10 "Family" Share Feature

[Mystictrust]

I think the way they going to support this is that every family member will need a xbox live subscription. Microsoft then gives a cut of that to pubs/devs in return for them allowing people to share the game. Microsoft also said that they would have they own system for used games where publishers and devs get a cut from that as well.

For the shared games, that is very much a possibility. I can see this becoming confusing very quickly though, because Microsoft has already announced that an entire family can have multiple profiles with their own unique gamertags, and can all play online, under one Gold subscription. On top of that, those gamertags can be used on other systems AFAIK (amazing for families, so little Jr. can go to his friend's house and play, and it would have been great for my ex-girlfriend and I since we each had separate Gold subscriptions for both of our gamertags yet we lived together).

If this IS the same system we are talking about, well... perhaps you can only play simultaneously if both are Gold, but anyone from your family can play your shared games. *sigh* We really, really need a page for this. I think I need to find as much info as I can on both of these topics, and read very thoroughly through everything.

A FAQ here on WPCentral, at least here in the forums, would be great

 

[Storl]

I think the way they going to support this is that every family member will need a xbox live subscription. Microsoft then gives a cut of that to pubs/devs in return for them allowing people to share the game. Microsoft also said that they would have they own system for used games where publishers and devs get a cut from that as well.

You need xbox live to access the shared list, well probably.. how else would they support the infrastructure? The game will download if you don't have it installed., from their servers.
Xbox live gold is shared in households though, if it's a per console or multiple is not clear yet (probably per console)
Also MS does not take a fee for trade-ins, but publishers/devs can demand a fee for trade-in or even block it, so there is no "cut" for Microsoft in used games sales.

 

[PhoenixSoul]

Yeah ... I hope we do get some clarification on this soon.

Posted by Spasm on NeoGaf



lol

UPDATE: some more comments were added

https://twitter.com/nowak911/status/345297685743534080

Nowak: Just for further clarification, that's 6 consoles, 6 different games played, all simultaneously?

Xbox Support 2: Correct. As long as they are part of the 10 family members.

JBPJohnny: What if a game is MP like CoD? 2 family members can play online MP at the same time?

Xbox Support 2: We can't speculate on the exact way that will work at the moment, unfortunately.

 

[Keith Wallace]

See, it's not answering my main question there. I care more about whether or not simultaneous play is possible. Can multiple people in the family play a game together? Is there a restriction to 2 at a time? That's all I care about. If I can buy a game and play it anytime with one friend, cool. If I can play it with TEN friends at once, with only one purchase necessary, PHENOMENAL.

 

[Mystictrust]

See, it's not answering my main question there. I care more about whether or not simultaneous play is possible. Can multiple people in the family play a game together? Is there a restriction to 2 at a time? That's all I care about. If I can buy a game and play it anytime with one friend, cool. If I can play it with TEN friends at once, with only one purchase necessary, PHENOMENAL.

I think that is more answered by this response: "The only limitation to the number of players that can access a game at the same time is how the game is designed."

You also have the other response to the person who wanted more clarification: "You can play with other family members at the same time, yes"

I take it as, Microsoft is completely giving the option to developers. I would say, assume just two at a time and hope for more. I mean, I highly doubt something like Titanfall or Battlefield 4 would be able to be played online by ten people simultaneously on one game license.

Either way, that's about to lead into more questions for answers that need clarifying. Basically, Xbox Support is saying that the number of simultaneous players on one game is set by the developer. Well, likely the publisher, since they seem to set the rules and sell the game, and simply give the developers all the cash to make the game they want (with timeframe restrictions and such, and provided the developer has "sold" the publisher on their idea for a game)

 

[Keith Wallace]

I think that is more answered by this response: "The only limitation to the number of players that can access a game at the same time is how the game is designed."

You also have the other response to the person who wanted more clarification: "You can play with other family members at the same time, yes"

I take it as, Microsoft is completely giving the option to developers. I would say, assume just two at a time and hope for more. I mean, I highly doubt something like Titanfall or Battlefield 4 would be able to be played online by ten people simultaneously on one game license.

