Xbox Play Anywhere is for digital only

  • Thread starter urmie
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urmie

urmie

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For those wondering if this applies to physical copies (like I did):

Just an FYI:

http://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/xbox-play-anywhere


Are Xbox Play Anywhere games digital only or also disc games?


Xbox Play Anywhere only applies to digital games. Xbox Play Anywhere games can be purchased in the Xbox Store, the Windows Store, or via a digital code at participating retailers.


How does Xbox Play Anywhere work?

When you buy an Xbox Play Anywhere digital game through the Xbox Store or the Windows Store, it’s yours to play on both Xbox One and Windows 10 PC at no additional cost. To take advantage of Xbox Play Anywhere, you will need to have installed the Windows 10 Anniversary Edition update on your PC, as well as the latest update on your Xbox One console. Then, simply log into your Xbox Live/Microsoft account and your Xbox Play Anywhere games will be available to download.
 
urmie
as well as the latest update on your Xbox One console.
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Stuff like that makes me feel uneasy.

Does that mean I need to own an Xbox for the game to work Windows 10? Or does it just mean that I get to play it on Windows regardless, but running it on an Xbox requires the update?
 
Luminis
Stuff like that makes me feel uneasy.

Does that mean I need to own an Xbox for the game to work Windows 10? Or does it just mean that I get to play it on Windows regardless, but running it on an Xbox requires the update?
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I don't think you have to worry about that. There's no way they will make it where you have to own an XB1 to be able to play it on PC. I mean Microsoft has done some silly things(forcing Kinect etc), but that would be a PR nightmare and pretty much a disaster if they did that.
 
Luminis
Stuff like that makes me feel uneasy.

Does that mean I need to own an Xbox for the game to work Windows 10? Or does it just mean that I get to play it on Windows regardless, but running it on an Xbox requires the update?
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No, it means that to use Play Anywhere (the stuff where you can actually use the same profile and savegame) on your Xbox, it must have the latest firmware update, just as you need the latest version of Windows 10 in order to use Play Anywhere on the PC. It doesn't have anything to do with the licensing of the game per se. In case of digitally delivered content, it's one license for W10 and Xbox both.

And in case of physical delivery, your license certificate is tied (read: inside) your disk. As you may have already noticed, the weight of the content installed on your Xbox is the same if you buy the game physically or digitally, and the disk essentially acts only as a content delivery vehicle and license key. So, of course Play Anywhere is for digital only. Duh.
 
As I understand it, if you buy digital, you get both.

If you buy it on disc, you only get the xbox one version.

Microsoft do not have a Windows SKU.
 
I think it's a great idea. I'll be buying it on Windows, but it certainly lowers the bar to me buying an Xbox if I've already got a couple of games on it.
 
johanhummer9
hows is the pc version gonna be like , is it speciafilly produced for the pc , or is it some bad port from the x1?
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Have you tried the last Forza port from the X1? It was pretty well received.
 
johanhummer9
Yeah i heard you can play it for free on windows 10 , when i buy my new pc , ill defo try it out ( currertly on W8.1)
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You don't have to wait until you get a new PC, you still have a month to upgrade to W10 for free. all your files will still be there. I just rebuilt my old PC for my nephew and upgraded it from W7 to W10.
 
johanhummer9
Yeah i heard you can play it for free on windows 10 , when i buy my new pc , ill defo try it out ( currertly on W8.1)
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Yeah, now's the time to claim that free upgrade. As Shawn said, you only have a month.
 
johanhummer9
Yeah i heard you can play it for free on windows 10 , when i buy my new pc , ill defo try it out ( currertly on W8.1)
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ShawnPhillips
You don't have to wait until you get a new PC, you still have a month to upgrade to W10 for free. all your files will still be there. I just rebuilt my old PC for my nephew and upgraded it from W7 to W10.
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Presuming of course his old PC has a graphics card capable of playing the demo.
 
Why don't they offer it separately on disc as well as digitally? I'm tired of all these "cloud solutions" that make you jump through hoops to do things. Movies are getting to be the same way.

bremics
But Windows 10 is the devil?!
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It really isn't. Shut off the spying stuff and it's no worse than Windows 7 was.
 
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They do offer it on a disc for Xbox One. What they don't do is offer it on disc and give you a free version on Windows like they do with the digital version. This makes sense to me because with a disc version there's nothing to sync with. So you can avoid jumping through digital hoops if you wish but then you'll miss out on the advantages of crossplay.
 
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Wait, what would lead you to believe Play Anywhere worked with physical titles?

If you could just buy the game physically and get it digitally free then what would stop you from just selling the physical game?

You might ask why would a used game hurt them after they already made their money on you.. well good question. The reality is that if the market was flooded with used copies at a slightly lower price then the sales of new games, which they make money on, would dip dramatically.

