The problem with console announcements of this magnitude is that some of the details tend to get a bit hazy. There are dozens of outlets reporting new information coming from a slew of sources, and while the overall message concerning the Xbox One seems to be getting across, the topic of used games is still very confused. We heard earlier that there will be some sort of fee for accessing used games, but someone working for the Xbox team is now saying that this rumor is entirely false.
People want to be able to borrow and lend games whenever they’d like, but the idea of a one disc being tied to a single Xbox Live profile seemed to make that prospect impossible. Similar to PC DRM, this style of ownership would mean that used games would be unplayable to certain consumers without paying some sort of fee to unlock their use. However, the Xbox Support Twitter team has come to the rescue to debunk this piece of “news.”
“No fee, correct, and they just got that information wrong,” the account confirmed after being asked about the fee. “As soon as we saw, we contacted them to correct it.”
The “them” in this instance refers to major websites who have been reporting on this story.The following Tweet was discovered right after from a different Xbox Support Twitter account, continuing to contradict what Microsoft's Phil Harrison has claimed.
@andylivingston I understand your concerns, but can confirm that any information for fees for used games is incorrect ^JD
— Xbox Support (@XboxSupport6) May 21, 2013
Somehow, this “incorrect” information started at one outlet and has spread all over the place since that time. We’ll just have to wait and get some more information before making any sort of final call on the matter.