Microsoft reveal users will have to PAY to use major Xbox One features
XBOX One users will have to pay to use key features of the next generation console in an unprecedented move announced by Microsoft today.
Gamers will need to purchase an Xbox Live Gold membership if they want to record or share gameplay videos, make Skype calls or use the online gaming match service.
Xbox One owners will need to pay £40 for a yearly subscription to the service.
The move will come as a bitter blows to those looking to buy an Xbox One, which costs almost £80 more than its rival the Sony Playstation 4 (PS4).
The costing was revealed on changes to pages on the Microsoft Xbox One website.
@yosp are the PS4 game recording and streaming features exclusive to Plus subscribers?
— Jon Gonzales (@jonboi204) August 8, 2013
@jonboi204 no
— Shuhei Yoshida (@yosp) August 8, 2013
Shortly after the news emerged, the President of Sony Computer Entertainment said on Twitter the PS4 will not restrict key features to paid subscribers.
While PS4 owners will need to pay for online gaming, recording and sharing gameplay videos will be free to use.
The news comes after gamers were outraged when Microsoft unveiled a number of controversial measures soon after the Xbox One was first announced.
The policies, which were withdrawn of strong backlash from fans, included needing to use the internet once every 24 hours for the console to play games.
One of the main sticking points were heavy restrictions under which Xbox One owners could lend games.
The initial policies saw Xbox One owners not buying games in the traditional sense, just licenses to them.
Games would have been installed on the hard disk and run from the internal storage and via the cloud.
However, gamers would be restricted to lending the games once and thereafter those who borrowed the game would be subject to a charge.
The policies were mocked mercilessly by Sony at the E3 gaming exhibition in LA.
A video, which was shown at Sony's E3 presentation and went viral, showed how to lend a game for PS4 owners.
The clip showed two people handing over a copy of a game to make fun of the complex policies Microsoft were adopting.
The video has received over 13 million views on YouTube.