Xbox Fitness Users Shelled Out Big Bucks For Workout Programs They'll Soon Be Totally Unable To Use
from the just-renting dept
In late 2013, Microsoft launched Xbox Fitness for the then-new Xbox One. The fitness program leaned heavily on the Kinect motion sensor you'll recall Microsoft initially and ingeniously forced everybody to buy -- even though many users had no interest in the accessory. Xbox Fitness included 30 free training sessions, but also allowed users to pay significantly more for additional workouts, including shelling out $60 for P90X routines, to individual Jillian Michaels videos that cost users $12 each. These users likely assumed that once they bought these workouts, they'd be able to use them indefinitely.Those users apparently didn't get the memo that we no longer own the things we buy.
Microsoft this week announced a "sunset plan" for Xbox Fitness users, informing them that in time, none of the content they bought will be usable. The 30 free core workouts included with the program? They'll no longer work after December 15. All of that content sold to consumers just a few years ago? It too will no longer work as of July 1, 2017:
"As a service, Xbox Fitness has continually evolved since it launched on Xbox One, with new content and ongoing updates. Given the service relies on providing you with new and exciting content regularly, Microsoft has given much consideration to the reality updating the service regularly in order to sustain it. Therefore, the decision has been made to scale back our support for Xbox Fitness over the next year."Read: we made our money off of you, and now are refusing to put any more of it back into the platform we sold you. And by "scale back," we mean make the service and the content you thought you owned completely unusable.
Microsoft informs annoyed customers it too is "saddened" by the news, as if this is some unavoidable natural tragedy like a death of the family goldfish we all have to weather in solidarity (sniff):
"While our team is saddened by this news, we couldn’t be more proud of what we’ve accomplished in the past two and a half years. We released Xbox Fitness as a service with Xbox One on Day One and have since added custom content from well-respected trainers and have added new features such as Leaderboards, the option to download purchased workouts, and the option for users to play with or without Kinect."Needless to say, customers who shelled out potentially hundreds of dollars for a workout system they thought they could use indefinitely aren't consoled by Microsoft's "pride" and "sadness." Petitions have sprung up over at the Xbox feedback website urging Microsoft to rethink the announcement, or at least convert all of the content into a standalone app before shutdown. Except if previous issues of this type are any indication, Microsoft won't be willing to eat the costs required to make that happen. Instead, users will get a few platitudes and a pat on the butt before Microsoft marketing redirects their attention to something new.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: drm, ownership, xbox, xbox fitness
Companies: microsoft
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Much like the DLC shit some companies (COUGH*EA*COUGH) are pulling, at some point it will backfire.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Rough, yes -- but then I have my backup in case the original gets damaged (by the company pulling support, etc.)
My general practice is to check and see if the format can be DRM-stripped some way, and if it can, I purchase and strip the DRM myself. If I can't find a way to do that, I seriously consider not buying that form. If there's some reason I need to and I can't strip the DRM myself, I'll see if someone else has already done so. If they have, I download and test the hacked version, verify it functions appropriately, and then buy the product.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Can you please link to this policy on Steam?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
You posed a good question, I never followed any tos changes on Steam so I wouldn't know if it's the case now.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
https://web.archive.org/web/20100605062932/http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpost.php? p=10642189&postcount=28
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
I figured that was going to be the source of your statement. I've heard that story before, but as pointed out in that post, what he said isn't legally binding. Beyond that, it would present logistical problems.
I presume by turning off authentication, he means sending a command to all registered copies of Steam telling them that they no longer need to authenticate the games in order to play them. However, what happens if you have a hard drive crash and need to re-install them from older backups? Steam will no longer know it doesn't need to authenticate and there will be no servers to tell it so. The same will happen if a user tries to re-install a game from a physical, retail copy.
They could put out a downloadable patch that users could install, but I doubt that they would write such a patch ahead of time and if the company starts going down the tubes, giving the programmers additional tasks is likely to be the last thing on the executive staff's mind.
Also, would they have permission from the copyright holders of other games, like Disney, to disable the DRM on their games sold through Steam?
What if Valve is bought out by another company who then decide to drop support/authentication for older games? Valve wouldn't have any say in the matter.
Granted, these situations may seem unlikely now and Valve may continue for the next 50 years, but it's not beyond the realm of possibility that a changing market or a few bad decisions could lead to them having financial troubles. Or the people in charge might get tired and want to hand off the company to someone else. Like George Lucas selling his empire to Disney. Or the Dolans selling Cablevision to Altice. You never know what the future holds.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
All I can think is
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
A sale is just a license
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I gave my Xbone away
Yesterday I went to my local fire department, gave them my Xbox One 1Tb edition with games. They can use it to play games or burn it in a practice fire, I don't care.
I'm done, absolutely done with the Xbox and any future promises and withdrawals of promises from Microsoft.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Digital content is like a bad burrito...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
You're absolutely right!!! I'm outraged over this!!! I will never buy another... Ohh shiny! I have to have it!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
New Style
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
That's when I decided that buying digital products that require connection to the net to function have no future. It's similar to buying canned air. Only with canned air, you at least have an empty container to show for it.
Since they want to pretend that buying something isn't yours anymore, I pretend to pay them money that isn't theirs either.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Internally Microsoft has a 'replacement' for Fitness.
They just want to slam the lid on the previous product first, then there won't be hold-outs who think the current software 'will do for now'
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
That's the same strategy Microsoft has used from day one with Windows. Nothing new there.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Excellent Track Record
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Way to combat piracy MS
If even paying doesn't protect you from being screwed it's pretty much a given that at least a few people are going to start asking, 'Why pay in the first place?'
So congrats MS.
Congrats on showing people once again why 'buying' something is utterly meaningless when the 'purchase' can be taken away at the whim of the seller.
Congrats on making people ask themselves what exactly they're 'buying' when they don't actually own squat post-purchase.
Congrats of turning people who previously had no problem paying into people that will start to seriously consider skipping the 'pay' stage entirely, since it doesn't seem to do them any good beyond lightening their bank balance.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Way to combat piracy MS
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Kinect was the only differentiating feature
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
MS Message to the world
....................../´¯/)
....................,/¯../
.................../..../
............./´¯/'...'/´¯¯`·¸
........../'/.../..../......./¨¯\
........('(...´...´.... ¯~/'...')
.........\.................'...../
..........''...\.......... _.·´
............\..............(
..............\.............\...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
What a surprise.
Is it any wonder that millions distrust the Microsoft store embedded in windows 10?
ProTip for Microsoft;
When you are trying to get people to trust you with thier digital lives, it helps a great deal if you do not RIP THEM OFF at every opportunity.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Short term vision
[ link to this | view in chronology ]