Microsoft Is Removing Xbox One DRM

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According to multiple sources (the Xbox One Q&A page is down at the moment), Microsoft is removing Xbox One DRM. This is huge...if it turns out to be true. :eek:

  • No more always online requirement
  • The console no longer has to check in every 24 hours
  • All game discs will work on Xbox One as they do on Xbox 360
  • Authentication is no longer necessary
  • An Internet connection is only required when initially setting up the console
  • All downloaded games will function the same when online or offline
  • No additional restrictions on trading games or loaning discs
  • Region locks have been dropped
 
Hopefully they fired the director as well. Even if this is true and they fix everything people are complaining about, the lasting negative PR will still hurt their overall sales..
 
Hopefully they fired the director as well. Even if this is true and they fix everything people are complaining about, the lasting negative PR will still hurt their overall sales..

I have never quite understood this reasoning of firing someone for a single mistake unless it is something that they realistically should have known better (many safety violations for instance) ... it is hard for someone to learn from a mistake when their first mistake is their last one ;)
 
Considering Sony fired at this pretty hard at CES, what will Sony's "difference maker" be if this comes to pass?
 
Considering Sony fired at this pretty hard at CES, what will Sony's "difference maker" be if this comes to pass?

I don't see MS saying anything about lowering the price by $100. Plus MS already lost a lot of goodwill. Simply backtracking on DRM isn't going to win them forgiveness from everyone.
 
Considering Sony fired at this pretty hard at CES, what will Sony's "difference maker" be if this comes to pass?

Probably, a hundred dollars cheaper and better hardware. Now if they launch a kinectless cheaper version of Xone as well, then its going to come down to preference.
 
Well -- is this really a surprise? When the entire world laughs and curses your product before it's even released due to idiot moves and requirements.

I'm still on the fence -- they still have a huge uphill battle after the shitstorm they started. The only thing I really want an xboxOne for anyway is Forza racing - I could care less about most other crap it can do
 
I have never quite understood this reasoning of firing someone for a single mistake unless it is something that they realistically should have known better (many safety violations for instance) ... it is hard for someone to learn from a mistake when their first mistake is their last one ;)

If the mistake costs more than the person is worth, dollarwise...
 
It's official:

Here's Microsoft:


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 told you this would happen, we thought it would happen at E3 though:

Microsoft is soaking in all the nerd-rage now. Come E3 (since they haven't given any difinitive answers on anything) they will announce the opposite of what everyone is bitching about. If cornered on changing stance it will be the ol' "we listened to our fanbase" and everyone will have been raging for nothing.
 
And why would one still harbor ill will to MS then if they have reversed their choices. You guys easily forgave sony for putting an actual rootkit onto thier music cds.
 
Steve why didn't you post the story about the poll Amazon had to pull because the Xbox got 5% of the vote? :(

It still has the crappy Kinect spy cam, and is still $100 more expensive (because of shitty spy cam). It would probably make a load of people more happy if they dropped the price and the spy cam, though the Xbox One is still significantly weaker hardware and from an untrustworthy company (though this is possibly a sign that they are changing their ways, though they will probably just introduce it more slowly or not bother with physical sales or something).
 
I'm wondering if it wasn't a combination of:

A: Sony taking pot-shots at it with a railgun big enough to fire Buicks
B: The fact that they'd lose US soldiers overseas in combat areas. Which is actually a fairly LARGE chunk of their current user-base.
 
And why would one still harbor ill will to MS then if they have reversed their choices. You guys easily forgave sony for putting an actual rootkit onto thier music cds.

Watch some of the interviews MS gave. They treated consumers like dicks saying you will take what we give you, and that's it.

Their PR was horrible, absolutely horrible the way they treated people. People will be remembering that when they decide which to purchase, many of which already preordered a PS4.

I had wanted an xbox until they announced this stupidity, and while reversing it is good, the way they acted is still fresh in my mind, and I will not purchase it.

Until I see an apology from their senior management who acted horribly, I am not interested in even considering it.
 
If the mistake costs more than the person is worth, dollarwise...

That is tactical thinking and not strategic thinking though ... I once worked with an engineer who had a million or so dollar machine fail (they just couldn't get the technology to work) ... he later became one of the sites preeminent process engineers ... if they had fired him because of that one machine failure (which was pretty bad) they would have lost the benefits they later got from him on the process side

That is all I am saying ... if a failure is part of a person's all encompassing culture of failure then by all means dispose of them ... but we do learn from mistakes (at least most of us do) and the more painful the mistake the bigger the lesson we tend to learn ... the fire them remark although glib does reflect a modern business environment where companies can't think more than 1 quarter ahead ... very limiting and short sighted ;)
 
If this turns out to be true I bet EA is going to be pissed. I'm sure they were the sole reason for all that retarded DRM.
 
