It will be a decade next year, but many certainly cannot forget what happened when the Xbox One was revealed. It was even an entire segment during the Xbox ‘Power On’ documentary: the always-online DRM for the new console at the time. For the majority of users on Xbox 360, this was not a viable option when coming to gaming especially if internet is not the most accessible at times.
This continued onward into the Xbox Series X|S generation as well. In a report done by Modern Vintage Gamer & SomeOrdinaryGamers, both YouTubers concluded the overarching DRM is a severe handicap to the backwards compatibility program that the Xbox firm has pioneered for most of the industry. And in long-term, said legacy games might soon be inaccessible.
However, in a new discovery from Hikikomori Media on YouTube, the DRM has been readjusted to now play offline. Well, that is said for majority of Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S titles now. You can watch the video below:
Xbox Engineering Lead Eden Marie on Twitter even corroborated the new report to be accurate with the recent update that was sent out. “Yes, this is true since the 2206 update. We examined data since Series X|S launch & determined the online compatibility check isn’t needed in the vast majority of cases for Xbox One discs. Some games may still need to be updated online after install to ensure the best experience.”
But, there is still a caveat; backwards compatible titles does not apply to this still. Users will still require the DRM always-online implementation to play Xbox 360 or original Xbox titles – even if you have the physical disc. That is not to say it won’t be implemented in the future, but it is not right now. Microsoft already managed it for two generations, so there is more likelihood now the firm could finish with the rest.
As for Xbox 360 titles moving forward, Microsoft has confirmed it will no longer be providing new titles for its Games with Gold service starting October 2022. This follows last fall announcing the end of extending the library for legacy games. You can read the original report by heading here.
Are you surprised by the new changes coming to Xbox silently?
