"I’ve spent the last 24 hours with the series x testing it for its “media preservation” aspects and Im sad to report just when you think Xbox couldn’t get any worse they have. This console is the 2013 Xbox one by everything bar name and below I will explain how."

"I set up the x series and was immediately greeted by a internet required set up (the same as Xbox one) this would already be a stumbling block for anyone with internet issues or no access, but I followed the on screen steps and set the system up"

"I updated the system and signed into my Xbox live account. I arrived at the dashboard and checked to ensure the system was set as the home console etc and it was. Now I had a theory even though a online set up was bad maybe it was a one time deal ?"

"I reset the Xbox and did the same process again and yes it needed to connect again. Eventually I arrived back at the start and resumed testing. I installed a few Xbox one discs into the series x console (in offline mode) after a fairly long install process they had finished."

"I tried to open the titles and was greeted with a message they could not be played without being online, so already we now have a activation drm. At this stage physical media on the system is useless, but I then connect online and the games start immediately."

"I still had hope at this stage the System would work fine as long as the games had been activated. And they did, the titles played fine. I turned off the console and upon turning on again they continued to play. But I was not done"

"I unplugged the Xbox and performed a cold boot. And guess what once the system restarted NONE OF my activated game’s would work without being connected online !!"

"I have completed this process now many times and no titles work. The Xbox series x is no different to the 2013 Xbox one, @Xbox and @XboxP3  have snuck the 2013 drm back into the system. They absolutely do not care about media preservation."

"i watched a stream from Gigaboots where they purchased a physical copy of the series x version of AC Valhalla, and they could only download 900 mb off the disc- the actual next-gen version of the game (roughly 46 gigs iirc) had to be downloaded via an internet connection."

here's a screenshot of the download ~8 hours into their stream. not sure exactly when they first put the disc in and realized this is how it worked but you can see only 600 mb is being downloaded off the disc and 46 gigs has to be downloaded off the network pic.twitter.com/na1VLi1ft8

— Normal Lee (@MarshallLee67) November 11, 2020

It was in the Eurogamer review, although just briefly mentioned

Similar to other Xboxes (and unlike Sony consoles), an online connection is mandatory to get going, and the process here is exactly like Xbox One - which is to say, time-consuming and rather frustrating. It's all in stark contrast to the user interface itself, which feels so fast and responsive - a genuine joy to use.

Nothing about having to connect again after a cold boot :/ What's the point in setting it as your home/primary console?

So does this guy.

He claims that they worked offline (for a time), until it goes into standby or is cold booted.
Then they stop working until you again get internet access for them (again).

So there is a time limit, or a setting thats lost when it goes into standby or is turned off.
Once that happends, your offline setting, will prevent a game from being played offline mode.

Basically its not enough you have internet access when installing games.
You basically also need to be online (atleast occasionally) to play games.

Playstation 5, doesnt require you to be online to play games offline.

You dont even have to patch games to play them via backwards compatability.
You basically just put the disc in and it runs (even in offline mode).

Xbox is walking a differnt path than playstation here.

Yes I get that, and I have that on ps4 pro (since my base ps4 is the primary, every digital title is locked when I cold boot it without internet). But here I thought even setting it as primary still requires internet on a cold boot. However @shikamaru317 said he didn't set it as his home console again after resetting the whole thing so that makes sense. Still sucks it won't work without internet initially and no BC without internet.

And now that seals it. Never getting an Xbox series X.

I think it might be a little early for doom-and-gloom, but this is concerning. More info is needed before I accept this as anything more than one dude's bad day.

This might actually be all that it is.

If thats the case, lock this thread please.
Just a random guy on tweeter spouting nonsense then.