We all know by now that Microsoft had reversed its policy when it comes to the Xbox One “always online” requirement and DRM requirements. Microsoft is touting these changes as the company’s ability to react to consumer feedback. But Sony, Microsoft’s primary competitor, has something else to say about these changes, while promoting the company’s new PS4.
“While others have shifted their message and changed their story, we were consistent in maintaining a message that is fair and in tune with consumer desires,” Sony’s boss Andrew House stated during a press conference. House is targeting Microsoft’s change in policy on the Xbox One ever since the console was revealed during the E3 expo in June.
Microsoft’s Phil Spencer fired back and accused “certain people” (Sony of course) of trying to turn these policy changes into “a bad thing.” But Microsoft sees these policy changes as a good thing, touting the company’s ability to react to consumer feedback as a strength, not a weakness. “The two-way conversation we have with our customers is a strength. Certain people have tried to turn that into something that’s a bad thing about what we’re trying to do, and I just disagree,” He states.
Spencer adds that Sony will say what they are going to say, and Microsoft will continue to run their own program regardless of what Sony has to say. “We built a platform for gamers. Gamers invest their time and their money in the things they want to play, and they’re going to invest their time in telling us what they love about the platform, and they’re giving us feedback on areas where they have more critical feedback,” Spencer states.
The Xbox One is being touted as more of a service than a piece of hardware. “When you think about the platform and all of the times we’ve updated the dash on 360, Live and the live ecosystem that’s there, it’s really important that we run the program as a service,” he said, “and community and social engagement with the gamers who are playing on the system is critical,” Spencer explains.
In other words, Sony can continue talking trash about Microsoft’s change in policy in regards to the Xbox One, but Microsoft is looking at the changes as responses to critical feedback. The Xbox One is set for release this November.
