ps4 PlayStation 4 DRM policies get a bit more complex

[BajiRav]

http://www.engadget....t=Google+Reader

PlayStation 4 DRM policies get a bit more complex: third-party publishers can dictate terms

Not so fast, vaquero. While Sony was cheered in heroic fashion for proclaiming that used games would be free and clear to operate on the PlayStation 4, it appears that the reality is actually a bit more complicated. Sony America CEO Jack Tretton has made clear today that while first-party titles will fit in with yesterday's "hands-off" approach, third-party publishers will be allowed to throw some curveballs.

"There's gonna be free-to-play, there's gonna be every potential business model on there, and again, that's up to their relationship with the consumer, what do they think is going to put them in the best fit. We're not going to dictate that, we're gonna give them a platform to publish on. The DRM decision is going to have to be answered by the third parties, it's not something we're going to control, or dictate, or mandate, or implement."

That's the new word out of Tretton's mouth, which seems to indicate that players like Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Treyarch and pretty much any PS4 game maker outside of Sony's own umbrella can cobble together any combination of policies they want. You could say that it's not too different from how the PS3 operates today, but there's still plenty of room for clarifications across the industry. Hit up the source link for the full spiel.

[freak180]

How is this any different compare to how things are done now?

[dead.cell]

It's also not different from how PC gaming works. As I've been saying for the past 24 hours, if the game developers/publishers want to be a bunch of dick bags, don't buy their games.

Furthermore, I wouldn't doubt F2P games requiring some form of DRM, but it's mostly because games like Warframe for instance are MMOs which is where needing to be online is kind of an obvious thing. :ermm: It's kind of like saying World of Warcraft has DRM though.

[Atomic Wanderer Chicken]

I think this being taken out of context. I think its the same drm policies that have been in place like before. Sony can't deceive millions and lie about not having drm.

[0nyX]

Moving on

[George P Global Moderator]

How is this any different compare to how things are done now?

One thing i've noticed at this E3 is that developers are looking to push more games that have online as more of a part of it, look at them coming out with co-op/team racing games and all the talk about larger worlds backed by the cloud. It's slowlly going to be the case that while we still get SP games, thank god, even a number of those will have their worlds be persistent and online. Look at Destiny, Titanfall, and so on. The 3rd party devs are going to slowly, but surely, push us to more games that lock us into some online account requirement.

Just to be fair, the same thing is what MS said with the Xbox One and it's own stance on used games, they won't block used game sales on their own first party titles but that 3rd party devs have the option to if they want. That stance seemed to not sit well with people, this same stance from Sony should be the same.

[kaotic]

I think this being taken out of context. I think its the same drm policies that have been in place like before. Sony can't deceive millions and lie about not having drm.

It's exactly like the xbox minus 24 hour check. Everything is left to the publisher.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/6/11/4419476/playstation-4-third-party-publishers-can-dictate-their-own-drm-terms

[Arceles]

Sony from the beginning said that they will not implement DRM, that was up to the publishers, it's not like xbox 360 were the DRM is as it's kinnect camera "always on"

[TheLegendOfMart]

http://www.engadget....t=Google+Reader

All this means is online passes and the like, as he said in the conference, it's going to be the same as the PS3.

[Growled Member]

How is this any different compare to how things are done now?

Seems to me like that some game developers are trying to be a bit more greedy. But then again, we see that going on now too.

[George P Global Moderator]

Sony from the beginning said that they will not implement DRM, that was up to the publishers, it's not like xbox 360 were the DRM is as it's kinnect camera "always on"

You know, people need to drop the kinect drm spying bs, sorry but you can set what it can do, when it can work and when it can't work and you can even turn it off i.e. no "Xbox On" command at all. I can get it if you don't want to use it at all and hate to have to pay for it but lets not toss out overblown disinformation while we're at it.

[LaP]

Just to be fair, the same thing is what MS said with the Xbox One and it's own stance on used games, they won't block used game sales on their own first party titles but that 3rd party devs have the option to if they want. That stance seemed to not sit well with people, this same stance from Sony should be the same.

Yeah but from what i understand they only have the option to allow it at participating retailers. On the PS4 from what i understand they have the option to simply not support this part of the drm and allow people to sell/lend games to whoever they want.

[TheLegendOfMart]

You know, people need to drop the kinect drm spying bs, sorry but you can set what it can do, when it can work and when it can't work and you can even turn it off i.e. no "Xbox On" command at all. I can get it if you don't want to use it at all and hate to have to pay for it but lets not toss out overblown disinformation while we're at it.

Yeah who cares about a company that works with NSA to release user information that has a device that has high resolution camera and sensors that is always on.

[vcfan]

what would be the ultimate troll job of all time is if the publishers embed the Microsoft DRM scheme into all their games,and these games must go through the Microsoft system at retail to be sold,traded,rented? we know that sony most likely refused to accommodate the publishers,and is now throwing them under the bus to score some brownie points. I mean,the ass kissing to they did at yesterdays presentation was pretty disgusting.

we also know that ea abandoned the online pass,for a reason. there is some type of system brewing,and Microsoft did not go out of their way to implement this license management without getting something out of it. the more I think about it, the less ridiculous it sounds. it might be that the publishers built a system themselves,and Microsoft is merely implementing it on their entertainment box to remove a lot of the hassle of embedding such system into each game.

