3rd Party Controls DRM and Region locking

[Demon_Skeith]

We may have celebrated too soon GF gamers. 

update:

It appears this only applies to online content only. Discs should be safe if this is correct.

http://www.gamefront.com/sony-third-party-drm-refers-to-playing-used-games-online-only/

In an interview with Game Trailers’ Geoff Keighley, Sony CEO Jack Tretton shed more light on how used games will work on the PlayStation 4. It seems that, while the system’s first-party games will be free to trade in or share without restriction, third-party publishers can choose to behave otherwise.
Tretton’s remarks start at about 1:08:00 in this segment:

“If the consumer pays x amount of dollars for a game and they don’t have the flexibility to get some additional value out of it, it changes the way the perceive the value of the game and it takes dollars out of their pocket to buy a new game... We just want to give the consumer flexibility.”

Asked what Sony’s response would be if publishers wanted to restrict used games sales, Tretton replied:

“We create the platform. We’ve certainly stated with our first party games, we’re not going to be doing that. But we welcome publishers and their business models to our platforms. There’s going to be free-to-play; there’s going to be every potential business model on there and again that’s up to their relationship with the consumer and what they think is going to put them in the best stead. So we’re not going to dictate that. We’re going to give them a platform to publish on."

On DRM:

"The DRM decision is going to have to be in the hands of the third parties. That’s not something that we’re going to dictate or mandate or control or implement."

source

In short, if a company like Square Enix wants restrictions on used games, it will happen to all their games.

 

[GracefulAssassin]

Honestly I don't see it happening unless Sony enforces it.

 

[snake3scape]

What is with all this sudden backlash to the used/trading market? It really seems to have come out of nowhere. Last gen there was no talk of any of this that I remember and then all of a sudden I hear Microsoft mention adding DRM and the whole market is behind them. I grew up playing my first games by trading them with my friends, and now hearing that this is not an isolated problem is really sad. 

 

[Demon_Skeith]

Doesn't sound like

What is with all this sudden backlash to the used/trading market? It really seems to have come out of nowhere. Last gen there was no talk of any of this that I remember and then all of a sudden I hear Microsoft mention adding DRM and the whole market is behind them. I grew up playing my first games by trading them with my friends, and now hearing that this is not an isolated problem is really sad. 

the used game problem has been happening for awhile now, companies have been trying to undermine places like Gamestop since they realized how badly they were losing money on used games.

There finally taking action with the 8th generation.

 

[JaneLaw]

I think it makes sense that Sony can only decide what DRM (or lack thereof) appears on their games.

Game companies should have the freedom to decide how to make and sell their game, and they will feel the consequences and backlash of creating a game with too harsh of DRM - think of all the negativity EA received, for example.

I really hope Sony sets the example, however, and most game studios decide to do DRM-free! 

I predict that we will see a big divide soon of companies that champion DRM becoming Xbox exclusives (EA) while more indie games and sympathetic studios become Sony exlusives. 

 

[Nuke]

While JaneLaw's post makes sense, I could also see some studios who align with Sony making Wii U ports.

 

[Demon_Skeith]

First post updated, it seems 3rd party makers only have control for online stuff only.

 

[BlackSolaris]

Well, not so great news, but still, not as bad as the Xbox One restrictions. I would think that every Sony title won't have this type of DRM or region locking, so i am pretty okay with that.

 

[GracefulAssassin]

First post updated, it seems 3rd party makers only have control for online stuff only.

That's fine then as long as the game isn't online only.

 

[EdenSB]

Apparently Sony aren't letting publishers use online passes at all, which is interesting if the 3rd party game makers have control of online only. I wonder what type of control they can use.

Link to the article

I'm hoping that it's going to be like the PS3, where region-locking just generally isn't done for discs and is only done for DLC. I'd love if it wasn't even done for DLC, if the language was compatible, but I can't see them doing that.

I personally move countries for work a lot, so region-locking is a big issue to me. I'm hoping that they have it as a switchable voltage too, so I can just change the power cable and be fine in any country.