Will Wright Impressed With Microsoft's DRM U-Turn

Microsoft's U-turn on digital rights management and game ownership seems to have resonated well with a number of gamers. You can add SimCity creator Will Wright to the list of those impressed with the company's reaction to the online-connectivity backlash, saying that DRM should not be used at the expense of consumers.

"The sensibility of being able to play a game I want to on a PC or any device is great," he told CNN. "I love that freedom and the free-to-play games have made good use of that. From the consumers' point of view, I can really understand a lot of the backlash to DRM. The fact that if something's required on the internet that means they can't play it on the airplane or if their Internet connection goes down.

"I thought it was very impressive how responsive Microsoft was. DRM is going to be an ongoing negotiation because there are features to the DRM, or at least internet connectivity, that is a very attractive solution to the piracy issue. Gaming has had a long history of piracy, but you can't use DRM at the expense of the customers. I'm not really sure I have a clear answer to this except that it's going to be something that we slowly acclimate the player base towards."

Wright added that it was important to note that a vocal majority on the internet might not always reflect the opinion of the vast majority of consumers, and that companies should be careful about who they listen to. It's probably safe to say though that in this instance, Microsoft made the right call in Wright's eyes.