One of the Xbox One's biggest faults for many gamers (until Microsoft changed their policies around) was the system's DRM policy that would force users to pay a fee to play used games and require an online check-in every 24 hours. This initial policy that Microsoft announced confused Andrew House, Sony Computer Entertainment president and group CEO, who revealed to The Guardian that the company never had any similar plans for the PlayStation 4:
"I guess, dating from about our February event, there had been questions about what our online policy would be. And I have to say that we were slightly perplexed, because we had no intention of changing from a model that I think has served us really well for several platform life-cycles."
Microsoft claimed that this policy was an attempt to support third-party publishers, who do not receive any profit from resold games. House revealed that, though there is some sympathy towards third-party publishers being out of the process, the current model used by video game distributors and creators does benefit them in other ways.
"I think there's a very careful balance to strike. We're a game publisher ourselves, so there's a certain argument for us that there should be something of a model for content-creators to participate in second sales. Having said that, however, the consumer sees ownership as a very key benefit when purchasing a physical product," said House. "And the flipside of the argument is that retailers will tell you that the vast majority of trade-in value gets immediately repurposed into new purchases of games, and those people in turn generate word of mouth and create more interest."
While many were quick to point out Microsoft's mistake in trying this policy, they have since removed the policy. House believes it was more the question of ownership that caused the change, and not the chorus of complaining gamers.
"What you saw coming from gamers is not just, in my view, the views of the vocal minority. It became an expression of a little bit of concern bubbling up around the subject of what ownership means in an age of digital content overall," he said. "We and other entertainment industry players need to be very conscious of that and very careful. Bringing it back to the fundamentals again, we need to be fair and to think of the consumer experience first."
Look out for more PlayStation 4 and Xbox One news as the next-gen consoles get ready for launch later this year.
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