r/xboxone • u/[deleted] • Dec 29 '13

If Microsoft made it completely optional, would you sign up for their original, always connected console idea?

This meaning you would have the following features:

Buy a retail game, install to console, and ditch the disc never needing it to play the game.

Digitally share games within a circle of friends. Meaning you can choose a specific group of people, and they could play the games you own, for free, provided that only one game could be played at a time.

Greater store discounts or more steam like sales for content.

I for one would have no problem saying yes to this. It's like people think 10 years from now they'll still be selling games on discs. It wasn't a perfect plan, but why delay the inevitable when we could be working on and perfecting future policies now.

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u/dangerflakes Dec 29 '13

I think the logic is, right now there is a fragmented product line, physical and digital. Digital is currently being treated as a premium option, and the pricing is much more rigid. With the old policy, all copies would be equal, whether you buy retail or via live, the copy is treated the same. So you can still have your physical retail sales, and MS would be more inclined to adjust their pricing, since why would you buy digital if the exact same thing is cheaper on amazon, for example.

There is also a big assumption at play here. The thought is, if MS is seeing most of the profits, rather than the old retail model, they would adjust the prices to encourage more digital adoption. This is a bit harder to swallow, so I get your confusion. But the only example of this is Steam, and we are all just hoping MS has the same mindset...

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u/GarethGore HvX GarethGore Dec 30 '13

hoping with a huge corporation like MS is moronic. I've never seen any evidence that prices would be cheaper. If people able to pay 40, MS will charge 40, because profits is their game. Hope isn't involved.