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

4.8
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/

Related Articles

Comments

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

If you would like to post a comment please signin to your account or register for an account.

Dr-PonyfilePosted:

Cyimking The drm is actually good however they marketed in a poor way.


This is true the way Microsoft announced it was poor and their strategy was wrong if they could go back and retry it they would do it so differently I for one am looking forward to both consoles to what each of them has.

CyimkingPosted:

The drm is actually good however they marketed in a poor way.

bdgrPosted:

i dont get why he would be suprised :L

GazziPosted:

i was excited about the drm. not having to go to the store at midnight anymore to get a brand new game. so much easier.
i hope they still start making games available on the marketplace same day of release or something

DiniPosted:

brendan64shark I really did not care what they did just more drama in the gaming world.


Yeah lots more of drama definitely

Dr-JPosted:

slapshot101 I wonder if will we see the DRM on the Next-Next Gen consoles, I am pretty sure that we are going to see it, I am also wondering if they are going to implement DRM a year or two in the feature if they want to reinstate things like family sharing the games between many different consoles.


If not with an update this gen definitely next next

III_XBOI_IIIPosted:

ODST It wasn't just about how the reaction was to DRM, it was Microsoft's reaction to the initial reaction that pissed off everyone again.

You can't just ignore your customer's response back in May or April then continue into June through E3 as though nothing bad was ever said about the Console's DRM crap. Microsoft didn't change until after the first sales report of pre-orders, like hell if they care about the consumers.

There is absolutely nothing surprising from the negativity thanks to their PR people dancing around key questions during E3 and being rude to anyone who was on the fence about whether connection was a must at all times. They give a camera that must be plugged in at all times right before a report that says they worked in hand with the NSA.

Yeah, absolutely nothing surprising about this outrage for the past few months (sarcasm implied).


Good thing I read this before posing, as I was on the same page as you. But yeah, you're 100% correct. All they talked about at E3 was tv and restrictions. Yet when asked a valid question they danced around it and couldn't give a straight answer. That's why they lost E3. They came in with a "we're doing this whether you like it out not, fck you if you don't" type of approach. Last time I checked, that's not good business. For a huge company like MS, such a rookie mistake wasn't expected.
Once they saw the pre order sales, you see they hit a swift 180.

Rocky5Posted:

Dr-Ponyfile @DavidDo0m I am not saying that the Kinect is useless in every aspect. What I was trying to say was not a lot of poeple have embrassed the Kinect Sensor and whats the point in having to pay the extra whatever amount for the sensor and only using it once disconnecting it and letting it gather dust I udnerstand that this is an option that people have chose not to use the kinect but I still think there should be an option where you can buy the console without the Kinect and save yourself some money, but they can't as Microsoft claim it is an Important part of the infrastructure.


1 reason & 1 reason alone for me. Project Spark, enough said :-)

slapshot101Posted:

I wonder if will we see the DRM on the Next-Next Gen consoles, I am pretty sure that we are going to see it, I am also wondering if they are going to implement DRM a year or two in the feature if they want to reinstate things like family sharing the games between many different consoles.

brendan64sharkPosted:

I really did not care what they did just more drama in the gaming world.


Latest Downloads

Latest Tutorials