http://www.computerandvideogames.com/414046/microsoft-xbox-one-balances-needs-of-consumers-publishers-and-retailers/

Microsoft: Xbox One 'balances needs of consumers, publishers and retailers'

"I think we've found a great balance," says Xbox exec

Xbox chief marketing and strategy officer Yusuf Mehdi told Ars Technica he believes the company has "found a great balance across all of those dimensions".

"But there are tradeoffs," he acknowledged. "We do want to support everyone in that system, beginning with the consumer. But we want publishers to get paid for the great IP they work on. We want retailers to be able to drive and sell our products and make a profit. So we are trying to balance across all those."

The backlash to Xbox One's pre-owned strategy, which severely limits the way games can be distributed following the original buyer's initial install to their hard drive, and the fact that the console will require an internet connection for mandatory online licensing checks to be carried out at least once every 24 hours, was "as expected", Mehdi said.

"We're trying to do something pretty big in terms of moving the industry forward for console gaming into the digital world. We believe the digital world is the future, and we believe digital is better," he said.

"As you go into a digital world, what's happening is publishers are choosing to have different business models, and consumers are saying 'Hey, if I can't resell the title, provide me a different way to get value to get into your game.' And we think the market will be efficient in finding good models that work for consumers."

Further commenting on criticism of its new Xbox One policies, Mehdi said: "I think it's fair to say there's a segment of consumers at this show in particular who really pay attention, who are very passionate about all aspects of gaming, and that we listen to closely. In a broader set of community, people don't pay attention to a lot of the details. We've seen it in the research, we've seen it in a lot of the data points.

"Amazon is saying [Xbox One] is one of their best-selling consumer products. We're seeing the same thing from other retailers. It's very clear there are a wide variety of other consumers that love to game that are excited about what we have to offer with Xbox One."

On Monday, Microsoft announced a November launch window for its new console and an Xbox One price of £425 / €499 / $499.

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this thread won't end well...

A balance that only negatively affected consumers.

MS, you are doing just fine.

Hey guys, you need to understand. Gamestop has been having years of record profits, Microsoft makes billions and Call of Duty sells over 20M copies annually.

They need more money at the expense of the consumers who put all that money into their pockets. Fuck us gamers and our ownership rights, we need to think about them and stop being so greedy.


Excuse me while I go rub the pain out of my face from that gigantic slap MS caught me with.

I think M$ has had its head on the cloud for too long now.

Yeah, I agree. This is the best for the industry. Ask THQ.

THQ didn't die because of second hand sales. THQ died because they put all their eggs in the UDraw basket and it bled them dry. That and overpaying for licensing for certain franchises and sales not going as they expected.

What happened to them was not the consumers fault. Why do you blame yourself and agree on punishment?

Surely their incredibly stupid decissions had more to do with them closing than people being able to play their games offline.