsoft could have screwed you, they would have. Don't forget that.
 
Another awful side effect for MS now is that the best features of their new console, which depended heavily on the DRM features, now have to be scrapped. The 10 people game sharing group? Gone. The ability to install from the disc and be able to play without it forever? Gone. Being able to give digital copies of games? Gone. The XBOX One has been neutered at the groin and it's way too close to the deadline date to make the necessary software back-end changes, ensure a smooth, stable experience and then add new features on top. The entire approach MS were going for has been thrown into flux. No one should be happy with this. Those that weren't planning on buying it in the first place shouldn't. Those that were excited about the new features now have less features - if any - to salivate over. Those in the middle now have a console that offers less overall and demands a heftier price tag for it.

This is an awful decision and no one benefits.

 

[nekkichi 6042]

disappointed in MS. their "fuck customers, suck off publishers" stance was cute.

[sai 868]

The only reason they're doing this is because they lost the market to the PS4 already before either console was even released and they know it. Removing these restrictions is not "listening to their customers", it's a mere attempt at trying to gain back their customers who jumped on the Sony bandwagon after E3. The Xbox One was a device that wasn't specifically marketed at gamers, if you look at all the special features the One had. It looked more like a home entertainment system. Removing those will take away the entire purpose the Xbox One had. This is a win/lose situation for Microsoft. They're hoping to get their gaming customers back, but at the same time take the risk to lose the ones that were attracted by all the features the new Xbox One had to offer (though due all that online criticism I doubt many believed there were a lot of those).

 

Then of course there's the 100$ price difference. They're practically stripping down all the features that made the Xbox One more exclusive than the PS4 (which actually CAUSED that 100$ price difference) but still charge the same price for less options. I'm expecting a price reduction from Microsoft's end soon, or otherwise I doubt they will be able to compete with the PS4.

[stylelover 1086]

The only reason they're doing this is because they lost the market to the PS4 already before either console was even released and they know it. Removing these restrictions is not "listening to their customers", it's a mere attempt at trying to gain back their customers who jumped on the Sony bandwagon after E3. To be quite honest, I'm suspecting a price reduction soon.

 

Not too sure about that one. Someone from MS already said after this announcement, that they are still satisfied in the pricing. judging from amazon bestseller rankings and game forums quite many people preordered it now and/or again, so a price reduction is probably not really necessary.

[nekkichi 6042]

Then of course there's the 100$ price difference. They're practically stripping down all the features that made the Xbox One more exclusive than the PS4 (which actually CAUSED that 100$ price difference) but still charge the same price for less options. I'm expecting a price reduction from Microsoft's end soon, or otherwise I doubt they will be able to compete with the PS4.

not happening this year. kinect is expensive & while they are still profiting on each sold unit (both ps3 and xbone cost about $ 300 in manufacturing, excluding kinect), microsoft has production issues (and will probably have a high faulty console ratio throughout all xbone lifespan - so they will have expenses on logistics and repairs for bad units.)

the funny thing is that purchasing both apple TV and ps4 costs the same as xbone and the only thing you're gonna miss rn is voice control (that a lot of people are going to disable asap)

 

they might offer free xbox live subscriptions or free DLC stuff later, but I don't see retail price going down.

 

and still very disappointed in drm cancellation, for something they invested so much money into, it didn't last even a month of pre-release time.

 

I mean if you're gonna flop, flop big.

[relentless 254]

Thinking that they would deliberately seek to sabotage their own profits for the sake of messing with consumers is far-fetched. Yeah, we're mad that they've shown incompetence; but that's really it. They tried to implement a system to reduce used game sales (reasonably so), and it came off as totally dick-ish. Personally, it's the games that have always motivated me and everything else is just filler. Both the PSBore and Xbone are offering nothing that my gaming PC currently doesn't do, so my purchasing decision is going to ultimately revolve around what gives me MORE, and what gives me QUALITY.

 

As far as I'm concerned, serious gamers play on the PC.

[Pandabear 414]

This just made me lol. They failed so much, they're just saving face now.

 

I hope this sends a message to other companies to not mess with consumer freedoms. 

