A day after Sony announced it was phasing out physical game discs starting in January 2028, a new report from The Verge emerged suggesting Microsoft would be doing the same. According to The Verge, “Xbox employees recently started testing this new feature, after references to ‘enable Disc2Digital’ appeared in the Xbox PC app code in May.”
The way that this works is pretty simple, as you’ll basically be able to insert a game disc and a “digital entitlement” will be granted to the account being used. Microsoft also thought about the potential of you trading (or selling) a game to someone else. In the event that the same game disc is used with another Microsoft account, the digital entitlement will automatically be transferred. However, this also means that you’ll also lose access to the game once it’s been “activated” on another account.
It’s also said that this feature “will work on Xbox One and Xbox Series X discs only, and not those for the Xbox 360 or original Xbox console.” This decision doesn’t come as too much of a surprise, but even with older games being re-released and remastered, game collectors for those older consoles can breathe a sigh of relief. Obviously, there are additional implications when it comes to emulation, as this plan might make it more difficult to emulate Xbox One and Series X games if/when emulators emerge and mature.
For some, it sure seems like the writing is on the wall for Microsoft to ditch physical games when its next-gen console, Project Helix, is officially released. The report says “Microsoft hasn’t fully finalized” its plans to include a built-in disc drive but introducing something like the Disc2Digital feature “could be essential for existing Xbox owners wanting to digitize their game collections.”
Companies have been looking for ways to ditch physical games for years, but it’s become clear that we’re in a different age now. In late 2024, Microsoft’s Phil Spencer was interviewed and stated that “…getting rid of physical, that’s not a strategic thing for us.” Sure, that might have been the plan at the time, but the Xbox division is under a new regime where huge cutbacks and studio closures are expected any day now.
As expected, the community has not taken kindly to Sony’s recent announcement and the Microsoft report. That said, there have been some pretty hilarious responses trying to make the best out of the crappy situation:
I appreciate the comedic relief, especially when it comes from companies that would have never suspected.
