Xbox One fans call on Microsoft to reverse its U-turn

A group of Xbox One fans have called on Microsoft to do a U-turn on its U-turn.

As spotted by OXM, Xbox fan David Fontenot has started a petition on Change.org, calling on Microsoft to restore its digital licensing features.

Apparently gamers just didn’t understand what they were being offered, and Sony had pounced on this uncertainty.

"This was to be the future of entertainment," David wrote in his statement.

"A new wave of gaming where you could buy games digitally, then trade, share or sell those digital licenses. Essentially, it was Steam for Xbox. But consumers were uninformed, and railed against it, and it was taken away because Sony took advantage of consumers uncertainty.

"We want this back. It can’t be all or nothing, there must be a compromise."

So far the survey hasn’t had that much support.

But there is a serious point behind the petition. The original Xbox One business model did allow for a number of benefits and could have made a big impact on how digital content is bought and sold. It let consumers share download games with friends and family, and could potentially let them sell their download games, too. Something that is not possible on most digital networks today.

However, the system was open to abuse – and with piracy rife on PC – Microsoft placed a number of restrictions on Xbox One games to ensure the console was protected. Gamers didn’t like those restrictions, which included regular 24-hour online check-ins and restrictions on trading and sharing physical games.

Should Microsoft U-turn its U-turn?