Xbox One News: Family Sharing Will Return To Next-Gen Console

"Family Sharing" was one of the most intriguing features that appeared for the Xbox One. Simply put, it would allow family members who have Xbox Ones to be able to play the same content across all users' profiles once it was purchased by one person.

However, the feature has been removed in demos of the console since then, leading some to believe that the feature no longer will be available at all. In an interview with IGN, Marc Whitten quickly verified that the feature will be returning, but did not have a specific timetable for that return:

"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," Whitten said. "A 'road map' sort of implies more like 'on date X it's back' than I think exists, but we believe really strongly in how you build a great experience on Xbox One for me as an individual, but also for my family. Family Sharing is a great example of how you do that with content. I think you're going to see us, both with examples like that and with other things, keep pushing on how that's something great."

Whitten also explained that the reasoning for removing the "Family Sharing" plan temporarily was not motivated by a lack of interest from Microsoft or fans or by financial issues, but rather due to technical problems that arose with adding new features:

"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," Whitten said. "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 also spoke about whether "Family Sharing" would be restricted by region, and he confirmed it would be up to publishers to decide that, and Microsoft would offer no other objections:

"That wouldn't be our intent. You know, there are different types of content and some of that content just isn't licensed for certain areas, sometimes around video and sometimes with things like games, and that's more up to publishers. But outside of that, we wouldn't be putting any restrictions around it," he said.

The Xbox One will be available in November of this year.