Xbox One Will Not Require Internet, Restrict Used Games

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Xbox One Will Not Require Internet, Restrict Used Games

(4 posts) (3 voices)

Started 10 years ago by Anonymous
Latest reply from Lester (Chip)

Anonymous
Unregistered

No more game lending restrictions, daily check-ins or region locks.
by Andrew Goldfarb
June 19, 2013

Microsoft has changed its policies regarding Xbox One’s internet requirements, used game restrictions and more.

Contrary to the details announced earlier this month, Microsoft has now confirmed news originally reported on Giant Bomb that Xbox One will not require an internet connection to play offline games or need to check in every 24 hours; instead, internet will only be required when initially setting up the console.

"After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again," Microsoft wrote. "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."

Like on Xbox 360, "playing disc based games will require that the disc be in the tray."

“

I would like to take the opportunity today to thank you for your assistance in helping us to reshape the future of Xbox One.

Xbox One will also no longer restrict used games, and will instead allow discs to be exchanged in the same way they are on Xbox 360. There will be no additional restrictions for trade-ins or lending games to friends. The system is also no longer be region locked and all downloaded games will function the same way whether your console is connected or not.

"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," Microsoft's Don Mattrick wrote. "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."

In addition to being available in retail stores, Xbox One games will still be available for download on day one and will be playable on any Xbox One console.

"These changes will impact some of the scenarios we previously announced for Xbox One," Mattrick noted. "The sharing of games will work as it does today, you will simply share the disc. Downloaded titles cannot be shared or resold."

"We appreciate your passion, support and willingness to challenge the assumptions of digital licensing and connectivity," Mattrick concluded. "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."

Microsoft's decision follows mass confusion following the announcement of Xbox One in May. At E3 last week, Sony announced similar policies for PlayStation 4, which will not require an internet connection or periodic authentication and does not restrict used games.

Xbox One is currently available for pre-order from various retailers. For more information on the console, including every confirmed game so far, see our Xbox One wiki.

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Posted 10 years ago #
Campy
Member

I posted this in the prior topic about it being required, but perhaps it was big enough news to deserve it's own topic. BTW, see my post about how their prior position alienated the entire US military.

Posted 10 years ago #
Anonymous
Unregistered

Campy, I didn't see it until I checked the main forum as I generally check this forum(Game discussion) first. I did read your post after I posted on the game discussions forum. Most of my posts are listed in the main forum although I post them in other forums originally. Following are some disadvantages of the good news.

Surprise Xbox One DRM Reversal Requires Day One Patch, Cuts Features
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Microsoft Is Removing Xbox One DRM

This could be the biggest backtrack in gaming history: Microsoft will reverse course on their DRM policies for Xbox One, dropping their 24-hour… Read…

You win some, you lose some. In changing its drastic Xbox One DRM policies today, Microsoft will actually be cutting some of the cooler features announced from the console. Everything's got a price, folks.

"There’s a few things we won’t be able to deliver as a result of this change," Marc Whitten, v.p. of Xbox Live told Kotaku, "One of the things we were very exicted about was 'wherever we go my games are always with me.' Now, of course, your physical games won’t show up that way. The content you bought digitally will. But you’ll have to bring your discs with you to have your games with you. Similarly, the sharing library [is something] we won’t be able to deliver at launch."
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The Xbox One Believers

I came to E3 this year in search of good news about the Xbox One. By week’s end, I found a few men able to tell me some. Read…

That means that two features are being cut, at least for now, from Microsoft's Xbox One plans. Microsoft's concept of having your full game library travel with you is gone.

Microsoft's offer to let you share Xbox One games with up to nine other "family" members is gone, too.

The play-your-games-from-anywhere feature had been tied to the idea that all Xbox One games must be installed to the system's 500GB harddrive in order to run. In theory, if you had registered the game online—a requirement that's also been dropped for disc games for the Xbox One—you'd then be able to play those games from any other console you were logged into. Now, with disc games not needing to be registered, you'd have to bring the disc with you to prove you had the rights to play the game on it.

Those sacrifices are the cost of the new DRM policy that, Whitten says, will give people an Xbox One experience with disc-based games that matches what they had on the Xbox 360. Games won't have to be registered online, and players won't have to connect to the Internet in a 24-hour period to play offline disc-based games. "The way to think about it is that it works the way it does with the Xbox 360," Whitten said. "You can give them, loan them, trade them, play them. They will work exactly as they do today."

It's clear that Microsoft was not planning to make these changes. Even though it's June and the console doesn't launch until November, Whitten said that Xbox One consumers will have to download a day-one patch to enable the Xbox One's offline mode. Presumably, without it, the console will still think it's living in the Xbox One era of E3 2013.

Microsoft also announced today a loosening of the Xbox One's regional restrictions. "You could buy a console in any country and use it any country," Whitten said. "You can use any disc in that console."

How did Microsoft get their initial plans for the Xbox One so wrong? "We believe a lot in this digital future," Whitten said. "We believe it builds an amazing experience—the ability to have a broader sharing platform and my content coming with me, [but] what we heard is people still wanted more choice… they wanted the familiarity of the physical disc."

Microsoft is obviously doing a big flip-flop here, but is putting a proud face on it. And a grateful one. "The last thing I would say is, 'Thank you for the feedback.'" He wasn't addressing me. He was addressing you. Your voices really were heard.

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Posted 10 years ago #
Lester (Chip)
English Mod

Excellent move on Microsoft's part. I understand the idea they envisioned for the future of gaming but most people are too comfortable in the way things are today. Also, it would have sucked because you wouldn't have been able to get games from your friends, redbox, game stores, etc. For me, I usually wait until a game has been out awhile to drop in price before I get it as I'm sure many others do. But i will still pay full price to get a game on release day if I really want it. For example I already have GTA V preordered and set for release date delivery. So this move will help Microsoft in the end as it will not only keep many xbox fans from jumping ship to sony, but it will also ensure the system's future for many years to come as people buy, sell, and trade games around long after they come out.

Posted 10 years ago #

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