Critical Hit | Microsoft to Soil Gaming with Xbox One: Used Games, Indies and Connectivity

Used and Abused, the Death of the Second Hand Market

The main argument against the used market is revenue. Looking at the issue from a developer and publisher perspective, Microsoft's move into charging a fee for used titles does make business sense. The fee, which could be the full-price cost or a proportion of the recommended retail price, would recoup the losses made as publishers currently don't see a dime of what's being sold second hand.
 
Full price charges are being touted as one of the possible options Microsoft has in mind, but the fact remains that there will be some form of fee on top of the used-game price.  Another option would see Microsoft themselves manage used games, by way of consumers sending in their titles for the Xbox creators to handle or in-store integration.
 
The Xbox Support on Twitter however suggests there won't be charges to users directly, with sources suggesting that the fees will be bled into retail.
 
This approach describes how retailers may have to handle the fee process, with a large portion of the sales going to Microsoft/publishers with the cut to retailers at just 10%. Yes, if this solution comes into effect, Microsoft will nab an extremely lucrative chunk of each second hand game sold and maintain full control over the distribution of all its titles - both new and old.
 

The next Xbox aside, the effect the move would have on the industry could seriously pave the way to shrink the used game market considerably and make the video game section of the rental market obsolete. Dedicated stores who sell second-hand software would either have to reduce their margins on Xbox One games significantly or just not stock these games at all.
 
Whilst it would inevitably mean more space for older games, but if the concept becomes industry standard it could tear both used and rental video game markets to shreds in a few years.
 

Forced Online, But What if You're Not?

 
Whilst it would stop players from simply installing a game across multiple machines and disabling internet access, what happens when internet isn't available or there isn't internet access? One scenario could be if a family goes off on a holiday, books a home and takes the Xbox One setup along with them. An ideal solution for a rainy day - pop on a DVD or play a game. If there wasn't internet access, the system may prevent titles from running because the ownership can't be validated.
 
One scenario could be if a player registers/installs their Xbox One title to the system, but then decides to sell the game. The Microsoft server should de-register this title from the user's account and this in turn disabling the game from use on the hardware. But if the user remains disconnected, in theory they should be able to continue playing despite giving up their rights. This example situation would make the need to continually connect make sense - Microsoft continuing to check current owners and those who have given up ownership to maintain DRM.
 
It also invites the question of how frequent the user must be connected to play. When does Microsoft check in: at random intervals or when a player has started to run software for a pre-defined amount of time? These are still questions that remain very much up in the air, the cloud of confusion as it were.
 

Microsoft have yet to answer when these checks are made. If there is a requirement to connect to the internet every time you wish to play a game, or at the beginning of each play session, the backlash could be immense.
 
The plus side for the industry is that the move would help publishers air out ownership and piracy issues by way of enforced, controlled DRM, but what happens when the internet is just unavailable? Microsoft seem to be sidestepping what could potentially be a frustrating issue given the plethora of issues with Sim City.
 
The use of hundreds of servers could open up even more issues - what happens if Microsoft's infrastructure becomes corrupted, hacked or tampered with in some way? Cloud computing does offer benefits to both the consumer and publisher, but if the server goes down, access to playing games could become compromised. It would need a back-up plan to allow a user to validate ownership or just launch a game without having to connect; 24 hours is still too low.
 
Further down the line, say five or ten years, what would happen if Microsoft decide to shut down servers or support for what would then be the old Xbox hardware. Would players be able to access their titles still, confirm ownership?

 
Servers being shut down eventually for online play can be seen as unfair, but at least still allow for the offline campaigns to be played, but what if it becomes game-wide?
 
It may sound like these potential scenarios are clutching at straws and the general consumer should, in theory, have stable internet access - but there needs to be clear what-ifs in place if a connection simply can't be made.
 
The internet requirement and software ownership are in some ways a step in the right direction, but need careful consideration before being put into place on Xbox One and before it becomes an industry standard amongst future hardware.
 

Loaning Games to Friends

Again, it all boils down to ownership and DRM. A friend should be able to simply run the borrowed disc, but because of the obligatory need to install game, it would require the friend to purchase the rights to playing the game.
 
This could be tackled by way of offering smaller fees for a certain number of days perhaps, like a rental scheme, to at least maintain some means of tackling game copying.
 

Taking a Dump on Indie Development

What Microsoft wants to do is continue the restrictive rules planted during the Xbox 360 era into the next generation Xbox One. Studios and smaller indie individuals must have a publisher or sign onto Microsoft's own publishing scheme at a cost in profit and with a long set of rules to abide by. The militarian approach has left a sour taste in many indie outfits, with a large number opting to bring their projects to the Nintendo eShop, PSN and Steam instead.
 

I would also expect that for this new generation that we're going to continue to explore new business models and new ways of surfacing content. But Microsoft Studios is a publisher that works with a wide range of partners, as do a lot of other people, to bring digital content to the box.
 
Matt Booty, general manager of Redmond Game Studios and Platforms

Privacy Perils - Microsoft Could Watch You

The plus side is that because of its native functionality, developers would be able to take full advantage of the voice and sensory tech if they wish, but there are a large set of negatives that outweigh the advantages. Because the device is always "listening" even if the Xbox One is switched off, in theory it could be used as a means of invading ones privacy - capturing data on users without them ever realising.
 
Despite claims that the new hardware could be "designed and built with strong privacy protections", there are patents in place that can monitor how many people are in a room watching a movie, for example. Not just for research purposes, but to potentially invoke a fee on users who exceed the maximum threshold for a standard domestic license - e.g. if someone were to use an Xbox One to broadcast a movie to a University lecture.
 
Going back full circle on this point, we know that despite years of development - decades even - Windows is still the most prone operating system to attack. Despite rigorous rules in place, there is the potential for rogue software that could use the Kinect device to spy on users unwillingly. It's happened many a time on Windows despite avid claims of improved security, so there is a strong possibility of similar threats on the new Xbox One hardware. Not to say that it will happen and the Xbox OS is different to Windows, but it can happen given that these new tools on at all times and presumably accessible at software level.
 

But what are the wider implications outside the Xbox One? Because of the increasing number of draconian rules and fees with the new hardware, there is the potential for certain aspects to become standardised. If proven a success, the policies with microphone/cameras always connected to the internet could bleed into other devices - mobile phones, future laptops and netbooks that come with cameras as standard.
 
Imagine a scenario in the not too distant future where Windows natively requests a user to connect to the internet before running a DVD or film to check how many viewers are in the room. More enforced fees and rules despite a consumer purchasing media through legal means.
 
Perhaps the issue isn't a major one given Microsoft's commitment to both security and privacy, but the company's track record it doesn't boast a resounding sense of total security for future Xbox One adopters. At the end of the day, it is a patent and doesn't have to be made reality, but there the setup does open up concerns for both privacy and security going forward.

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