By Claire Reilly
Microsoft has made a swift about-face on the “platform policies” for games used on its Xbox One console after being ‘challenged’ by the gaming community, announcing that it would be changing the way games could be played, shared, traded-in and resold.
In an announcement posted on the Xbox website this morning, Don Mattrick, president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business confirmed the changes to Microsoft’s licensing arrangements, marking a huge about-face for the company.
When the Xbox One was originally launched, Microsoft announced that the on-selling of disc-based games could only be enabled by games publishers and “third party publishers may opt in or out of supporting game resale”.
In addition, Microsoft stipulated that “loaning or renting games won’t be available at launch” and game discs could only be given "to people who have been on your friends list for at least 30 days and each game can only be given once”. Finally, gamers would have to ensure their Xbox One was connected to the internet for authentication at least once every 24 hours.
These limitations drew heavy criticism, not only from the gaming community, but also from chief rival Sony, which took a swipe at Microsoft during its E3 gaming expo press conference, saying that that it “won’t impose restrictions” on PlayStation 4 games.
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Today Mattrick confirmed that gamers’ “feedback” had been heard “loud and clear”.
“You told us how much you loved the flexibility you have today with games delivered on disc,” he said. “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.
“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.
“We appreciate your passion, support and willingness to challenge the assumptions of digital licensing and connectivity,” he added. “We have listened and we have heard loud and clear from your feedback that you want the best of both worlds [physical discs and digital content].”
Today’s announcement is great news for games retailers, such as EB Games. EB not only offers customers credits for their traded in games, which can then be used to buy more new product from the retailer, but the retailer also on-sells those games to generate further revenue.