The Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S have always had an always-online Digital Rights Management policy meaning that for the game to be recognised as something that you own and can play, it had to download a specific configuration file from Microsoft’s servers or it would give players a “this game isn’t ready yet” message. This was true, even in the case of games that were on discs as most of them have the basic files of a game on the disc, but require the rest to be downloaded, which requires an internet connection. Until now. Xbox has now updated the DRM to allow downloaded games to work offline.
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September Updates
September has been a busy month for Microsoft and Xbox, one full of updates. First, Microsoft announced a “multi-month series of experiments” which was the initiation of their Xbox’s home user interface overhaul which gives Xbox players a long overdue revamp for the console’s dashboard, dubbed “The new Xbox Home experience.”
The second of the updates that have been rolled out is the integration of Discord for the Xbox app. The Xbox community has always had an integrated medium for communication, but with the ridiculous rise in popularity of Discord and how many gamers use that to stay in touch with their friends and servers, it has finally been integrated into the Xbox app.
The third update is that Xbox has integrated HowLongToBeat.com into their library descriptions so that players will have an idea of how long it takes to beat their games before they even download the game. Although this doesn’t add a ton, it’s a nice little feature.
While all this was going on, another update happened in the background that was never announced.
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DRM Removal
It appears that while players weren’t looking that the Digital Rights Management (DRM) has been updated to allow Xbox owners to play some of their games entirely offline once they have been downloaded. There was no official announcement by Microsoft in this regard, and this was reported by YouTuber Hikikomori Media via the Idle Sloth Twitter account.
Several games were tested on their Xbox Series X before the report was given such as Resident Evil Village, Nier Replicant, Devil May Cry HD Collection and Judgement, including many others. All of the mentioned games could run entirely offline without the Xbox DRM policy getting in the way. He found that games that were downloaded via the Game Pass could not be run offline (likely due to the subscription service needing to verify that a player should still have access to the game), and as mentioned some discs still needed all the files to be downloaded.
Games that feature backwards compatibility (such as games that were originally released on the Xbox 360 or the Xbox One but are being played on an Xbox Series X|S) were not able to be played offline, and it makes sense. Backwards-compatible games like Deadly Premonition and Panzer Dragoon don’t natively run on the latest generation console and require an internet connection to download a special emulated version of the game. It isn’t possible to access the emulated game files without an internet connection.
Unfortunately, it will ever be a purely offline experience, as most games require an internet connection to initially download the game, and it appears that players need to complete at least one internet-enabled initial check-in to be able to play their games offline, but for players who have a metered connection, they could disconnect as soon as these are done and enjoy their games offline.
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