Report: Microsoft to remove DRM/Always Online for the Xbox1
 

This could be the biggest backtrack in gaming history: Microsoft will reverse course on their DRM policies for Xbox One, dropping their Internet requirements and all restrictions on used games, according to the websites WhatHiFi and GiantBomb.

According to both reports, the announcement will be made today.

Citing multiple sources, GiantBomb says Microsoft has decided to remove a laundry list of Xbox One restrictions that customers considered negative:

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



Since they revealed the Xbox One in May, Microsoft has faced non-stop criticism for announced policies that could drastically change the way we play games in the future. The Xbox One, they said, would require players to connect to the Internet once every 24 hours in order to keep the box playing games. You would have to activate each game by registering it on the web before playing. The console would also restrict the way that game discs are traded, borrowed, and shared, limiting the number of people who could own and play each game, and restricting trade-ins on a publisher-by-publisher basis.

Microsoft has justified these policies by saying that these moves are consistent with a shift to digital seen on Steam, iTunes and other digital platforms.


By reversing on those policies, Microsoft calls a lot of things into question: what will become of the Xbox One's family sharing plan? Will publishers find other ways to block used games? And what of all the rhetoric of how "the bits"—the data on each game disc, rather than the discs themselves—are the future?

We've reached out to Microsoft for comment but have not heard back yet.

http://kotaku.com/microsoft-is-remov...ium=Socialflow

Must have been all the

....................../´¯/)
....................,/¯../
.................../..../
............./´¯/'...'/´¯¯`·¸
........../'/.../..../......./¨¯\
........('(...´...´.... ¯~/'...')
.........\.................'...../
..........''...\.......... _.·´
............\..............(

LMAO.... so speaketh the peoples....

If it's true, smartest thing they could've done. Wait, not having those stupid restrictions in the first place would've been the smartest thing to do.

People will eventually realize that it doesn't matter, and that Sony long-term is aimed every bit as much towards the cycling out of physical media as Microsoft.

Awesome! They actually listened to the people.

This is true, but ultimately you let the market move that way progressively and naturally. You don't force it's hand.

Now, if only they could get the Spy out of the living room...

ROFL

Yep. Make that kinect optional.

Now maybe they will sell some consoles.
Reports are gamestop stores have no more xbox ones left for preorder.
Only can do it online now they are told.

source gamespot.com

...or duct-tape the lens

ROFL **** you Microsoft. I'm sticking with Sony. If I was the guy on a submarine I'd shit on a 360 and mail it to that asshole. Arrogant asswhipes

Yes lets pay $100 extra for something most don't need nor want.

This will be good long term for them, but as far as the launch is concerned, I think the damage has already been done. The PS4 will blow it out of the water when they launch.

That's nice, but the mere fact that this even needed to be suggested to Microsoft is appalling. It's ridiculous that they could not see how offensive these ideas would be to their potential customers, but it also illuminates how little they think of them.

At least they finally admit something they did wrong and listened for once.

Still going PS4 anyways, my mind has been made up.

Not to mention, Playstation simply has better looking exclusive titles. **** Halo and GoW. I'm so mad I can't play The Last of Us, wish I woulda bought a PS3 but I'm not gonna go do that now.

Are they dropping the price too? None of that even matters if its still $100 more.

Which console do you think parents are going to buy their kids for Christmas if one is $100 cheaper?

the problem is that they tied kinect to the console. If they hadn't done that, they could have sold it cheaper with kinect being an addon. They are banking on people loving something they didn't like in the last gen.

Well, don't mistake what I was saying as any kind of support for Microsoft. It's more about being surprised that people in a general sense don't recognize where Sony is ultimately headed. Although I guess I shouldn't be. People as a group tend towards blindly following, especially when they have a chance to pick a perceived side and get that pack mentality going.

We all know this is eventually what they are heading to but it needs to be gradual. Set it up so the consumer can slowly see some value in it over the long haul. Don't just make a drastic change the public isn't even close to ready for.

for instance, the family sharing library is a cool idea so roll that out for only for certain digital download games. Let people see how it will work and get accustomed to it. For that to work though they need to allow 2 users at a time though. The owner of the game should be able to play it when ever they want. Your 10"family" members can duke it out for the ONE other login available for it,.

They really had to do this. Microsoft was just getting eaten alive in the PR battle.

I'm pretty sure that camera doesn't cost them anywhere near $100 a console to put in. Even with it in there, I bet M$ cost per console is below $400.

Its a stupid gimmick anyways.

:clap:

Probably the one that the kid cries and stomps his feet for

and didn't they tell that Angry Joe guy and some others that this was built from the ground up and was not possible to change?

But maybe they should change their title to the Xbox 180 now.

Also, with a game like The Last of Us (looks amazing, haven't played it) as a Sony exclusive. Everybody like me is sitting here sad because we can't play it, wishing that we would have bought a PS3. That's awfully good timing for an epic exclusive game to come out, in the midst of the console wars. That tells people that they should buy Sony for the exclusives, if nothing else.

