Digital Distribution and the XBox One

[Slothy]

So say for example you buy a game from the XB Market Place - you can redownload that game from any location and play it using your account. Or in terms of the now scrapped family plan - you could share that game digitally with family members and they could play it without the need to purchase it themselves, even if they lived on the other side of the world for example.

Now that there is no DRM exchanging the only way to do this is via physical copy - and whilst in theory you could install that game and associate it with your account the disc could then be traded an infinite number of times for free which whilst it isn't necessarilly bad - the video game industry as a whole is a business that needs to sustain itself. Alternatively you could purchase a digital copy for them but it doesn't have the exchange or trad ability that it would've under the family plan.

Really what people are getting it when they're making that point is that, we, consumers would like some form of flexibility with our digital licenses similar to what we do with our physical copies. Some people were willing to sacrifice physical flexibility in favour of more digital flexibility.

I'm going to have to disagree completely with the idea that family sharing couldn't work without the bulltrout DRM. Bought a digital copy of a game? You have a limited number of installs. Used them all up? De-authorize a machine from your account and the next time that machine is online it will lose access. Simple, straightforward solution to a problem which won't even be common enough to be an actual problem quite frankly.

As far as physical copies? If you want to play from the disc you can anytime on any machine. Want to install it on your hard drive? That requires an internet connection and works the same way as digital copies except maybe you only get the one license to install it, and once you trade it in, all that needs to happen is a store scans it and it's de-authorized so next time you're online you lose the installed copy.

There, no 24 hour connection requirement and Microsoft can keep all of the features people are complaining about losing. I should really apply for a job at Microsoft because I seem to be better at solving their problems than they are.