[SUBLIMINAL 52]

The console war has actually gotten interesting. Sad but interesting. 

 

What's truly depressing is hordes of Call of Duty fanboys (or Halo but they don't bother me so much) are still going to fork over money for this and not give a damn. They're not going to care that in buying into this, they are telling M$ (and indeed Sony) that it's okay to treat gamers like this, that they will essentially eat shit if you tell them it's not shit. 

 

It's their money so I mean, whatever, but it says something about the state of console gaming, doesn't it? If there was ever a better time to switch to PC gaming, you guys... 

[Zeus 7997]

What's truly depressing is hordes of Call of Duty fanboys (or Halo but they don't bother me so much) are still going to fork over money for this and not give a damn. They're not going to care that in buying into this, they are telling M$ (and indeed Sony) that it's okay to treat gamers like this, that they will essentially eat shit if you tell them it's not shit.

So true. On Facebook when I posted the response I did here I got a bunch of responses in return which tantamounted to me over-reacting on this entire issue. One reply in particular was:

cant you just unplug the xbox when you arent using it? Probably cant work without electricity. And just put a sticky note over the camera if you dont want to use it at all.

THAT IS NOT THE POINT. I shouldn't have to circumvent features I don't like that I can't control.

[nekkichi 6042]

> And just put a sticky note over the camera if you dont want to use it at all.

 

tell the dumb bitch it doesn't matter, it sees everything in fucking infrared

it sees his boners when he gets halo achievements

it sells the accumulated boner data to marketologists

[TheBistroButcher666 228]

I don't expect developers to give up just yet, I know that the DRM restrictions came as a shock to console gamers but it's been the norm with PC for a few years now. I know Microsoft is back peddling now but I imagine in the future they'll be more careful when implementing new DRM restrictions on consoles. It'll come as simple software updates and gradually become the norm for consoles.

 

Honestly I didn't think the restrictions where that surprising and it makes sense from a publisher perspective. Publishers only make back most of their profit in the first few weeks of a release, after that it's all lost to aftermarket sales. That's why we started seeing a rise in DLCs because it was a chance for them to regain some of that profit they would have never got due to the aftermarket. 

 

I read an interesting article that had pointed out the possibility of game prices reducing for console due to the fact that publishers would be guaranteed revenue after the first few weeks of release.

 

Both the PSBore and Xbone are offering nothing that my gaming PC currently doesn't do, so my purchasing decision is going to ultimately revolve around what gives me MORE, and what gives me QUALITY.

Haaa agreed.

 

Anyway, I'm a PC gamer and used to being restricted from reselling my PC games. This has been the norm in the PC world for many years now, having to deal with pushing publishers forcing you to install buggy and awful DRM software on your machine just to play a game.

 

While sure my PC cost twice as much as a console and requires more work to build and maintain than a console. In the end it's processing power and utility makes consoles not worth it at all. Then again not everyone is techy enough to build and maintain their own PC and usually just buy some out of the box DELL machine that can barely run Chrome with two tabs opened.

[SUBLIMINAL 52]

"As far as I'm concerned, serious gamers play on PC."

 

@relentless As someone who games on the PC, console and handhelds I wouldn't say that being a PC gamer automatically means you're a more serious gamer. There are definitely serious gamers on consoles. Especially when it comes to fighting games. PC sort of reigns supreme in the mmo/moba/strategy department but playing one or the other doesn't necessarily mean you're a better, more serious or more skilled gamer.

 

 

 

I sort of wanted to point out that M$'s terms of services states they can change absolutely anything about their service at any time and if you've pressed "I accept" you just have to deal with it. So I mean like Arithmetica said it's possible they could gradually add similar features, and you couldn't exactly complain because you agreed to their terms. 

 

Ultimately consoles aren't PCs and never will be PCs so they should stop trying. DRM is the norm on PC but it shouldn't be on consoles, to be honest. For decades people have been trading their games (I remember purchasing most of my SNES and PS1 games from garage sales or second hand stores), sharing with family members, and lounging around playing games on or offline with their friends. That shouldn't have to change, no matter how much M$ want to ~go to the future~