Facing Backlash, Microsoft Changes Xbox One DRM And Used Games Policy

Before Microsoft unveiled Xbox One, gamers had been waiting for it eagerly. But once the company unveiled the game console, it was quite disappointing because it came with many limitations. As the gamer community lashed back at the company over such limitations, Microsoft has decided to change the DRM and used games policies in Xbox One.


Xbox One

Originally, Microsoft had announced that Xbox One users will be required to connect their console to the internet, at least once a day. This was obviously a strange necessity and in the wake of privacy concerns over PRISM leaks, some even went on claiming that the company was trying to keep an eye on the users.

Microsoft’s official reason was simply that it aimed to prevent piracy through this measure. But as soon as the announcement came, it met with severe criticism from nearly all quarters. As a result, Microsoft has finally backtracked the policy which means that connecting to the internet every 24 hours on Xbox One is no longer a necessity.

Another Xbox One thorn for gamers was that Microsoft had seriously constricted the sharing or resale of used Xbox One games, essentially vesting the decision on this point with the game publishers. Again, this was a shift from what Microsoft did in Xbox 360 and was met with an overwhelming negative feedback.

Thankfully, the company has reversed this policy too and the president of Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft, Don Mattrick, has stated, “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.”

With these changes, Microsoft may finally see a surge in the popularity of Xbox One, which has been dauntlessly lambasted and criticized by nearly all tech sites.

Source: Xbox

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Salman

Salman Latif is a software engineer with a specific interest in social media, big data and real-world solutions using the two.Other than that, he is a bit of a gypsy. He also writes in his own blog. You can find him on Google+ and Twitter .

This Post Has One Comment

  1. Tsais

    The M.O. of a crappy, conniving and out of touch company:

    First try to shit on your customers…
    then back-pedal after the damage is done.

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