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Xbox One titles – including shop-bought disc-bases titles – will require a one-time activation to register them to specific Xbox LIVE accounts, it’s been suggested.
The news follows an evening of confusion over the topic, which saw conflicting statements and muddled announcements dripping out of various Microsoft representatives and media outlets.
Speaking to Eurogamer, corporate vice president Phil Harrison revealed that players will be able to install and play games onto another user’s Xbox One console, but that person will be unable to play the title unless signed into the original owner’s profile.
“I can come to your house and I can put the disc into your machine and I can sign in as me and we can play the game,” he said.
“The bits are on your hard drive. At the end of the play session, when I take my disc home – or even if I leave it with you – if you want to continue to play that game [on your profile] then you have to pay for it. The bits are already on your hard drive, so it’s just a question of going to our [online] store and buying the game, and then it’s instantly available to play.
“The bits that are on the disc, I can give to anybody else, but if we both want to play it at the same time, we both have to own it. That’s no different to how discs operate today.”
All Xbox LIVE profiles associated with the console the game was originally registered on, however, will be able to access the content.
It hasn’t yet been revealed how Microsoft will tackle the issue of pre-owned software, though, beyond confirmation that the console will support used games.
“We know there is some confusion around used games on Xbox One and wanted to provide a bit of clarification on exactly what we’ve confirmed today,” explained Microsoft’s Larry Hyrb. “While there have been many potential scenarios discussed, today we have only confirmed that we designed Xbox One to enable our customers to trade in and resell games at retail.
“Beyond that, we have not confirmed any specific scenarios.”
Confused yet? So is Microsoft, it seems.
Source: Eurogamer, Major Nelson
