With the release of Peggle 2 for the Xbox One it has also been revealed Microsoft is no longer requiring the developers of downloadable titles or what we called Xbox Live Arcade titles to offer a downloadable demo version of the game. A big change from the ways of the past on the Xbox 360 to be sure.

Going forward it is up to the developers or publishers to choose if they want to release a demo or not. No longer is Microsoft mandating it. While some games like Peggle 2 that was just released on Xbox One does have a demo that you can download, that is you can download it, if you are able to find it. Because of the organization of things on Xbox One at the moment, that it itself can prove to be a challenge.

While Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb believes that we will see more demos on the Xbox One as time goes by, he offered no explanation as to why Microsoft had changed its policy concerning them. The lack of demos if does continue to be an issue could be something that players may not like. Many players download demos to try before they buy and sometimes just to try.

In the end this might not be as much of a big deal as some might suggest it is, because we think developers and publishers alike will want the best chance for sales and that we think means offering demos for download.