“The Xbox One will no longer require online check-ins every 24 hours and there will be no restrictions placed on game lending”

If you ever thought that the consumer outrage is completely impotent in the 21st Century, think again. After an Internet flaming hot enough to cause third degree burns from gamers, Microsoft has backtracked on two of its most ridiculous planned policies for the Xbox One next-gen console.

To wit, the Xbox One will no longer require online check-ins every 24 hours and there will be no restrictions placed on game lending.

The news was announced in an official Microsoft blog post written by the software giant’s President of Interactive Entertainment Business, Don Mattrick, who said the company’s turnaround was a response to “feedback from the Xbox community”.

“After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again,” wrote Mattrick. “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.”

“There will be no limitations to using and sharing games,” he added. “It will work just as it does today on Xbox 360.”

Mattrick also hinted that Microsoft may be binning its policy of region locking its games for its console, writing, “Xbox One games will be playable on any Xbox One console – there will be no regional restrictions.”

It’s hard not to see this massive reversal in DRM and game sharing policy as a response to Sony’s keynote address, in which Sony executive Jack Tretton announced that the PS4 would require no DRM ping and would place no limits on the number of friends that users could share their games with.

The turnaround will likely make the Xbox One far more competitive in the run-up to its release at the end of this year, although for now at least, Sony’s PS4 is still cheaper in price. https://passnownow.com/pnnblog/good-news-guys-microsoft-has-pulled-a-180-reverses-xbox-one-drm-policies/