Well you can forget everything that came before. Microsoft has pulled an Xbox 180, if you will, and reversed its controversial Xbox One DRM policies. In a post titled “Your Feedback Matters,” Xbox President of Interactive Entertainment Business Don Mattrick announced that “an Internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games” and gamers can “trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today.” After initial setup, you can play any disc-based game without ever connecting online again; this means the system will not periodically check-in to see if you’re connected and you can play offline games with no disruption. Additionally there will be no limitations to picking up used games at retailers and sharing games with friends. In a nutshell, everything will work just as it does today.

“These changes will impact some of the scenarios we previously announced for Xbox One,” Microsoft admits. For example, in the case of disc-based games, the disc must be in the tray in order to play. Previously in an always-connected state, games would have been playable from the HDD and the cloud without having to load the disc in the tray after an initial installation.

Right off the bat this seems like a big win for gamers. But, in the long run, is it really? With its new DRM policies for Xbox One Microsoft was attempting to push the video game industry in the future by introducing new features that take advantage of the cloud and an always connected state. Sure, the ability to game offline is nice and playing used games and sharing titles with friends without fees and restrictions feels right because we’re so used to it; but I can’t help but think: are we just delaying the inevitable here? Gizmodo plays devil’s advocate to the general public’s response in a post called “The Xbox Just Got Way Worse, and It’s Our Fault.”

[Via Xbox]