This is a bit of a random question but it has me stumped. I recently got a new 360 so I copied the entire contents of the hdd from the old console to the new one and gave the old one to a friend. Bizarrely and quite by accident he can now play all my xbla games and games on demand on any profile, online of offline. Is this normal?
-
-
Yeah, when you download something it gives the console hardware a license to play and it gives the profile the ability to play it. -
yes, it is.
any games that you buy on a machine are credited with two digital licenses. the first goes to the account which made the purchase, the second goes the the machine that made the purchase. an example follows.
your gold account buys geometry wars 2 on machine (A). Full game can be played with any account on machine (A) and you can play the full game from a trial version on any machine when using your gold account and signed in (online). When content is downloaded and usig the gold account to the new machine (B) no new licenses are issued. The gold account already has one, its just re downloading, and the machine (B) isnt given one as Its already licensed to machine (A) as a first purchase.
if you give your machine to someone else they will be able to anything on the hdd with any account they put in there, gold or silver. If you download your content again on your new xb only your gold account will be able to play it, other accounts wont, as your license is now only present with your gold account not the new machine.
I found this when I had a new machine and the otherhalf tried to play arcade games, which suddenly all turned to trials rather than full games. I contacted MS and they explained the digital license and the machanics and gave me a solution. its basicly delete the content on the new machine. Go through the license transfer section on the xbox website, or over the phone with MS. You give them the serial of the new machine and then download the content again. the system will then credit your new machine as a first purchase machine and give it a license. downside, your friend wont be able to play those games, as the license associated with that machine will be revoked.Comment
-
Wow, thanks for the in depth explanation. So, my friend can continue playing everything as long my old xbox keeps working? This basically means that you can share every purchased game. It seems to good to be true...Originally posted by concretesnail View PostComment
-
There is a chance is M$ runs checks and see if your mates profile has not purchased the arcade game he is playing and its not had a retail release M$ will think he has stole the game and ban him.
Not sure how certain this is but I have heard of it before.Comment
-
From what I understand in the posts above, it's actually kosher as all the games he's playing where originally purchased on that machine and I never did the license transfer to my new 360. That way we can both play all the games on both consoles, even offline.Originally posted by Robster View PostComment
-
You won't be able to play your games offline.
Your friend will as the licence is on the console, so he can play offline. You will find however when you re-download a game from your xbox live account onto your new box, you will have to stay logged on to play it.Comment
Comment