Fans create petition to bring back Xbox One policies

Xbox fans have created a petition on Change.org to bring back the features and policies that Microsoft removed in the face of mass fan outrage.

The Xbox One has not been having a good time of it. Not long after the console was launched, Microsoft revealed heavy restrictions around sharing games — that is, games could only be transferred once between friends, a one-way, one-time-only gift, and lending games was off the table at launch. Users would also be required to connect to the internet at least once every 24 hours.

Amid massive fan backlash, Microsoft last month announced that it would be reversing these policies. Gamers would be able to trade, lend, resell and rent games; and the internet check-in and regional restrictions would be removed.

In return, however, some new features would be lost; notably, the ability to access your digital games library from any Xbox One using your Live log-in details, and the ability to share your digital library with 10 friends.

Now, a new petition has surfaced on Change.org to put the Xbox One back to the way it was. Called "Microsoft: Give us back the Xbox One we were promised at E3", the petition asserts that gamers did not understand what they were giving up when they rallied for the features to be removed.

This was to be the future of entertainment. 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.

In a way, they're right: Microsoft's PR surrounding the new console was terrible, not placing enough emphasis on the advantages the new policies could deliver until after it had decided to reverse them. And it certainly wasn't helped by Sony, which deliberately played upon gamer outrage over the new Xbox One when announcing details for the PlayStation 4.

That said, Sony has still been able to implement digital library access from any PlayStation 4 console without Microsoft's sharing restrictions, which begs the question why the restrictions are required.

We're not sure where Microsoft will go from here. Changing policy once indicates a willingness to listen to consumers; changing it back again could be seen as weakness. Whichever way the company decides to go, however, one thing is certain: someone is going to complain.

CNET Australia has contacted Microsoft for comment, but had not received a response by the time of writing.