It's fair to say that Microsoft's E3 2013 conference did not go as well as the company had hoped, thanks to its focus on far more than gaming. In the months following the announcement, the Reddit community in particular took up a holy crusade against the console and that caused Microsoft to step back on some of its ambitions.
One of the features killed was 'home sharing', this feature allowed you to share your entire digital library and as long as you were not playing the game, others could tap into your library to access the title with up to ten people. This feature sounded awesome for those who prefer digital content to discs but alas, the Internet revolted against the company's DRM policies, and Microsoft was forced to kill the feature.
While the feature does not currently exists for Xbox One users, in a new interview, Phil Spencer said that he hasn't "given up on those ideas". The current issue is that there is more complexity because of the discs but it's good to know that the company is still considering the feature as it would likely be welcomed by those who prefer digital downloads to physical media.
On the digital download front, Spencer also noted that they are looking into pre-loading capabilities too. The idea is that on the day of a release of a popular title, your console could download the game ahead of release, then at a specified time, it would be unlocked and you could play the game. As it is right now, on the day of a release, there is a huge rush to download the title and it puts a strain on the distribution server which causes slower download speeds for gamers.
Presently, there is no timetable for release as the features may never return. Knowing Microsoft, though, they will likely find a way to return these features, at least to some degree, because right now, for those that buy digital content, there is no way to share your purchases or re-sell them.
Source: Gamer Tag Radio | Image via Microsoft
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