Sony had a big advantage going into the next generation console war. Today, however, the clear favored Sony Playstation 4 might actually get some competition after all as Microsoft has announced an update to their Xbox One policies.

Microsoft took a hard blow at E3 when Sony announced that the Playstation 4 would not require a constant online connection and that you can “pass a game to someone standing beside you, yeah that’s how we trade.” I won’t lie, I’m a Microsoft fan and truthfully some of the policies didn’t bother me because they didn’t affect me. BUT, I do see how it does affect other people who trade in games or can’t commit to a connection every 24 hours and quite honestly it really sucked that Microsoft was headed full steam without thinking of their consumers. After all, if you betray your customers what are you left with?

I’m going to assume that it was the PS4/Xbox One pre-order ratio and the millions of previous Microsoft fans that finally go their attention – mostly the pre-orders though. But thankfully Microsoft has actually come through for you, the consumer. There are quite a few big changes to the Xbox One policy, which you can read after the jump!

Here is the official statement from the Xbox Wire site:

• An internet connection will not be required to play offline Xbox One games – After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again. There is no 24 hour connection requirement and you can take your Xbox One anywhere you want and play your games, just like on Xbox 360.
• Trade-in, lend, resell, gift, and rent disc based games just like you do today – There will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today on Xbox 360.

“In addition to buying a disc from a retailer, you can also download games from Xbox Live on day of release. If you choose to download your games, you will be able to play them offline just like you do today. Xbox One games will be playable on any Xbox One console — there will be no regional restrictions.

These changes will impact some of the scenarios we previously announced for Xbox One. The sharing of games will work as it does today, you will simply share the disc. Downloaded titles cannot be shared or resold. Also, similar to today, playing disc based games will require that the disc be in the tray.

We appreciate your passion, support and willingness to challenge the assumptions of digital licensing and connectivity. While we believe that the majority of people will play games online and access the cloud for both games and entertainment, we will give consumers the choice of both physical and digital content. We have listened and we have heard loud and clear from your feedback that you want the best of both worlds.”

Some people have gone on to say that Microsoft is “weak” for changing their policy, but to me it seems that Microsoft is listening to the consumers (and the pre-orders) and have changed what so many have despised about the console in the first place. I, personally, applaud Microsoft for doing this because truthfully…they had to. There’s no way they could’ve competed with Sony’s PS4 with the policies they had in place.

Kudos Microsoft.