Xbox One will retain the region restrictions that feature in theXbox 360, it has been confirmed. Limited region restrictions apply to both the Xbox 360 and PS3, although its enforcement is at publishers' discretion, and the vast majority of 360 and PS3 games are released on region-free discs. Microsoft has, however, confirmed plans to retain region locking functionality in its forthcoming Xbox One."Similar to the movie and music industry, games must meet country-specific regulatory guidelines before they are cleared for sale," a Microsoft rep told Digital Trends.
"We will continue to work with our partners to follow these guidelines with Xbox One."
Region locks allow developers to restrict the use of software and digital services to specific continents. For example, software purchased in the United States will not work in the UK or Australia if its publisher so chooses.
Similarly, the United States Xbox Live may feature a different line-up of downloadable titles to its UK and Australian parallels.
Only a handful of PS3 games are restricted regionally (although the PS3's Blu-ray movie playback is completely region locked), but Sony is yet to confirm its policies on the matter with PS4.
Activision community manager Dan Amrich last year released a videoexplaining the need for region-locking.