Eidos co-founder says next Xbox won’t play used games

In other news, Gamefly just soiled itself

Eidos co-founder Ian Livingston doesn’t see a digital-only system this generation, but he suggests the next Xbox will require an always-on internet connection and will feature marked discs that prevent sharing games across systems.

“Broadband speed globally isn’t at a level that justifies digital-only.” Livingstone told MCV India. “So they’ve gone halfway […] With the next Xbox, you supposedly have to have an internet connection, and the discs are watermarked, whereby once played on one console it won’t play on another. So I think the generation after that will be digital-only.”

We already occupy this reality with Steam, but it’s still unsettling to see it come to consoles. Now we can all complain about DRM in unison. Livingston is only offering speculation, not facts, so let’s hope Microsoft doesn’t adopt such an anti-used games position, especially after Sony said they would not be pursuing such tech in the PS4, even though patents suggest otherwise.

Ian Livingstone talks next-gen [MCV India]