Xbox One Owners with Faulty Systems Will Get a Free Game

After reports over the weekend that numerous Xbox One consoles were experiencing disc drive failures, Microsoft has announced that it will replace these faulty consoles free of charge and will also give the owners a free Xbox One game for their troubles: either Dead Rising 3, Forza Motorsport 5, Ryse: Son of Rome or Zoo Tycoon.

The email from Xbox customer care reads, “While a replacement console is on its way, we want to ensure our advance exchange customers can stay in the game…We will provide each of them with a free digital download of one of the launch titles published by Microsoft Studios.”

The Xbox One launched last Friday, but reports of defective disc drives began popping up later that same day, with owners saying that the drive would make discomforting clicking noises when they insert a game disc. Microsoft says, however, that faulty consoles were only “affecting a very small number of Xbox One customers.”

Of course, gamers can still use their Xbox One consoles for other uses besides gaming, and we suppose they could still download their games digitally and play them without the disc, but we’re not sure if everyone is willing to do this. Microsoft says owners who contact the company through its support channels will have the option of requesting an immediate replacement for their console without having to send in their faulty unit first.

A free game is certainly a nice thing get after discovering you have a faulty console. Video games aren’t cheap, and while nothing can really fix the agony of having to wait for a replacement console after your initial one failed, getting a free launch game isn’t a bad way for Microsoft to try and appease its customers.

However, a faulty disc drive isn’t the only thing plaguing Xbox One owners. Many users have reported connectivity issues, with game downloads and installs taking way longer than they should, while other gamers have reported that they can’t load games at all, even when their internet connection is at full strength. Hopefully Microsoft gets around to these issues, but in the meantime, it doesn’t seem like the Xbox One is off to a good start.