Want to do anything on your Xbox One? You'll need the day one update for that

Are you expecting to be able to play the latest tiles on your new Xbox One as soon as you set up the new console? You'll be disappointed by a mandatory update that will be rolled out on day one. Unfortunately, the Xbox One is technically useless until the update is downloaded and installed (sucks if you won't have an Internet connection at the time), meaning there'll be no immediate gaming or app action.

We've known the console will see a day one update since June, but it's a whole different ball game when not even video games will be able to run without the patch. Here's what Microsoft senior director of product management, Albert Penello told Engadget in a recent interview:

"Functionally, you will be able to do very little without taking the day one update. A lot of the apps come with the day one update because they wouldn't have even been done ... You're gonna need to take this update. It's not gonna be really an optional thing."

When asked what functionality the Xbox One will have without the day one update, Penello stated the device would be able to do "nothing. You need the Day One update." The reason why there's a required update? Units currently being produced run an older version of the operating system. Here's hoping our Internet connections remain active on the big day.

via: Engadget

Rich Edmonds is Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him over on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.

56 Comments

I take solace in that at least PS4 owners will have a day one patch too.
Also, isn't the Panello guy the same guy who tweeted that the Xbox has day one ad-supported streaming, then later retracted it. Could he be be wrong here too?
I just hope MS and Sony get these day one patches out properly..Nintendo's Wii U update was a mess and took forever to do!
Cobalt, I got my wife to get the kids out of the house before Christmas last year so their WiiU would be updated when they opened it up. My wife called me about 4 times asking if it was done updating.
I don't really see this as an issue, it's a good way to get them out early, by making the hardware, and the software at the same time they can be out much faster than if they waited until the software was finished before making the hardware.
The difference is that teh PS4 update can be downloaded in the background while playing video games whereas the XboxOne requires the update before even playing a game. Not only that, the PS4 update is 300MB and you can download it now to a thumbdrive then plug it into your PS4 and done whereas the Xboxone might be 1.4GB and you have to wait and hope you have stable internet connection.
That was expected.
Not the worst that could happen. Happens all the time.
An internet enabled device requires connecting to the internet before you can use it? Shocking! Let me complain about that from my iPad. Oh, wait. Nevermind.
I don't understand why this is a story..... Microsoft has said this since they reversed DRM
+1 why are we reporting on this?
Agreed. Its not really a big deal and was expected
Its not about the drm, but more like a PSA but its expected by more the technically minded. There are obviously people out there that just don't think outside the box :p. Also if you somehow got the xbox one before release, congrats you just have a nice and fancy living room ornament! As it wont work with the day one patch lol.
More fuel to the flame. Its a patch, no biggie both have this requirement but as we are out to get xbox lets make it a big negative, the article makes it sound like you are buying a black block of plastic. I want to get both PS4 & Xbox One out there now, I blame the press for all this BS, with headers like "Xbox One will never work when patched, its broken before you open the box.............................. If you have no electricity at home.......or a TV. "
Stop..please..
Then do not bother to look at the major MSM websites that are bashing the Voice Commands. While Ars and TheVerge report that works good and one of the authors said he used the voice commands for an hour and only had to repeat commends twice, the MSM seems to make it sound like it does not work at all. I believe everyone is grabing for headlines so they can get page views and ad dollars. The only way to get the truth these days is to actually hunt and/or experience it yourself.
This is how it's always been, unfortunately. News people suck and either don't have or take enough time to get things right. I have witnessed crimes that when I read about them the next day in the news I couldn't believe how many basic details were either wrong or missing altogether.
An update on day one is hardly surprising, but having to connect to the internet to play offline games seems a little annoying to say the least.
It seems nowdays nearly everything has a day one update or patch.
Sorry guys, but nobody cares if this doesn't affect you - it will affect perception and eventually performance in the marketplace if these caveats continue to get piled on and that, in turn, hurts all stakeholders.
The PS4 has one too. Stop being selectively bitchy against MS for their console, you guys have had a lot of that lately.
That's Engadget trolling for page clicks, not this site
If you don't have internet then you're just a caveman nowadays. Don't say that you can't get it where you live and all that because its just nonsense! My buddy lives in f***n BFE and he uses his phone as a hotspot to play live so complain about something else please!
PS4 won't have a Day 1 update. What they will do is wait for some to complain about issues and push out a day 4 update. Then say "we listened to out customers and fixed all reported issues very quickly" even though that patch is ready to go live on day 1. Marketing at its best.
No........? They've clearly said that it requires a day one patch. Without Sony's day one patch, you can't even play online. Are you sure gamers are going to be ok with that? Yeah, there would be a riot.
Yeah...except they already announced that they'll have that update waiting on day 1 because, much like XboxOne, it will also be required so that the console works properly.
