When Microsoft pulled their Xbox One DRM-reversal, lots of people were happy. Others, not so much, and with fair cause: Microsoft didn't just remove the console's onerous internet and used game requirements, they removed some cool-sounding features people that were looking forward to.
In a new interview at IGN, Microsoft's Marc Whitten says that the company might yet bring back some of the features people were sad to lose. He was responding to questions asked about a recent petition asking Microsoft to return cut features like the neat-sounding family sharing plan. Family sharing would let players authorize multiple Xboxes accounts to play their games, somewhat like how iTunes lets you authorize multiple devices to play your music.
After lamenting the company's poor post-launch messaging on Xbox One features, Whitten told IGN that while he couldn't say if there were any specific plans in the works, "If it’s something that people are really excited about and want, we’re going to make sure that we find the right way to bring it back."
He then explained that the features weren't removed out of spite, but for more practical reasons. Here's Whitten:
"We took some feedback and realized there was some stuff we needed to add to the program. To add it to the program, we had to make room, just from a pure engineering perspective, to be able to get that work done. So taking Family Sharing out of the launch window was not about ‘we’re going to take our toys and go home’ or something like that. It was just sort of the logistics of ‘how do we get this very, very clear request that people really want, that choice, and how do we make sure we can do an excellent job of that, get to launch, and then be able to build a bunch of great features?’"
Whitten didn't make any promises, but it sounds like it's possible that Microsoft just might bring back the features people want. Which certainly seems like it'd be a good thing.
Read more in the full interview at IGN.