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Xbox One’s pre-owned charge and Kinect DRM policy have caused quite a stir in the gaming world, and Microsoft’s Major Nelson has responded to gamers, suggesting that the company is definitely listening.

It followed rumours that Sony is now considering similar pre-owned safeguards, such as charging gamers a fee to run used games. It sparked a mass Twitter campaign that saw gamers tweeting Sony execs in protest of the alleged strategy.

Over on the Major Nelson blog, one fan wrote, “The entire world is watching Twitter explode. The campaign for no DRM is in full swing. Sony noticed and they’re tweeting in response. I hope Microsoft does too.”

Major Nelson – aka Larry Hyrb- replied, “We’re fully aware of what is going on. I am also working on a few things to address it. I can’t say much more right now. But we ARE listening.”

The latest rumour suggests gamers will have to pay a £35 charge on top of a used game’s cost in order to activate it. Check out our report here.

What’s your take?

Thanks CVG.

I really hope this changes things and DRM is ultimately decided against.

Being able to privately sell my games is the only thing holding me back right now. I really want to grab a XBone.


Come on MS, dump that shit to the curb and make me able to buy this machine!

If Sony was going to and backed out quietly before it went public, then MS can do it too and at least save some face

Can they really do it?

I mean haven't they made a deal with 3rd parties with this use of blocked used games?
don't think thay can back off now

But while Sony fans have been campaigning against DRM Microsoft fans have been arguing that it's nothing to get worked up about and is actually good for the industry, so... why would Microsoft not stick it in someone who's begging for it?

@EA

What could the 3rd parties possibly do if nobody ends up supporting it? Go PC only?

See that is a misconception that is quite shocking to see being adopted.

For every MS fan rationalizing, you have dozens that blend in with neutral gamers voicing their outrage. A MS fan can express outrage ya know. Don't assume the PR shitstorm is all from neutral gamers and Sony fans enjoying themselves, many are disgruntled Xbox fans, which far outnumber the few by comparison trying to see the bright side.

Technically yes as it is only implemented in software, as far as we know.

I think the gaming-industry stands at a crucial point and it has to make decisions with gamers in mind. I am talking about the whole industry here, this of course includes Nintendo, Sony and MS, and also the publishers like EA, Ubisoft and so on.

I can fully understand that all companies want our best: our money. But if they together implement DRM without using it carefully, it will fail.

Remember how often Sony got bashed because of DRM? They should know best what can happen to your reputation and everyone should learn from it. I don't say I want no copy-protection - this is a crucial and important part which guarantees money for all parties and saves the gaming-future. But when it comes to "who owns what" it gets dangerous: Do you guys remember when music-downloads were drm'ed? It failed, it failed so badly... Nowadays you get MP3 for download which is definitely what they should've done from the start.

To sum it up, history tells us that the industry somehow *has* to fail at a certain point so that a new and good solution is brought to customers. What I hope for nextgen is that the industry leaves out the fail-part and directly listens *now* and give us a solution everyone can live with.

Of course you have people who are gamers who happen to own Xboxes and are understandably miffed. Those are people who could just as easily own a Nintendo or a Playstation or a nothing. Xbox fans, though, seem by and large to be 100% cool with this.