Its not 2005. Not surprising.
Well, regardless of what excuse Microsoft has for this, there is only one thing on my mind, this is only being done so that whoever get's their console before the actual release date by whatever means will not be able to use it without this update, quite clever if you ask me. It's like telling the consumer, sure you can steal it, but you can't crack it no matter what you try.
The brilliance is its simplicity.
Indeed lol
Life can be hard sometimes. Da struggle.
Will the "day one update" be on a Game disc for people who dont have XBL?
Easy fix....Wait a year or two like me to buy an Xbone...Launch games will be super cheap by then and most bugs will be worked out...Not to mention that there are still amazing new games on 360 recently released and those in my backlog waiting to be played....Good things come to those who wait.
Word. I too am holding off. No way im dropping $500 on day one. I still have plenty of life in my 360 :)
+intelligence
Xbox haters are making a mistake, they are "over hating", I have non-gamers friends who stopped believing this negative stuff, because it's too much, day in day out. It's online, tv. Look it's black! Enough already.
Wife said, " so u want to spend $600 just to play COD Ghost on a new console when nothing is wrong with what we already have?""
I didn't look at it that way but she is right. I won't buy another game for months so she has a great point and I don't like it.
+youhaveanintelligentwife
I think you mean #yourwifehascommonsense If anyone buys a console thinking they need it they should probably step back and reevaluate their thinking. Does buying a brand new console or any console for that matter make financial sense? Well no, but so don't a lot of things. There's nothing wrong with buying the new console or just holding on to your old one.
I guess there are regional differences to this, but perhaps I ask mr. Edmonds himself, how often is your internet actually down that you have to worry that it might be down on the day the Xbox One is released? It's not even a rhetorical question and anyone can answer. I guess in the more rural areas this might be a problem? I personally come from the countryside and the internet was only down if a storm had made a tree fall on the phonelines, which I think happened like twice in ten years.
Ever since the internet began offering hardware manufacturers an easy way to distribute drivers and firmware fixes, IT managers have opened cartons, tossed CDs, and d/l'd newer software. NO BIG DEAL. The fact is, it takes a lot longer to get hardware built and into the the distribution channel than it does to make changes to software. WalMart, Best Buy, et al have to have cartons of Xboxes in thousands of stores on Nov. 22. Would we rather they send them back to the Microsoft for software updates and delay the launch?
Wow maybe they should sell the XBOX division to more capable people. Maybe EA pr Activision could buy Xbox . Or valve because Microsoft is run by morons
All games have an update the day they are released!
Yes they do but not all consoles have updates just so u can do anything. The update doesn't affect me because I have internet but what about all of those who want an Xbox and don't have internet . This is what was wrong with the xb1 drm of always online
What about them...why do you care? If its a big deal offer to ship their console to you and update it for them, name your price and make out like a bandit. World turns...everyone happy =P
Lol he thinks it still has always online DRM.... And just for the record all the new consoles had day one updates...PS4, XB1 and even the Wii U
Yes they do. PS4 has a day 1 update, Wii U has a day 1 update, and Xbox One has one. All 3 modern consoles.
Its expected all new devices will have updates. No big deal here!
Are you guys trying to sabotage the launch or what?
Is this really a negative.
Oh no!!!!!!!!!!!! :| (this is absolute pointless moaning)
if Xbox one update download as fast as the update in windows update, no probleme here, and as long as it's not a 20 Gigs download, ok for me...the microsoft server are usually fast and reliable
Let's put aside all fanboyism and just admit that this is incredibly stupid. There are people without an internet, it's just common sense. Is it really hard to apply the patch post production? When you buy a car, do you buy one without spark plugs or gas? Exactly. I'm still getting it, but there will be a public backlash about this. And what happens if Microsoft servers can't handle thousands of requests in one day?
That's why the brought over 300,000 new servers for Xbox 1. I think the PS4's servers might be a problem, since they don't have as many
Ok, so let me get this straight. There are people without internet right and they want to buy a game console(any one of them) but they CAN'T because it requires an update???(i get the part where they'll need internet connection to patch the console but which console doesn't need patching?). And like someone commneted earlier you don't wait to manfacture a console because the software hasn't been completely coded. I mean theoretically if they finished the coding tomorrow then they'd just start trying to patch millions of consoles sitting in the factory(for months in some cases) and still get those consoles out to retailers all over the world in time for launch. That my friend is what you'd call a logistical nightmare.
I'd be disappointed if there wasn't a day one update.
Old news, as soon as microsoft backtracked on the DRM thing they publicly said that everyone would need to take a update to remove this and I am sure from that time to now, there has been a lot of bug fixes, so Yea, there will be a manatory update when you get the system I agree with other users, this is old news..
Love your site, but this article is rubbish. The Xbox One hardware has been shipping for a couple months now right? It requires update to allow all the feature changes...build a bridge and get over it. That goes for anyone complaing about Sony too.

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