I mean, what are Xbox's exclusives right now? Halo, GoW, Forza and Dance Dance Revolution? Who gives a shit about any of those? haha

well played Sony.

Not true. My kids wanted the xbox. I preordered the PS4. If they want to pool their money for a xbox that is on them.

Ryse and titanfall look pretty good

Yep, Major Nelson kind of chastised Joe for stating it would be easy for MS to drop the 24 hour restriction. Love the egg on his face.

i told ya they have a plan b and c and d! There will be more changes. Microsoft see's preorders from major retailers. They wanted to see whta they could get away with from gamers and well, not this. lol


We all seen this coming. It was just when would they go public with the news

Uh they have TitanFall which looks absolutely incredible, Quantum Break, Ryse, Sunset Overdrive, Project Spark, and games that haven't even been announced yet like Black Tusk's secret game.

Sony will have awesome exclusives no doubt but so will MS...and right now it's not even close.

alot of us will get both systems. i will, but as of right now, its PS4 first.

Ill wait til MS drops the price some. Im like Guru now days. I just wait a bit then get the game when it drops to 20-30 bucks. lol Unless its a sports game

It looks like Call of Duty with mechs. I wouldn't say it looks incredible, but it does look like it will be a fun MP game. It will come to the PS4 eventually.

That's bc Robert Bowling was involved, and he was pretty much the man behind MW3.

Why are you bolding the obvious shit? The whole point of the DRM 24 hour check-in was to authenticate games. Did you think M$ was doing it for shits and giggles? No 24 hour check-in means you have to use the actual discs to authenticate the games just like you do now.

I am a bit surprised. I thought they were going to force this shit and then drop a game that everyone has to have on us. Guess they didn't have that up their sleeve.

One of the funniest videos is at E3 when they announce the price and there is a long hesitation before anyone starts clapping and Phil Spencer is just smiling like a jackass on stage waiting for it.

Yep. That was funny as hell.

This system still offers me nothing and those shitty exclusive games are just shit Halo, GOW other then Titanfall nothing looks that great maybe Ryse but the timed button looks rather annoying like a rhythm game. I Admit I will buy this down the road but MS just keeps ****ing up with mistakes just like them choosing Dual-Layer over the ****ing blu-ray last time

They finally realized how much of a colossal failure of a console release it would have been.LMAO

Still sticking with the ps4, they have the first party exclusives for every genre. I am not convinced Microsoft will keep putting out games, seems like they will revert to the old recipe which is throwing cash at third party developers, GOW and Halo.

yep, Sony blows the walls off when it comes to exclusives. MS can't touch them.

Meh, name some. I really don't see the major exclusives. they didn't show hardly any at e3

Uncharted series
Last of Us
Infamous
Heavy Rain
LBP
Killzone
God of War


Their track record with exclusives is enough to keep me around. I have no doubt their exclusives with the new gen will again be better than anything MS has.

Depends I guess. Im liking
Halo
GOW
Forza
Titanfall
Sunset overdrive
fable
State of decay

there's good exclusives on both. hard to say one beats the other

I used to love Halo and GOW but they just got stale for me. I haven't even finished Halo 4 and really have lost any desire to go back to it.

Don't like racing games hence why I left GT off my list. Never even heard of Sunset overdrive. What is that?

As a guy who has been a PC gamer for a long time (and hasn't owned a Playstation since the PS2 and never owned any Xbox), I always felt throughout this whole process that most opinions over the Xbone's online requirement and DRM policies were WAY overblown. It's good that they removed the restrictions, but I didn't think that a single one of them would have realistically had a negative impact on me.

It's funny how people are so passionately "for" or "against" one console or the other, IMO. It's better for the health of console gaming to A) have options and B) have solid competition. Fanboys of either system are ****ing annoying and are incredibly short-sighted for believing that one console is going to "LOL RAPE ROFLSTOMP U bundle of sticksZ" the other, especially considering the fact that both consoles are months away from even being released. Ugh.

I'm the same way as a PC gamer. I haven't bought a physical disk in years. I've played multiplayer games for literally decades, so needing a persistent internet connection is nothing that concerns me (nor is paying to access; "free to play" is I think one of the worst, most invasive trends in gaming these days - people pay more through online stores in these "free" games than we ever did in the early 00s... - they complain about $15/month and then buy literally hundreds of dollars worth of random packs to get things they want).

Good move by MS, but still not done.

They need to get price competitive with Sony. Have an X1 package without Kinect for $400. They need to do this.

this post owns all for me. I agree. Again, for me, im waiting to see which one is better after about 6 months or so before buying.

Its a large world fps game. look up the e3 trailer, there isnt game play out yet. But its done by insomniac so im sure it will be fun.

It still costs more. Try again Micro$oft.

Last generation I started with the 360 and eventually bought a PS3, which I'm loving right now for all the free stuff from PS+. (I own a Vita too). This time around I'll be going PS4 first and likely buying an Xbox One later (friends). Also PC gamer too but will wait to upgrade till the hardware on these consoles becomes a little dated. Yeah it's a bit of a hobby for me.

