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.

Filed Under: drm, ownership, xbox, xbox fitness
Companies: microsoft