Either way, that's about to lead into more questions for answers that need clarifying. Basically, Xbox Support is saying that the number of simultaneous players on one game is set by the developer. Well, likely the publisher, since they seem to set the rules and sell the game, and simply give the developers all the cash to make the game they want (with timeframe restrictions and such, and provided the developer has "sold" the publisher on their idea for a game)

The question was just posed as "Me+One More," so not sure how helpful the second quote is. It doesn't provide the context of being with one license, or a limit on number of simultaneous users. I'm wondering if it's a publisher restriction choice, a game-by-game thing decided by the publisher, or if Microsoft has a global policy (online multiplayer = X players, no online multiplayer = 1 player at a time, priority to the original licensee).

Obviously, if the ball is in the court of the publishers, that's not really a good thing. That would lend itself to the idea that Microsoft is putting the happiness of its users in the hands of the greedy folks at EA and Activision. What are the odds they'll let simultaneous play on Battlefield or Call of Duty AT ALL? I'm concerned Microsoft claims that publishers decide, so they can say "not our fault," if/when publishers refuse simultaneous access in most cases, if not all.

 

[Mystictrust]

I see your point. I would like to know if there was a global policy. At the same time, maybe Microsoft would be able to say, "Hey look, if you really don't want multiple people on a friend's list to play your games, we can remove that entirely... but let's talk about how this could be a good thing for you..."

EA and Activision *are* greedy, and I'm not very fond of either of them (poor Blizzard). Your concern that Microsoft would claim "not our fault" if/when publishers restrict these things is completely valid... it will happen. Nearly guaranteed. On both PS4 and Xbox One. Both companies have been quick to shift their statements to put DRM in the court of the game publishers (I mean, obviously not counting Microsoft's own DRM setup, of course). I can even foresee Microsoft/Sony blaming a developer, and the developer coming back claiming they did no such thing. It's obvious that EA is trying to get a good name for itself again (Online Pass, and the massive PR about how they know they made a ton of mistakes), I don't doubt a blame game starting.

So, again, your concerns are valid. But the fact is that the capability is there... and for some reason, I just don't foresee any draconian DRM enforced by the publishers in the first few years of all this. They might just leave simultaneous play be... and maybe Microsoft will just say "sorry, can't play online in the same match simultaneously (or at all), but you can play independent of one another"

 

[TeknoBlast]

See, it's not answering my main question there. I care more about whether or not simultaneous play is possible. Can multiple people in the family play a game together? Is there a restriction to 2 at a time? That's all I care about. If I can buy a game and play it anytime with one friend, cool. If I can play it with TEN friends at once, with only one purchase necessary, PHENOMENAL.

The way I understand it is like this:

You purchase Halo. You're the primary owner of Halo.

Steve browses your library and plays Halo.

You want to play Halo, but Steve is playing. Yes, you can play Halo as well since you're the primary owner.

However, little Timmy wants to play Halo as well. No, Timmy can not play Halo because Steve is already in it.

Steve will need to stop playing Halo so Timmy can have access to it.

No matter if one of your "Family" members is playing a game, you will always be able to play the same game.

Is this clear enough for some of you?

 

[Keith Wallace]

Yeah, just something I want to watch develop before I get my hopes up on its potential. We'll see if publishers realize people speak with their wallets on rare occasions, or if people will make this one of those rare occasions. If I see Ubisoft and Epic and Microsoft allowing 10-person sharing and multi-access simultaneously, but Activision and EA won't allow it, I won't buy from them. I'd hope more people would take that stance and force their hands, but people are also too scared to miss out on Call of Duty 19 or Battlefield 11.

 

[Keith Wallace]

The way I understand it is like this:

You purchase Halo. You're the primary owner of Halo.

Steve browses your library and plays Halo.

You want to play Halo, but Steve is playing. Yes, you can play Halo as well since you're the primary owner.

