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Fri, 25 Aug 2017


Remembering That Xbox Wanted Always Online DRM For Its Console In The Wake Of Major Xbox Live Outtage

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Nearly half a decade into the current generation of gaming consoles, you will be forgiven if you don't recall some of the consternation surrounding Microsoft's initial plan to make the Xbox One have an "always online" requirement to play the games customers purchased. Microsoft initially floated this concept ahead of the console's release, perhaps testing the public waters for the requirement. If that was indeed the plan, the instinct to take the public's temperature on it was a good one, as the backlash was both swift and severe, particularly in light on Sony taking every opportunity to remind consumers that the Playstation 4 would have no such requirement. Predictably, at least to this author, Microsoft caved and removed this "feature", even as company employees who should have known better made insulting comments about how always online was the way of not just the future, but the present, and everyone should essentially shut up and get used to it.Well, as many Xbox users will already know, Xbox Live had a major outtage this week. The service was down for somewhere between five and eight hours, depending on who you ask. And I mean completely down.

Xbox Live is experiencing some serious downtime at the moment, with many owners unable to play games or even sign in.
Microsoft acknowledged that both core services and purchasing was impacted before service was restored somewhere around 1am. Multiplayer games were affected, including major titles like Overwatch and Destiny. This is to be expected for online gaming when the online service is down. Single-player games, however, could still be played by putting the Xbox in "offline mode."And that's great, except it's worth remembering that offline mode wasn't going to be a thing in Microsoft's initial plans. And, sure, five hours of being separated from a customer's legitimate purchases isn't a major travesty, but this outage demonstrates that even these minor inconveniences can be helpfully avoided by simply not requiring always online DRM. Had Microsoft had its way, paying customers would have been at best annoyed for several hours, unable to play the games they bought and certainly not being offered any recompense for their troubles.More importantly, this episode should highlight several things. First, this is Microsoft we're talking about, and they were down hard for several hours. Let's acknowledge that it could have been worse. What if the service were down for several days? Second, what if this wasn't Microsoft we were talking about, with all of its riches and resources, but a smaller entity unable to recover so quickly? How long would the service have been down, keeping paying, legitimate customers from their valid purchases? Third, all of this real and potential damage to legitimate customers had been achieved for what? The Playstation, as we've noted, doesn't have this requirement, yet it is making money hand over fist. What good would Microsoft's original plan have done for all of this potential damage?Those questions aside, Microsoft ought to be writing love letters to the fans that revolted against its always online plan. It's that backlash that helped keep this minor inconvenience for online gamers from being a full-blown PR nightmare.

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posted at: 12:00am on 25-Aug-2017
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home << Policy << auto remembering that xbox wanted always online drm for its console in the wake of major xbox live outtage

March 2024
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