Overnight there was considerable confusion, backtracking and badly managed PR from Microsoft, fresh after revealing its brand new Xbox One console. The main source of confusion revolved around whether or not you could lend or sell on Xbox One game disks, something glossed over until after the show, when Microsoft execs were let loose among the press.
Whilst Sony’s carefully managed, carefully selected post-show resulted in a little vagueness, it was nothing compared to the hugely negative PR Microsoft attracted last night.
But the facts seem to be that you can trade-in Xbox One games, but there’s a price to pay for whoever picks up that game, and that price appears to be the full price of the game. Yep, whilst it’s technically possible to sell on your bought games, chances are there won’t be a retailer out there that’ll let you, because nobody will buy them off them.
Here’s how it works, from what I can gather.
When you buy a game for the Xbox One, you’ll need to install it. This is a requirement, and there’s no getting around it. If you then play the game with the disk in, all will be fine. If you want to play the game without the disk in, the console will ping Xbox Live and ensure that you’re the registered owner. It’ll do this once every twenty four hours, as a minimum.
The game will play on that registered console for any user of that console, locally.
If you then lend or sell on that game, or take it around to a friends’ house, only your profile will be allowed to play on it. It’ll run (with the disk in, of course) and you (and only you) can play it. If anyone else wants to play it, they’ll need to pay a fee which – according to Phil Harrison – is the full cost of the game. Once that fee is paid, everyone on the console can use it, as before.
That twenty-four hour thing works back the other way too, with Xbox Live constantly checking which console you’re logging into to ensure that the licenses are always up to date. Basically it seems that if you have the disk and you’re the one supposed to be using it you can use that disk anywhere, but you’ll need to ensure that the original console is also connected to Live on a regular basis (with your credentials) or you’ll get locked out after a day.
This obviously stops you lending a game to someone and them signing out of Live to play it indefinitely – after 24 hours it simply won’t work: they either pay the full fee or it just locks.
Is that right? I think so.
Kennykazey
So what happens when your Xbox One break? Will you have to pay to play without the disc, or can your account play without it on any Xbox?
Dlaf42
the game is paired with your xbox live id so you can play it on any machine as long as your account is on the xbox and connected to Xbox live so it verifies the games license.
Deathbrin
You just pay for it full price again so all the other users can also play it.
TSBonyman
I read a small update to the ‘connect within 24 hours’ story. Apparently now Microsoft are claiming that they haven’t specified any time period and that it’s just a potential scenario, despite what Phil Harrison said. So which is the right answer, does anyone at Microsoft know? :/
Dlaf42
The way I see it Microsoft should just come out and say you need an internet connection full time to the xbox to use all the features, no amount of spin from Microsoft execs is going to change the fact that if you don’t have an internet connection to the xbox it isn’t going to work because you cant validate a game on install end of. I guess the restrictions placed on games must be the same for films, music and videos..so no buying it just to be a good media player/bluray player either as a lot of data has show that most xbox360 were never used for games just media consumption.
VirusPT
DRMBox One
I rate this feature One\10
phantom5813
Doesn’t bother me to be honest as I wasn’t gonna buy it anyway but it sucks for all the xbox fans that were interested and have friends. No lending, no pre-owned, no rentals??? Good luck. Gamers will just have to trust reviews and do loads of research before buying games since they are gonna be much more expensive as well as not have gamers opinions as no gamer is gonna buy a game he/she is gonna be stuck with. Add invasion of privacy and that concrete slab is looking much less appealing. Just my opinion though. Microsoft was leading this gen but they have now placed themselves firmly behind everyone now.
Congrats MS…..congrats.
Ps…..Sony is waiting for all you EX-Box users.
Deathbrin
I buy games i’m gonna be stuck with. Guess i’m just not a gamer.
KittDJW
if Microsoft have implemented this then I’m very concerned Sony will be pushed into it too.
I have been gaming like a lot of you for a very long time but I’m starting to get sick of whiny developers who say locking out the second hand market is unfair to the developer losing out on a sale. If I buy any other kind of media.. it’s my choice if I wish to sell it on.. I hate that the game industry has become so warped.
Our hobby is being slowly ruined by greed, this should be a time of excitement but it’s slowly turning to dread of whatever next to screw the consumer out of yet more of there hard earned cash.. they say it’s to support servers but look at the farce of Battlefield 3, online pass and rent a server that had no filter to begin with that was a slap in the face to full price paying customers.
This is how it’s always been as a developer if they’re not happy or don’t make quality products then maybe they are in the wrong line of business.
How about keeping us interested by making a great game with lots of keep you coming back, support with decent value DLC I think it’s arrogant to expect to keep making money and full price when they have already received cash from the original buyer, like I said no other media does this.. it’s felt wrong from the beginning.
Nocure-fd
Sorry Microsoft, but after reading this information, I’m going to have to quote the great Brian Blessed:
“Have you see the state of it? I wouldn’t touch it with yours!”
Now it’s all down to Sony to see if I bother with any form of console at the next holiday season.
Deathbrin
So no previous owner can lose the license then. Good.
coruscant
Could you not just create an individual account to register the game, if you knew you would sell it later down the line, then sell the account to someone else?
TheShepanator
Be quiet coruscant, you’re a planet, you don’t get an opinion!
In actual reply to your comment though, if you made a new account for every game you wouldn’t be able to collect achievements, and having to login to a different account for every game would be extremely inconvenient. Not to mention whoever you sell the account to will have to deal with the same problems
Kitch
So, Microsoft mocked Sony for not showing a console at their console launch but Microsoft launch a console and don’t tell you how it’ll play games. I believe it’s 1-1 in the console fuck-up competition. I just hope Steam are still relying on a It’s a knockout style launch starring Stuart Hall. A hat trick of shit.
On a seperate but slightly related note, The Sun seem to think this is the greatest console ever. I’m not sure what Rupert Murdoch is up to.