However, little Timmy wants to play Halo as well. No, Timmy can not play Halo because Steve is already in it.

Steve will need to stop playing Halo so Timmy can have access to it.

No matter if one of your "Family" members is playing a game, you will always be able to play the same game.

Is this clear enough for some of you?

"The way I understand it," is the point at hand. I have no issue understanding what it MIGHT be, but I am simply asking for a concrete, Microsoft-provided policy announcement. I want to know 100% how things will work. If how you (and most) interpret it is true, that's good. However, I don't want "The way I understand it," to be needed in conversation about it.

 

[iBandar]

Majornelson twitted, he will update his blog next week about this feature.

 

[MastrMeatWad]

This feature makes any news about used games obsolete for me. So awesome.

 

[ncxcstud]

You know, the question about whether or not how many people can play the game is kind of funny.

When you share a game on the PS4 with a friend by lending it to them - YOU DON'T GET TO PLAY THAT GAME WHILE THEY ARE PLAYING IT - Why? Because they have your disc.

If I understand all that has been said correctly (and that's a big if) - you as the content owner are - always allowed to play your games - no matter what. You and one other person can play the same game. That's how I've read that twitter feed - and I could totally be wrong.

Either way the XBOX One way - in my opinion - trumps the PS4 way. Especially as someone who lives far away from my video gaming friends. I don't have to mail or receive in the mail any games from my friends. I just instantly share it with them...

That's awesome.

 

[Reflexx]

The question was just posed as "Me+One More," so not sure how helpful the second quote is. It doesn't provide the context of being with one license, or a limit on number of simultaneous users. I'm wondering if it's a publisher restriction choice, a game-by-game thing decided by the publisher, or if Microsoft has a global policy (online multiplayer = X players, no online multiplayer = 1 player at a time, priority to the original licensee).

Obviously, if the ball is in the court of the publishers, that's not really a good thing. That would lend itself to the idea that Microsoft is putting the happiness of its users in the hands of the greedy folks at EA and Activision. What are the odds they'll let simultaneous play on Battlefield or Call of Duty AT ALL? I'm concerned Microsoft claims that publishers decide, so they can say "not our fault," if/when publishers refuse simultaneous access in most cases, if not all.

I don't think it's greedy at all if they don't want 10 people playing simultaneously on one game license. It's actually pretty generous if they let more than one person play.

It's actually greedy to pay for one and expect more. Sure, it's nice. But to expect it (and deem them greedy if they don't do it) is pretty silly and greedy in itself.

 

[WalkthroughsSource]

I think it can be so great. Maybe u can play with friends on one xbox at the same time. But 10 different xboxes and 10 players ? quite strange because 10 people could buy only one copy and have fun. Developers won't earn enough money Anyway, I think this feature will work good enough to make xbox better then ps4 and shut xbox haters mouth

 

[Xithryl]

I don't think more than 2 people will be able to play off the same copy of a game, and I would even go to as far as saying no game can have more than 1 person accessing it at a time. However this still trumps any other way of sharing/lending games. This is an awesome feature, can't wait for MS to decide to market it

 

[smoledman]

I think it can be so great. Maybe u can play with friends on one xbox at the same time. But 10 different xboxes and 10 players ? quite strange because 10 people could buy only one copy and have fun. Developers won't earn enough money Anyway, I think this feature will work good enough to make xbox better then ps4 and shut xbox haters mouth

Exactly, it's not about sharing the same game at the same time. Publishers would rebel against that.

 

[MerlotC]

 

[Xithryl]

View attachment 35996

lol I love this, but PS followers will swing it saying that in the Playstation model, more people end up purchasing the game, so it makes more money, and publishers/developers like the console better because more copies of their games are being sold and blah blah blah....

 

[Reflexx]

View attachment 35996

I doubt it will be as simple as choosing any 10 friends.

Like the Family Plan that already exists, you'll likely have to have one Parent account and then several child accounts. The parent account would be the financially responsible account. So your friends better be people you really trust.