At a coming-out party for its upcoming PlayStation 4 console , Sony leveled its guns at rival Microsoft 's Xbox One device and fired until the chambers were empty . During a press event Monday night at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles , Sony hammered home key points about its new gaming system : Sharing games will be free . If people want to sell used games , that 's fine . And a near-constant Internet connection , meant to monitor game usage , wo n't be required . In other words , the PS4 will do many things the new XBox apparently can not . Oh , and the PlayStation 4 will sell for $ 399 -- $ 100 less than the Xbox One . Both consoles are expected this fall in time for the holiday shopping season , setting up a battle for the hearts , minds and wallets of the gaming community . A big point of contention among gamers is that Microsoft 's new Xbox will require an online check-in every 24 hours ( less than the `` always-on '' mode gamers expected ) and will only allow games to be resold at selected retailers . Games may be shared only among a limited number of friends and family members . Microsoft 's daily check-in is designed , in part , to make sure users have n't resold , traded in or given away a game they 've already downloaded on their consoles . The idea is to prevent more than one person from effectively owning a game that was purchased only once . After rolling out a list of new games , Jack Tretton , president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America , essentially went down a laundry list of complaints about the new Xbox , which had been showcased earlier Monday , and promised the opposite . `` In addition to creating an amazing library of new titles on PlayStation 4 , we 're equally focused on delivering what gamers want most without imposing restrictions or devaluing their PS4 purchases , '' Tretton said . `` For instance , PlayStation 4 wo n't impose any new restrictions on the use of pre-owned games . '' That announcement got a loud and sustained round of applause from an E3 crowd not always easy to impress . `` I guess that 's a good thing , '' a smiling Tretton replied . In game-console terms , digital-rights management is a code that allows users to access a game 's content . It 's designed to assure developers and publishers that only the person who paid for the game , and close family and friends , can play it . Sony and Microsoft are n't the ones that would benefit from DRM , or used-game restrictions . Game publishers want to make sure they are getting paid for their work , and that includes the secondhand market . In the weeks leading up to E3 , Microsoft had sought to calm gamers ' concerns with a series of blog posts that some felt nibbled around the edges of rights-management issues but never offered definitive answers . Sony then was conspicuously quiet in what , now , appears to have been an orchestrated effort to lower the boom at E3 . Witness the `` Official PlayStation Used Game Instructional Video '' released shortly after the presentation . It 's 22 seconds long and features only `` Step 1 , '' a man handing a disc to another man . That cheeky video had racked up more than 1.5 million views on YouTube in less than 24 hours . Microsoft did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request seeking comment . But online pundits were quick to praise Sony for landing some blows against its rival . `` As crude as it is to declare a company the 'winner ' of E3 , it 's hard to see Sony 's presentation today as anything but a PR coup ... , '' Kyle Orland , senior gaming editor at CNN content partner Ars Technica , wrote Monday . `` Among some of the most influential and hardest-to-please gamers on the Internet , Sony is now the savior company that can do no wrong . They should enjoy the ride , which will last just as long as it takes for them to do something wrong . '' Writing for Time , Jared Newman takes a longer view . Sony 's move is meant to preserve the future of disc-based games , at least for now , while Microsoft stands ready to kill discs entirely , moving to an almost entirely digital model , he said . Playing to what 's already comfortable for gamers was clearly part of Sony 's strategy , Newman said . `` Sony is just betting that the good will of gamers will be enough to cut Microsoft 's ambitions short , '' he wrote . `` And Microsoft has some big ambitions , not just to be the best game console , but to serve as the central hub of all living room entertainment . `` It 's a gambit on Sony 's part , one that 's going to make the console wars even fiercer . ''
Sony goes for gamers ' hearts with anti-Xbox announcements . PlayStation 4 will allow sharing , selling used games . Comment: Microsoft 's Xbox One has digital-rights restrictions .