Microsoft boss Phil Spencer has stated in an interview with GameSpot that the company intends to focus heavily on a new digital marketplace for the Xbox One which will be centered around the ideas of loaning and gifting downloaded games and content.
Spencer asserts that this initiative is something that the company will be fully focused on in the near future as he believes that a ‘digital future’ seems the best option in moving forward with the Xbox One –
“We are now fully heads down on thinking about and building out the future of our digital marketplace to enable what people would expect, and hopefully some things that will delight them beyond their expectations,” said Spencer. ”We believe in a digital future on our box. On the digital space, and the things that we’ve talked about, what that opens up…like we understand what games you own and who you are and how you move around and who you might want to loan rights to your games or gift your games to. We totally believe in that future. And any other marketplace you play in, these kind of mechanisms are out there.”
As Spencer notes, other companies have already employed these concepts successfully in the past; with the popular Steam interface from Valve already operating a ‘Family Sharing Program’ and an option to buy games and send the Steam code as a gift to a friend or family member. Whilst this means that the concept is not necessarily original, it does mean that gamers can receive easier access to titles they may be unsure about on the Xbox One without having to fork out for a retail copy.
Spencer concluded this statement with a look back at the E3 keynote last year; an event which he recently talked about in relation to Microsoft’s honesty when discussing console capabilities –
“I know when I say this I always get beat up, but I think some of what we were trying to say last summer was right.”
Do you believe this will be a worthwhile feature for Microsoft to invest time and resources into? Maybe you believe effort would be better spent elsewhere? Leave a comment below with your thoughts!
