Microsoft Backpedles Always On Policy
One of the biggest news stories before E3 was the announcement the Xbox One will be always online and always connected. Yesterday Microsoft announce that it will be backpedaling on that statement and is changing the way that they will handle disk-based and downloadable games. This announcement and Microsoft’s changing of gears is obviously motivated by the outcry from gamers after Sony announced it will not have any type of online DRM. Here is a rundown of the new policies set forth by Microsoft.
- No longer will the Xbox One need an internet connection
- Used games will now work like they did in the past
- Xbox One will no longer check 24 hours with Microsoft servers
- Xbox One will longer be region locked
The changing policies does come with a downside. Some of the interesting online functionality will not be allowed because of the need to shift away from the always on policy. The news update on xbox.com explains –
- “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.”
Myself, personally, I was looking forward to seeing how all of the sharing stuff panned out. At one point Microsoft was saying that you could share any game that you bought with 10 different people. Also, being able to sell digital games to other Xbox Live members would have been a cool idea to see put in place. I have hundreds of Xbox Live titles sitting around, they could be making me some money! Also it will be necessary for Xbox One owners to connect to the internet once for setup when they purchase their box making the internet connection almost a necessity.
This is a huge shift for Microsoft. Just a week ago the common thought among gamers was that Microsoft was not paying attention to them or that they just didn’t care. This new shift in policy could win some hearts and minds back towards Microsoft’s camp. The move also could look bad for Microsoft as well. People could see this move as a weakness. Either way it is interesting and worth talking about. At the very least this makes the console race a little bit more interesting. Let us know in the comments what you think and make sure to keep it locked on Gamers Heroes for more news on the console race.
