Microsoft announced yesterday that the company would backtrack on its DRM policies to allow the re-selling of used games and that they would remove the region lock associated with physical discs. While this was a great move, it came at the cost of digital sharing, which means that games you download can no longer be shared with those on your friends list.
To no surprise, GameStop has come out in approval of this move and is quite pleased with Microsoft"s decision to allow to trading and liberal use of used games. The company stated:
GameStop welcomes today"s announcement from Microsoft about changes in functionality for its next-generation console, the Xbox One. This is great news for gamers and we applaud Microsoft for understanding consumers and the importance of the pre-owned market
With the used-game market now back in the hands of GameStop, who makes a large portion of their revenue from the re-selling of used games, consumers will now have cheaper options to physical discs, if they choose to take that route instead of digital downloads. And like with the Xbox 360, if you do plan on using a disc to play your games, you will be required to leave it in the tray.
The jury is still out on who really won the battle of used games. While physical discs are still prevalent today, this used game feature comes at the sacrifice of sharing digital downloads that will surely be the future of game distribution.
Source: Joystiq