MLB The Show also

Halo = was cool in 2003
GoW = first one was cool, after that they were all money grabs
Forza = meh, I don't do racing games
Fable = that's pretty good, but not worth buying the xbox one for.

haven't played the rest.


But Last of Us looks ****ing sick and so does God of War, Kill Zone and Uncharted.

Not going to pat Microsoft on the back for this. I am more likely to buy an Xbone once the price drops on it though.

E: Looks like the whole family share thing was just going to be a glorified demo lol nvm (Not even sure why they felt it was necessary to remove this)

Got a link for that?

Pastebin from a MS employee:

http://pastebin.com/TE1MWES2

Time limited was confirmed by cboat.

ROFL

That family share plan sounded great until you learned that it was just 15-45 min demos and then you get to go buy the game... what a joke.

All of those great restrictions people will be missing out on... stupid consumers!!!!

So, family sharing was just a ridiculous time limited pseudo rental system eh? What a friggin joke and disappointment. Yes, lets kill the used market and the rental market as well as force the consumer to pay full price for 6-12 month old games. LMAO

Love how they even dogged on Steam as well as shit talking PS4 when PS4 did exactly what gamers wanted and forced XBOX to do what gamers wanted as well.

I think the options were explained well, then the consumers explained what they wanted.

Now there are rumors floating around that the Kinect will not be required for the Xbone anymore but they aren't planning on lowering the price.

http://www.examiner.com/article/rumo...one-price-drop

Clearly this guy doesn't understand what the consumers were upset about. And telling us that the Family share is nothing more than a 15-45min Demo is suppose to make us feel better? WTF?

Nothing they could do would make me buy their system before the PS4 at this point.

Well now that makes perfect sense!

There is no way they would get away with selling an inferior spec'd system than the PS4 for $100 more without the addition of Kinect.

EDIT: After clicking the link he updated with a response from Microsoft...

No way I'm getting xsnatch one. Bullshit. **** Microsoft ima spend about $700 on ps4 and games and controller. Can't wait

Are you always this emotional about everything? ROFL

Not emotional. Just not gona buy their bullshit. How is that emotional?

I wasn't talking about your decision, only the expression of it.

Sunset Overdrive looks pretty Meh, and you'd be saying the same if it were a PS4 exclusive. Playstation exclusives rock. Naughty Dog, 'nuf said.

ya I'm pretty excited. Really wish I had a PS3 right now, Last of Us just looks like the game I want to play :(

I guess the Sony Store had a price mistake earlier today on the other anticipated title Two Souls. It was up there for $35 for a short time. Wish I had seen it.

My Last of Us disk arrives on Tuesday. Can't. Friggin. Wait.

I'm sure it will be available to download on the PS4 once they get their cloud streaming service worked out.

I believe that is coming next year, I also hope they put up the Uncharted series as I have not had a chance to play that either.

I'm curious if they will find a way for people that already own those ps3 games to forgo having to pay for it again on PS4. Not holding my breath but it sure would be nice.

You'd figure that every PS exclusive would be available for download.

Hopefully. Uncharted series, Last of Us, next gen Mlb The Show and EA Sports UFC.

It's going to be a beautiful spring.

haven't they already said all PS3 games will be available on it?

It'd be nice if you could insert your PS disc's all the way back to PSone, to verify that you own it, then have it available in your cloud library.

If I can only get one of them, Im going with Sony this time around.

I had both an original XBOX and PS2, but had to ditch Sony when they came out with that bullshit 600 dollar pricetag on the PS3. Ive been with Microsoft since, and Ive been happy with the product. There were games I wished that I could play that were exclusive to Sony, sure, but for the most part Microsoft has fulfilled my gaming needs.

This bullshit they tried to pull here, this always connected DRM crap, its just wrong. Not being able to buy or rent games notwithstanding, its extremely common for my internet to be out for days at a time. During this period, the XB1 becomes a brick. Its completely worthless.

Throw in there that I would now have to take great pains to research the hell out of any game that I would consider buying, because Im no longer able to rent or borrow the game, that's just a dealbreaker. Im just supposed to drop 65 bucks on faith? Its pretty rare that the games out there live up to that pricetag. Not being able to resell or trade in the game is ridiculous.

Don Mattrick is the closest thing to a talking bag of smashed assholes that I have ever seen. I cannot believe that someone so clueless and out of touch with the consumer base's wants and needs could be promoted to his position in the company.

"If you don't have internet, we have a product for you. Its called the XBOX 360."

**** you, Don Mattrick. Sincerely, the rest of the world.


The dealbreaker for me is this. MS are not removing the DRM components from the console. They are simply going to release a patch that will bypass it the first time you set it up. You must have internet to set it up, or again, its a 500 dollar brick.

Who's to say that once you've signed the new ToS agreement with them, they don't just re-institute their original policies once they have your initial purchase money?

Clearly they are pissed off about having to make changes, because they've removed family sharing as backlash for consumers not buying into their bullshit.

Sony never planned to do this from the outset, and from the look of things the PS4 is geared toward being a game machine first and foremost anyway. Im going with them first, and then if I have the cash, I might pick up an XB1 down the road once MS proves they can be trusted.