Quantum Break was not an Xbox Play Anywhere title and apparently the sales on the game have been awful which is probably partly because they gave physical preorders a free digital copy.
 
ClydeYellow
And in case of physical delivery, your license certificate is tied (read: inside) your disk. As you may have already noticed, the weight of the content installed on your Xbox is the same if you buy the game physically or digitally, and the disk essentially acts only as a content delivery vehicle and license key. So, of course Play Anywhere is for digital only. Duh.
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Except they could totally allow people who have Blu-ray drives in their PC to use Xbox One discs as license verification on PC just like on Xbox, but they'd rather forc... *ahem* encourage people into going digital. Duh. :lol:
 
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Lain
Except they could totally allow people who have Blu-ray drives in their PC to use Xbox One discs as license verification on PC just like on Xbox, but they'd rather forc... *ahem* encourage people into going digital. Duh. :lol:
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If they only have the Xbox One disc, where would they get the PC version of the game from without being "forced" to download it in which case what's the difference between that and going digital?
 
The difference is that you have a physical copy of the game, which can be sold or traded if you so desire.
 
Lain
The difference is that you have a physical copy of the game, which can be sold or traded if you so desire.
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A physical copy of the Xbox game but not the PC game, unless MS were going to make a free PC download available to second hand users. I don't think they'd go for that.
 
Or maybe the download would just be available to everyone, but unless you've got a digital or physical license (aka a disc) for the full game, it's restricted and acts as a demo.

But of course Microsoft won't go for something so pro-consumer. Like I said, they want people to go digital. And a big part of the reason why is to decimate the used game market.
 
I strongly dislike quoting myself, but...

ClydeYellow
<...>and the disk essentially acts only as a content delivery vehicle and license key.
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In other words, if you're buying physical, you're getting your game data from disk, although it's still installed on your Xbox's HDD (compare that to how things worked back in the days of early digital delivery). I figure it could be possible to adopt a system like the one you propose, but it'd require Microsoft to take some steps they'd not be comfortable in taking in the short term, and not just for the reason you propose (which is the very clear intent on MS's part to push people into "going digital").
 
I don't think people would move to purely digital purchases unless there was somehing in it for them. That was certainly the case for convincing me to change (and I still buy audio CDs rather than mp3s). Similarly MS wouldn't make the PC version available as an unlockable free download unless there were some advantage for them. Unfortunately, last time I looked Bill Gates wasn't wearing a Santa Claus hat.
 
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Funny thing about buying physical... In the case of PC (Specifically Steam), it'll often try to download the entire game even if you bought a physical copy. Trying to force it to install Skyrim and Bioshock Infinite from the actual discs was like pulling teeth.

And sure, it would require effort on Microsoft's part to enable people to use Xbox One discs as license verification on PC... And they wouldn't like doing it, certainly. It would enable the secondary market and impact software sales. And okay, they're legally entitled to protect their business this way for now. But first-sale doctrine needs a serious overhaul for the digital age, because these companies are starting to have a little too much control over our purchases. The fact that us consumers aren't even considered to "own" our digital purchases but merely have a license to use them is problematic, and will definitely get much worse if left unchecked once they abandon physical media entirely.

UKMikey
I don't think people would move to purely digital purchases unless there was somehing in it for them. That was ccertainly the case for convincing me to change (and I still buy audio CDs rather than mp3s). Similarly MS wouldn't make the PC version available as an unlockable free download unless there were some advantage for them. Unfortunately, last time I looked Bill Gates wasn't wearing a Santa Claus hat.
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Right, how about consumer goodwill? Does that not count for anything these days? Microsoft is explicitly trying to unify the Xbox and PC ecosystem, so they're not gifting you a second copy of the game. They're letting you play the one game you bought, just on two different platforms.

...But only if you go digital.
 
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It looks like they want to incentivise people to switch to digital. I don't think they'd abandon that scheme for consumer goodwill reasons unless enough people kicked up a stink about it. If the people who insist on physical copies are a minority I don't think they'll bother.
 
I honestly didn't care for the whole digital copy and going digital idea. Now almost all my game purchases are digital. I was the same way, about getting money for trade Ins with a physical copy etc, but GameStop has went to 🤬 the last couple years, with the prices they were giving me, and the selection/prices of their used games. I've only been to gamestop twice in the last year.

I find myself not buying mediocre games anymore, since I don't trade them in. Of course I understand not everyone has good internet access, and that's an issue with digital games. My speed is only 4mbps, so it takes awhile to get a game, but it still beats GameStop. I also like how easy it is to uninstall a game you've beaten, and can reinstall at a later date if DLC drops, or you feel like playing through again. It's a small thing, but not having to switch discs is nice as well. :lol:

I was one of the biggest opponents of digital games, now I love it, but I can understand someone's frustration if they have poor internet service.
 
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