I believe it doesn't

by Dean Hofmeyer (unhh) , Warsaw, IN, Thursday, March 21, 2013, 01:35 (4044 days ago) @ Cody Miller

DRM is anything that is in place to actively restrict you from using the game on a system capable of executing the game code.

That's a fairly valid - though incomplete - definition, but it doesn't match up with what we know about Destiny. The game's always-online state is to allow the player access to the persistent world. It's an integral part of the game's functionality, not a restrictive measure.

Imagine the following scenario:

Your console is flagged as banned on XBL. You have a real copy of the game and a real xbox, however MS won't let you connect to the server to play Destiny. Since connecting is required to play Destiny, then Microsoft is actively restricting your use of the game. DRM.

That's not DRM, that's a banned box. Say I'm caught recording a movie and get myself banned from the local theater. A few weeks later, a film comes out and I want to go see it, but when I go to purchase a ticket the clerk recognizes me and has security escort me out. Theater management isn't trying to keep me from seeing the movie, they're simply upholding the measures they already took to prevent me from copying films.

Sure, Destiny will be unplayable on a banned box, but that doesn't mean Destiny will have DRM, it means XBL has DRM.

Imagine another scenario:

A perfect Xbox 360 emulator is released tomorrow. You buy Destiny and try to play it. The emulator has the capability to communicate the same way as an xbox, but since consoles individually identify themselves to the server, there is no way MS would allow the emulator to connect. Thus, they are again restricting your access to the game.

Again, this wouldn't have anything to do with Destiny. If Microsoft doesn't want people playing Xbox 360 games without shelling out for the hardware, they'll set up an authentication system - but again, it's got nothing to do with Destiny.

If you have hardware (or software in the case of emulators) capable of executing the game code, but for whatever reason you are prevented from doing so by an action, device, or algorithm put there by the developer / publisher, then it's DRM.

Be it DRM or not, the measure isn't in place to control Destiny specifically. You're arguing on either side of your purported point, and proving nothing. Will XBL's DRM make Destiny unplayable for a few people who don't play by Microsoft's rules? Possibly. That doesn't mean Destiny will have DRM.