Xbox One "Home Gold" And Game Sharing Detailed By Microsoft

Microsoft's Xbox One Chief Product Officer Marc Whitten has taken to the Internet today, posting a write up on Xbox.com detailing some of the sharing features that will be available to Xbox One owners. One specific area he detailed concerns "Home Gold," which will let Xbox Live Gold users extend some of the perks that come with that to other users in their home for free.

Home Gold was hinted at earlier this year at E3, and now we have the full details. Although called Home Gold, the feature isn't necessarily limited to one's physical home, but instead is applicable to those who are using the Xbox One with the Live Gold subscriber. At the subscriber's home, the Xbox One console can be setup to enable Live Gold features to other residents regardless of whether the subscriber is logged in to his or her account.

Elsewhere, the subscriber can log into their account on a different console (such as at a friend's house) and extend those same Live Gold features to the other users. Benefits of this include multi-player gaming and access to the entertainment apps. For the gamer's primary (home) Xbox One, Home Gold is extended to an unlimited number of gamers. Elsewhere, those using the console will have access to the Gold features while the subscriber is logged in.

Home Gold aside, Microsoft also detailed the sharing of digital games, which is available amongst the users in one's home. A single library can harbor games purchased by multiple users, and those users can then log in and play one of those games, even if the original buyer isn't logged into his or her account.

Buying a game on a different Xbox One while signed in will result in the game being made available on the gamer's own console, and a gamer's digital downloads can be played on a friend's console by signing in. The statement also specifies that most of the digital games don't require the gamer to be connected to the Internet, but that the "experience" is better if one is.

SOURCE: Xbox.com