The Xbox One may be changing the way people share games in the future, as it has been reported by Wired that secondhand titles may require a fee before being played.
On the Xbox One, games are installed from the game disc to the hard drive. Once completed, the disc is no longer needed, as the game can be loaded up and ran from the hard drive it has been installed to. This could lead to people installing the game and returning it/passing the disc off to a friend, but the next person that gets an already used game will be met with the option to pay a (hopefully small) fee before installing the game on their own system.
According to Wired: “Microsoft did say that if a disc was used with a second account, that owner would be given the option to pay a fee and install the game from the disc, which would then mean that the new account would also own the game and could play it without the disc.”
No further details regarding Microsoft’s plans for used games, or the secondhand fee, were discussed. When asked by Wired what would happen if a person wanted to play a game from the disc without installing or being charged, Microsoft, apparently, failed to provide an answer.
I wonder what people who rent games from Gamefly have to say about this. Come to think of it, what’s the solution when a person goes over to a friend’s house and both decide to play a multiplayer/co-op game that only one owns? Does someone have to pay the fee?
{Source: Wired}