While it may not be the main focus of the interview, there are a few interesting bits about the possible return of Microsoft’s always online policies, where their director of product planning, Albert Penello looks back on the reaction and subsequent turn on the plan.
The interview was with Rev3Games, but Gamasutra transcribed parts of it, with Penello admitting that it was probably too early to introduce an always online plan for a games console, though noting that in time it will become accepted.
He expresses regret at the initial decision, however, noting that if he “had to go back… and redo one thing, that would be the one thing,” before defending their plans with “I think with time, people have understood what we were trying to do, and I’m sure you’ve seen it with the fans. They’ve been saying ‘God, I wish some of this stuff would come back.'”
Penello then describes how it wasn’t “somehow evil or anti-customer” but were instead taking inspiration from other places – “we were looking at what Steam does, we were looking at what iOS is doing, we were looking where the customers were going”.
However, he soon noted that always online will happen at some point, stating that discs will decline and eventually disappear. Their problem was just that they “thought it was gonna happen sooner than the customer thought it was going to happen.”
He does hope that “at some point in the future, some of those cool features – the family sharing, the household sharing stuff, the games are always with you” will return, noting that they only put “a pause” on the program before going back to the model that the customers asked for.”
So, yes, the always online policies could and definitely will make a return, just perhaps not with the Xbox One. It’ll certainly be interesting to see how the global online infrastructure is come the next next generation of game consoles.
cam the man
Well they couldn’t have been that confident that “discs will decline and eventually disappear” would happen as quickly as they thought/hoped or they wouldn’t be paying Sony for every Blu-Ray drive in every X1.
beeje13
We won’t get the game sharing and other positive features WITHOUT the unwanted always online and strict license based ownership.
KeRaSh
I don’t see why there can’t be a hybrid model where you activate certain games for family sharing and whenever you want to play one of those games the One requires you to be online while playing so their servers know who is playing it and when so there is no piracy possible.
Other games that have not been activated for that model will normally function like they do now.
Scythegpd
Except that whole “game sharing” was a con. It was essentially an hour long demo and when the hour was up you choose to pay for the full game or stop playing.
It wasn’t sharing the full game.
MA released that info a while ago, it’s amazing some people still seem to think that their “sharing” promise meant you could share your full games.
Foxhound_Solid
It can and it will.
HywelWJ
Yes, there’s no doubt these will creep back in once they have a large enough tied-in user base. Anyone who was against the initial policies and are now buying the system because they’ve flicked a switch and dropped them, seems a little naive to me.
cam the man
I don’t think it went away. Just about everything about the games at E3 was about the connected experience, and I don’t think it will have changed too much. So if you want to get the full experience out of the games you buy your going to need a online connection. MS made a big fuss about Forza 5’s drivatar, which only works if your connected. They know a lot of folk against always on will end up connecting to keep up with their mates.
KeRaSh
Yeah, so many next gen games feature “persistent online” worlds.
Just take Titanfall for example. That game doesn’t even have an offline campaign. It’s basically just a multiplayer shooter where you have to be connected at all times. Might as well call it always online, right?
Destiny, the Crew and The Division (does DriveClub have an offline mode?) will be online only due to their persistent online worlds so once all games adopt such models, Microsoft can safely bring back their DRM rules.
cam the man
DriveClub has a offline single player mode.
TSBonyman
Well, they already said that they were trying to accelerate the death of the console with their strategies so i guess it makes sense that they also want to take the games out of the hands of gamers. :/
Anyway my betting is on some sort of organic light cube to replace discs ;)
Starman
Maybe on the next xbox (XBox2?) but certainly not on the X1. Way too many hurdles like sales laws. And of course given how unpopular it was there’s nothing to say people would keep the console if it was made always online.
HunterGatherer
As soon as Microsoft lock in enough idiots, it will all creep back. There is a huge difference between the digital distribution system that ps3, ps4 and 360 do, and DRM-laiden abomination that Microsoft were trying to push onto gamers.
Starman
You really should stop calling people idiots just because they want a different console to you.
HunterGatherer
They aren’t idiots because they own a different console to me, they are idiots because despite being constantly screwed over by Microsoft time and time again, they continue to buy their products. THAT’s why they are idiots.
Starman
Well I’ve got a 360 and haven’t been screwed over at all. I guess that’s makes me an idiot in your eyes though.
PARKER94!
Penello then describes how it wasn’t “somehow evil or anti-customer” but were instead taking inspiration from other places – “we were looking at what Steam does, we were looking at what iOS is doing, we were looking where the customers were going”.
Have they ever looked at Steam or iOS? There is no “always online” DRM… If i lose my internet connection for steam, i only lose the online portion of that game, not the single player aswell.
The fact that they are still telling us its the future despite the U-turn, makes X1’s future a bit more clear, in the trash.
OneShotWook
Actually the way steam was introduced is almost identical.It was forced in with every purchase of Half life 2,even the disk based release and even if you were never going online with it.
Now look at steam and how soon we forget as it’s largely regarded as the best thing that happened to pcs since 3d gfx cards.
xdarkmagician
I agree with him completely, I don’t think its entirely morally right, but he’s technicallycorrect. Discs are on the way out, its been 30 years. The major setback of any data transferring storage device is the amount of storage. So why not eliminate the storage issues completely with direct downloads. As long as broadband speeds keep increasing, and I’m sure they will, downloading will remain effective forever. So digital downloads make sense, but just because its digital doesn’t mean it needs to be always on.
Its not ethical from a business standpoint to treat the customers like criminals and require they constantly verifying their good intentions. But once people forget how it was they stop complaining about how its changed. The average person accepts DRM, mostly because they’re told to accept it or not have the convenience of the “service” (since when did video games become a service?) So we’re already at the point of accept “our” terms or don’t play, how long before they change their terms. Terms of service aren’t established to protect the subscriber, they protect the manufacturer and once manufacturers decide to say youre either always on, or never on, you’ll either have to submit or quit. The shit-kicker of it all is enough people just don’t give a fuck about it so anybody who quits will be in a small minority that can easily be forgotten from a financial point. Regardless of what hardcore gamers think, the Xbox One will still have sold a shit load even with the 1 in 24 DRM requirements just because the world is populated with people who just don’t care. So everybody better upgrade to a bigger data plan because digital downloads and “always” or at least “sometimes on” is definitely the future of gaming, and pretty much everything else for that matter.
deadwelsh
“we were looking at what Steam does, we were looking at what iOS is doing, we were looking where the customers were going”
Well WE are looking at why MS (and others) are collaborating with the NSA to build back doors into your encrypted software so they can monitor us and I am now questioning the real motives behind getting a camera in the living room, attached to a console that is always on and listening to what is said in living rooms across the world. It clearly isn’t essential otherwise the initial U-turn on the policy wouldn’t have been an option.
I am sure the games will be great, and the experience of using voice control will be fun and appealing to many, but there is a huge trust issue here, and frankly I dont trust any large corporation given the events that have unfolded lately.
Bilbo_bobbins
Discs aren’t on the way out, it will be another 10 years before this happens. The generation that takes up most of the gaming industry don’t want it yet, I know I don’t.
Once prices come down and memory is cheaper and policies are in place for transfering games from platforms etc, then this wont happen. It was just Microsoft trying it on, and they will definitely use some excuse and make up gamers will be getting something extra for free when this comes in a few years down the line. Mark my word.