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Xbox One DRM: Microsoft's Penello doesn't see it returning

Xbox One's DRM issue seems to be a thing of the past, and Microsoft's Albert Penello has taken to the NeoGAF forums to discuss the console in detail. When quizzed about a potential return of always-online DRM, he said he couldn't see it happening.

In the thread, Penello was asked if Xbox One DRM policies could be re-instated, to which he replied, "I don't see that ever happening with content you're buying today either on disc and digitally. All of that DRM stuff was in place because there was no physical security on the disc itself, so all the licensing was done digitally.

"When you build that type of model, then you need to make sure people can't install games on a bunch of machines, then unplug them. That would have made us an awesome Pirating machine, and that can't happen for obvious reasons. When we went back to disc security, those DRM policies weren't necessary. So no reason to turn it on later."

He added, "If there's ambiguity, it's because it's possible that, in the future, IF WE ADDED BACK some of those family sharing ideas we had in the beginning, we'd have [to] reintroduce similar types of policies. So IF you wanted to have a game and have that family sharing, always-in-the-cloud, and digital loaning - then we might add those requirements back.

"You can imagine a world where we have both types of models at the same time. Again, big IF, but the bottom line is I wouldn't worry about us making those policies 'retroactive' which seems to be the issue I hear people worry about."

What's your take on the above? Let us know below.

Via OXM.

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Dave Cook avatar

Dave Cook

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Dave worked on VG247 for an extended period manging much of the site's news output. As well as his experience in games media, he writes for comics, and now specializes in books about gaming history.
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