Part of me is happy the other part sad... I mean, I kinda wanted them to keep the DRM, to see how it all worked out...
 
If this turns out to be true I bet EA is going to be pissed. I'm sure they were the sole reason for all that retarded DRM.

except there is nothing that would limit individual game companies from implementing features that require the online connection be active or restrict the transfer of the disc ... the publisher licenses (or sells) the software to you ... not MS ;)
 
Well im closer to the xbox one side of the fence than i was following their E3 shit, but still leaning toward ps3. I have been an xbox fan since the original xbox. I have had the original xbox and each of the designs of the 360. I love my 360. No backwards compatibility is not a deal breaker, but would be nice if i could give my xbox 360 to my kids while i play the one. What i do hate the them forcing the kinect on everyone. I have seen it, used it, but feel no need to have it. Just a waste of money in my opinion. If they lower the price to match the ps3 and drop the mandatory kinect ill get the ONE. If not ill get a ps3.
 
I got to say that watching Sony and MS conference games wise i liked what XboX1 had to offer. If they only focused on games MS could have bruised Sony badly.

Yet this happened http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ-To7WJyWs

MS better come up with something better then day one achievement. Good luck to MS finding people creative enough to do that :) .
 
This is huge for consumer rights.

I still won't buy the console though. Privacy issues, Anti-Indie Developer Passive Aggression, and the general underhandedness with which they've acted with this whole console since reveal mean that they won't have my support even after this. Maybe if they completely turn around their operation on the other issues as well.
 
If this turns out to be true I bet EA is going to be pissed. I'm sure they were the sole reason for all that retarded DRM.

I wonder if it wasnt part of MSs plan to do this all along.
Look at the amount of exposure their console got because of the upcoming DRM.
Now they are getting even more exposure for revoking it.

But who knows, perhaps they were intending on it and backed down over public pressure.
If this is the case though, they will have some pissed partners who would have been building a business strategy around the DRM.
Its because of the latter that I think it most likely it was planned all along and nobody was really building a strategy around it.
Have there been any announcements from gaming companies about using the new DRM?
 
MS just jumped the gun ... both companies should be targeting an end to physical media with the next generation systems (about 7-10 years from now) ... they should also pursue more exclusive franchises for their platforms and lock up publishers and titles to prevent them from getting on competing systems ... that is ultimately the best long term business strategy for both companies and prevents the entry of a third member into their competition (since I think Nintendo will drop out of the hardware side before the next generation rolls around)
 
LOLOL at least they listened to the people, I hope they fired some people for thinking such stupid ideas were good.
 
This is huge for consumer rights.

I still won't buy the console though. Privacy issues, Anti-Indie Developer Passive Aggression, and the general underhandedness with which they've acted with this whole console since reveal mean that they won't have my support even after this. Maybe if they completely turn around their operation on the other issues as well.

Might not even put it pas MS if they would sneak some of the things in an update.
 
That is tactical thinking and not strategic thinking though ... I once worked with an engineer who had a million or so dollar machine fail (they just couldn't get the technology to work) ... he later became one of the sites preeminent process engineers ... if they had fired him because of that one machine failure (which was pretty bad) they would have lost the benefits they later got from him on the process side

That is all I am saying ... if a failure is part of a person's all encompassing culture of failure then by all means dispose of them ... but we do learn from mistakes (at least most of us do) and the more painful the mistake the bigger the lesson we tend to learn ... the fire them remark although glib does reflect a modern business environment where companies can't think more than 1 quarter ahead ... very limiting and short sighted ;)

Right, but engineers are useful. PR directors aren't :p
 
I expected this as a day one patch when they sold 0 consoles for the first week. I already said this but when they put that shit in they used a canon and shot from the waist down off. Now they have reduced that to just the foot. They got burned so bad they recoiled hard enough to start listening topublic opinion it is Windows 8.1 all over again
 
The headline on the MS's Xbox site should say: "Sorry! We're fucking IDIOTS!!!!"
"Ohh, and sorry for Win 8 too".... " ;)
 
You guys are such jerks... Can't we all rejoice that NERD RAGE actually worked for once? This good news lets be happy.
 
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