With Xbox pumping a lot of effort into Cloud Gaming, many have believed this may be the future for the company. But Xbox boss Phil Spencer has said the team doesn't want to take away the "choice" of how people play their games.
The question was posed in a recent interview with YouTube channel Same Brain, where the hosts spoke about how they've encountered places - such as their parents' houses - with slow internet connections, which has tarnished their Cloud Gaming experience. Spencer made it clear that the future of physical media on Xbox will be here for many, many years, appreciating numerous players don't have the technology for fast connections, and it's all about giving consumers a "choice".
"As a tech industry, even as a gaming industry, we like to sometimes say everything is going to be this or everything is going to be that, and in the end there's nothing that's everything. It is the diversity of what people do and how they play, and it's absolutely why those consoles [exist] is because it might be your parents situation for many, many years that the best thing is to get a console that has a drive, so you can go buy a disc and put it in the drive and go play a game.
"We don't want to take that choice away either, because as you said, there are just certain scenarios where the best example isn't going to be streaming or downloading all the games to the platform. It is really about choice for the customers because everyone has their own unique situation, and it shouldn't be about what we need or what we want as a company, but really it should be about what our customers need."
This interview comes after Spencer's conversation with Microsoft CEO Satyna Nadella earlier this week. At the time, Nadella commented on how Cloud Gaming, Xbox Game Pass, and empowering creators are the three key areas for the company, while also emphasising that Microsoft is "all-in" on gaming.
The idea of Cloud Gaming is still foreign to a lot of gamers out there. Many, as evidenced in the interview, lack the resources to really take full advantage of its benefits. Sometimes physical games are the best solution, and while Xbox has some hurdles to climb with its DRM, it's great to see they're still a focus going forward.
How do you feel about Spencer's comments on physical games? Let us know in the comments below.
[source youtube.com]
Comments 13
Phil is just a credit to humanity. So grateful he saved Xbox.
Total agree, but it’s not a revolutionary statement.
Just a common sense one.
DRM only hurts the consumer. If someone is determined to play a game without paying for it they will find away around the DRM.
Lets be honest the disc now days is generally a licence as games nowdays are patched repatched and patched again
While i appreciate the sentiment, it becomes more and more impossible because of how incomplete games tend to be nowadays. Day 1 patches, additional bugfix patch, expansion, DLC, new features, etc. We're no longer living in PS2/Gamecube/OG Xbox days where you can just pop the disc and play the game. In the end, you still need internet and imo physical disc becomes less and less useful.
If he truly means it, why is there online only DRM present for Series X|S?
"Phil Spencer says" number 3746.....cue swooning and worship. Forget Jesus, this guy is bigger than The Beatles 😂
@StonyKL bound to be an "In Phil we trust" comment coming up soon.
Thank you Phil.
@The_New_Butler I mean Microsoft did try to pretty much kill off physical games back when the Xbox one launched & that was only 8 years ago so it's not like people's concerns aren't justified
@The_New_Butler well being able to resell a game is a big part of buying physical but Microsoft basically said nope if we aren't making profit we don't like it luckily it got backlash if it hadn't Nintendo & playstation would've followed suit
Choice is the 'best' option to offer as far as I am concerned. I also think that is important with the Controller's power too - the option for AA's, Rechargeable AA's or rechargeable replaceable power packs.
MS were a very different company back in 2012/3 - certainly with their 'gaming' division. A LOT of Publishers were 'very concerned' about the used market - hence you had online Passes that came with 'bought' games but then if you bought used, you had to buy the online pass to play.
The industry has changed a LOT since then too - with Digital purchases constantly growing as they 'prefer' the benefits. Game Pass too also combats the used Market so whether you like it or not, these games have DRM - as do the Games with Gold XB1 games and of course PS+ too. You 'need' to be online to check you have a Current active subscription to play those games.
The way we consume Games today has changed and the 'used' market isn't anywhere near as 'big' as it was and less a threat. By making Digital more appealing, promoting its benefits, offering competitive digital Subscription packages etc has ultimately shifted perception. Both Sony and MS have 'digital only' consoles which remove 'choice' and lock you into their store - you can't use used games on those....
It's all about "choice"
as it should be, we should be allowed to consumer our media how we want to
now if you can finally get round to releasing the FF 7, 8, 9 ,10 and 12 games on XB1 physically in the UK that would be great (or letting Square do it whatever)
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