Microsoft surprised by 'how negative' reaction was to Xbox One DRM

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Microsoft's director of product planning Albert Penello says the firm expected controversy over its original always-online Xbox One pitch, but was surprised by "how negative" the reaction was.

"If I had to go back and wish that I could rewind time and redo one thing, that would be the one thing," he told Rev3Games, admitting flaws in the firm's messaging.

"I think with time, people have understood what we were trying to do, and in fact I'm sure you've seen it with the fans. They were saying, 'God, I wish some of this stuff would come back'," he said, likely in reference to the axed Family Sharing plan that would have allowed gamers to share all their games, digital or retail, with friends.

"People got in their minds that what we were trying to do was evil or anti-customer when, in fact, we were looking at what Steam does, we were looking at what iOS is going, we were looking where the customers were going and saying 'I think we can actually give you a better all-digital experience."

"So was I surprised that people had a reaction to it? No. I mean, we knew it was going to be a controversial decision. Was I surprised how negative the reaction was going to be? Yes," said Penello.

"We were surprised at how vocal it was, we were surprised at the reaction and the assumptions that people had about what we were trying to do. So we did the famous '180'."

But Penello insists that an all-digital future is imminent. "Nobody debates there's going to be a world, whether it's this gen, or next-gen, that discs are going to go away, it's gone away in just about every medium," he said.

"I think if anything we thought it was going to happen sooner than the customer. We took a hard stance on it.

"I hope that in some point in the future some of those cool features - some of the Family Sharing, the household sharing stuff, the games are always with you - we want to bring that stuff back."

Posted:
Related Forum: Xbox Forum

Source: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/428147/ms-surprised-by-how-negative-reaction-was-to-xbox-one-drm/

Comments

"Microsoft surprised by 'how negative' reaction was to Xbox One DRM" :: Login/Create an Account :: 128 comments

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ZeffPosted:

I wonder how they would be surprised by this, It's obvious that basically no one would like it.

MentalistPosted:

They never went into details, how could we possibly be positive?

MentalistPosted:

Dr-J
Dini
Jap I believe they should have kept it.


Yeah I sort of agree, they definitely should have kept it


Alot of people liked it but some people don't want the "future" of gaming yet


They listen to their customers which is good, I think most of the people didn't like the DRM.

Dr-JPosted:

Dini
Jap I believe they should have kept it.


Yeah I sort of agree, they definitely should have kept it


Alot of people liked it but some people don't want the "future" of gaming yet

DiniPosted:

Jap I believe they should have kept it.


Yeah I sort of agree, they definitely should have kept it

YinPosted:

I just watched this interview. It was with Adam Sessler. I personally was not surprised by the negative reaction at all. I think I am more surprised by how many people are now ok with what they were doing. I will probably always had DRM until they get some laws in place protecting the customers. I don't agree with Steam either, so it isn't just Xbox I would have had a problem with.

AstonishmentPosted:

NV_Lobbys
TheDivision People need to get over the fact that it WAS NOT Microsofts fault! It is your guys' fault for complaining and b******* about it so damn much. It is 100% the fans fault and Microsoft was just listening to their fans.


No it's not.

That's like saying "You won 1 million dollars in lottery money, but you need to pay 10,000 dollars tax" and not adding in the "You won 1 million dollars" part.

Obviously people are going to think negative about something that is, even admitted by M$to be controversial if not explained properly. It's not 100% the fans fault.


You technically have to pay the government for the winning lottery ticket. My parents won tons of lotteries and they had to pay the government for taxes.

SakiPosted:

TheDivision People need to get over the fact that it WAS NOT Microsofts fault! It is your guys' fault for complaining and b******* about it so damn much. It is 100% the fans fault and Microsoft was just listening to their fans.


No it's not.

That's like saying "You won 1 million dollars in lottery money, but you need to pay 10,000 dollars tax" and not adding in the "You won 1 million dollars" part.

Obviously people are going to think negative about something that is, even admitted by M$to be controversial if not explained properly. It's not 100% the fans fault.

XaldinPosted:

they should've known people cant think for themselves

WubsPosted:

I believe they should have kept it.