First off, it seems as though Family Sharing has been removed as a result of this change to have the disc constantly be in the machine in order to play games that were not purchased digitally. Marc Whitten from Microsoft, sat down with Patrick Klepek from Giant Bomb to clear up what this means to the average consumer.
You guys have mentioned that this essentially kills, at least for launch, some of the more progressive, interesting policies, such as the family sharing and lending policies. Are those killed permanently or are they things that can come back in future software updates for the operating system?
Whitten: Part of it's a mix because of the reality of how you're changing the experience. Let me give you an example. Before, one of the things that's exciting about a digital ecosystem, is if I go to any Xbox and I see all my games, they show up in my games library? Well, obviously, if you're gonna use physical discs, those games wouldn't show up because it's only showing the content that's in the cloud--that's in your online library. That wouldn't change. The difference is the choice you have of using physical discs or having purchased things online. That said, so much of how we built the program is really built on that digital infrastructure. You get a ton the advantage of that at launch, and we're going to continue to invest in that. Examples are, obviously, things like day-and-date [digital purchases], and I can chose to buy either of them online or physical--it's my choice. Similarly, if I went to your house with my physical-based game, and we played and I left and took my disc with me, you could instantly purchase that game with no download because it's all built on that same functionality. You're going to see us continue to really invest in that. We believe a lot in that cloud powered future.
Whitten: Part of it's a mix because of the reality of how you're changing the experience. Let me give you an example. Before, one of the things that's exciting about a digital ecosystem, is if I go to any Xbox and I see all my games, they show up in my games library? Well, obviously, if you're gonna use physical discs, those games wouldn't show up because it's only showing the content that's in the cloud--that's in your online library. That wouldn't change. The difference is the choice you have of using physical discs or having purchased things online. That said, so much of how we built the program is really built on that digital infrastructure. You get a ton the advantage of that at launch, and we're going to continue to invest in that. Examples are, obviously, things like day-and-date [digital purchases], and I can chose to buy either of them online or physical--it's my choice. Similarly, if I went to your house with my physical-based game, and we played and I left and took my disc with me, you could instantly purchase that game with no download because it's all built on that same functionality. You're going to see us continue to really invest in that. We believe a lot in that cloud powered future.
When asked if things like Family Sharing and the other removed features may be released later on in the XBone's life, Whitten remarked that they will "continue to invest and deliver interesting, cool, new scenarios" and that they will "see where we go."
It should also be noted that there will be a required update for the XBone on the first day it is released. This day-one update was always planned for the console and is not a result of this change in DRM or Xbox One policy.
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