[George P Global Moderator]

Yeah but from what i understand they only have the option to allow it at participating retailers. On the PS4 from what i understand they have the option to simply not support this part of the drm and allow people to sell/lend games to whoever they want.

Yeah, the used game part needs more details, as for lending, I think "lending" on the Xbox One will be the new "10 family members" part, where you pick who on your friends list has access to your library and you don't need to lend out a disc at all. It's 10 max, so you can add someone, remove them later and so on. As for the selling to someone on your own, that's a bit of a pain but it seems the PS4 is still tied to a disc while the Xbox One isn't since we know you don't need a disc in the drive after you install the game. If MS wanted to do right by people they should let you be able to deauthorize your installed game so that you can then give it away (if it's disc based) to someone as before. The 30 day friends list requirement could be for digital copies of games only, that'd make a bit more sense in that case.

[kaotic]

Yeah who cares about a company that works with NSA to release user information that has a device that has high resolution camera and sensors that is always on.

Lol! This guy...

[TheLegendOfMart]

Go Google PRISM and Microsoft

[spudtrooper]

If MS can embrace the end of physical media by protecting the content AND the users, then i'm all for it. Protecting the content at all costs while ignoring users isn't the right way to go about it. Make the DRM a digital locker where I can sell my electronic content & transfer licenses in an open market and then MS/publishers can earn royalties on those transfers. As long as I feel "ownership" and "transfer of rights" then I don't care if its on disk or DRM. I think MS may have wanted to lean that way, but i'm sure the brick and mortar retailers crapped bricks and MS probably didn't want to upset retailers..

all though there is no reason they couldn't have allowed the B&M stores to build their own resale shops and have a digital storefront to allow people to trade/sell

[Arceles]

Also note that in the case of such games, the public has the option of actually not buy it, just as it's happening right now with the xbox 1, or when it happened with some games (ahem... ubisoft) the retaliation effect was very documented..., they are indeed, giving the public a choice about the future of gaming, be either with DRM or without, gamers pay with their wallet.

[Max Norris]

Yeah who cares about a company that works with NSA to release user information that has a device that has high resolution camera and sensors that is always on.

And how is that different from anything else with an internet connection, sensors and/or a camera? What about all those traffic cams that watch you every single day? Or how about your cellphone, who's to say some guy at the NSA isn't tapping your phone right now, not only knows where you are but is watching you right at this moment? Monitoring your surfing/search habits? Even tracking everything you buy. If you're that worried about it, it's time to move into a cabin in the woods.

[spudtrooper]

Go Google PRISM and Microsoft

You do realize Google is in on that PRISM action do you not?

[CentralDogma]

One thing i've noticed at this E3 is that developers are looking to push more games that have online as more of a part of it, look at them coming out with co-op/team racing games and all the talk about larger worlds backed by the cloud. It's slowlly going to be the case that while we still get SP games, thank god, even a number of those will have their worlds be persistent and online. Look at Destiny, Titanfall, and so on. The 3rd party devs are going to slowly, but surely, push us to more games that lock us into some online account requirement.

Just to be fair, the same thing is what MS said with the Xbox One and it's own stance on used games, they won't block used game sales on their own first party titles but that 3rd party devs have the option to if they want. That stance seemed to not sit well with people, this same stance from Sony should be the same.

I would take it a step further and say this gen will be the one to start seeing AAA games released as download only on consoles. Then it doesn?t matter what DRM system is on disk, everyone has DRM on digital distribution.

Microsoft is already confident enough to say ?Every Xbox will be connected to the internet?. Whether or not that?s justified, it's just a few (big) steps until ?We can make a profit on a big budget download only game?.

[_neutrino Veteran]

sounds perfectly ok to me. From what they said and the clarification Unlike the XBox One DRM is to be handled at the discretion of the game developer and not forced on them by Sony. Which means we are in the same boat that we are in today. If a Developer wants to require that you buy a pass, or key to play a used game then they can already do that.... cough ... cough .EA

[spudtrooper]

I would take it a step further and say this gen will be the one to start seeing AAA games released as download only on consoles. Then it doesn?t matter what DRM system is on disk, everyone has DRM on digital distribution.

Microsoft is already confident enough to say ?Every Xbox will be connected to the internet?. Whether or not that?s justified, it's just a few (big) steps until ?We can make a profit on a big budget download only game?.

This is exactly what I look forward to. Microsoft already said every game will be available for download on launch days, so why would I want "DISK DRM"?

The fact I can get up in my underwear, choose download, go get some coffee and come back and play a game is awesome. I don't want disks, I don't want to track them, I don't want them sitting around, I don't want cases of games floating around. I just want the content. I don't need a bunch of wasted packaging and clutter.

Digital distribution cuts down costs and gets the content to you quicker than ever before. Heck, they could even pre-cache games and unlock them the day they're released for the ultimate pre-order setup.

The big problem is, a lot of people think next gen is more render units an faster cpus. They're completely oblivious to the technological merits of electronic distribution and the possibilities thereof.

As I said earlier, maybe MS can make the adoption a little less painful by allowing DRM license transfers/granting directly from user to user or through a managed exchange.

[LaP]

Yeah, the used game part needs more details, as for lending, I think "lending" on the Xbox One will be the new "10 family members" part,

Yeah but even that part needs more details. In fact this is the part that could make a break the drm system Microsoft try to implement.

It's not clear who you'll be able to flag as your family members. It might very well be only the accounts that are part of that One's new family gold pack.