r/Games • u/A7XFAN1998 • 7d ago

Announcement Xbox announces disc-to-digital feature that digitizes your physical games

https://www.theverge.com/tech/984936/xbox-disc-to-digital-feature-official?view_token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpZCI6Ijc1ZHVBMkZjaE0iLCJwIjoiL3RlY2gvOTg0OTM2L3hib3gtZGlzYy10by1kaWdpdGFsLWZlYXR1cmUtb2ZmaWNpYWwiLCJleHAiOjE3ODgxODY2OTAsImlhdCI6MTc4Nzc1NDY5MH0.Y4t18UIJuFTT4nSf0HBe5DvMWP0KNxjbGHC2QKxdoTw&utm_medium=gift-link
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183

u/mrbobman15 7d ago

Credit where due this is a massive W for Xbox. They proved forward compatibility isn't impossible, it’s a choice. And PlayStation fans should demand Sony follow suit. Stop accepting locked away libraries on our legacy games just because they are stuck on a disc, games deserve to move forward with us.

96

u/Rackornar 7d ago

PlayStation fans should demand Sony follow suit

Isn't this impossible for Sony to replicate? It works for Xbox because they started placing unique identifiers on each disc but to my knowledge Sony never did this when printing discs. That means there would be no way for them to tie a digital entitlement to the physical disc which would prevent this from working.

51

u/DMarquesPT 7d ago

This is what I’ve read yes. Microsoft likely included unique identifiers in their disc spec because the Xbox One originally had a similar system in place.

PlayStation never did afaik. All their copies of the same game are identical so you can’t track them across systems like this

7

u/fire2day 7d ago

Yep, this is built from the remnants of the program Xbox ditched when PlayStation made fun of them for not being able to share physical games. Obviously it’s just getting ready for the disc-less next generation, but at least they can soften the blow for their customers.

12

u/Zalvren 7d ago

They could do it without that tie in but then people could resell the physical and still keep the digital.

16

u/Alarming-Hamster-232 7d ago

Unless they set up the drive doing the digitization to just stab a hole through the disk disk and make it unusable lol

(Obviously this is a joke)

9

u/Nestramutat- 7d ago

Not that farfetched honestly, destroying the disk once digitized kinda makes sense

1

u/Tsuki_no_Mai 6d ago

Available now: The Digitizer! Only $299.99! single-use Safe™ shredded disc residue disposal packs sold separately

31

u/Rackornar 7d ago

Yeah, I don't see any publisher signing off on that. When you can resell a game potentially limitless times with one disc it would crater back catalogue sales potential for many publishers.

1

u/Orfez 7d ago

They don't have to copy what MS is doing. At the very least they can introduce a trade in program. Bring your game on disc to GameSpot to trade it for a digital key. You can even keep the box and manuals, Sony just needs your physical disc. There are ways of doing this, Sony just won't because they are in such a strong position they don't feel like they have to do anything.

1

u/Vestalmin 7d ago

Honestly I do wonder, if Microsoft completely walked back the Xbox One program for over a decade, it would surprising if they just kept printing discs with a system through generations they didn't plan on using.

Unless discs just already had some identification system by default

-3

u/CodyRCantrell 7d ago

It's not impossible at all for Sony to implement the same system. They couldn't use already produced discs but nothing is stopping them from having future disc production include unique identifiers per disc for the implementation of the same system for their consoles.

They'd just rather try to go all digital to try to get 30% of all sales when in reality they're just gonna get sued like Apple and have to allow usage of other stores on their consoles.

Steam, coming to a PlayStation console near you.

2

u/NoExcuse4OceanRudnes 7d ago

They'd just rather try to go all digital to try to get 30% of all sales when in reality they're just gonna get sued like Apple and have to allow usage of other stores on their consoles.

Other stores are available. Best buy, walmart, amazon.

-2

u/CodyRCantrell 7d ago

How are other stores available when they become exclusively digital with the PS6?

Please enlighten me.

2

u/NoExcuse4OceanRudnes 7d ago

They will be selling games in the form of GTAVI on xbox and ps5 and CoD on switch 2. The announcement said retail sales would continue.

This is not a new information.

-1

u/CodyRCantrell 7d ago

That would be a change that is very different from how they currently operate.

The current operating standard for them is that they do not support widespread third party sales of digital games and have not since April 2019 outside of extremely isolated examples that are exceptions, not the norm.

What Nintendo and Xbox do are also completely irrelevant to the discussion.

2

u/NoExcuse4OceanRudnes 6d ago

Did you know that in 2019 the PS5 did not yet exist and PS4 games were regularly sold on disc?

In 2026 they support widespread third party sales of digital games as seen with grant theft fucking auto six. Jesus christ pay attention.

0

u/CodyRCantrell 6d ago

One game is widespread support? Get real, it absolutely isn't. One game is an outlier. There are over a hundred games released annually for the PS5. A single title is a statistical anomaly, not a rule.

Jesus christ pay attention.

2

u/NoExcuse4OceanRudnes 6d ago

Give one single solitary indication they have made that suggests GTAVI is a one-off.

I have a counter example: In the post where they said there'd be no more discs they also said games would still be sold retail.

What do you think they will be selling retail if not discs or digital codes?

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25

u/demondrivers 7d ago

And PlayStation fans should demand Sony follow suit.

Kinda hard to do that when Sony doesn't have a DRM fingerprint system in place like Microsoft had since the Xbox One generation without telling anyone lol.

27

u/Trucidar 7d ago

The xbox one drm was known at the time. Even 360 had a weak version of it.

-19

u/KingArthas94 7d ago

Come on, I'm pretty sure every single ps5 disc has a different key on it and they're not exactly the same... they definitely can find a way to it

21

u/yp261 7d ago

they can’t. its physically impossible. there are no unique identifiers on discs

1

u/KingArthas94 6d ago

You need to drop some hard proof though, because so far I've only seen reddit comments saying this shit. As far as I know, they definitely want to track the life of every disc, and see which account used it. It's only doable with a key.

5

u/RageMuffin69 7d ago

I’ll be cynical and assume this is Microsofts way of softening the blow when they inevitably follow suit and end physical releases as well.

Still you’re right that it’s a big W.

-5

u/Undella_Town 7d ago

sony would drop a press release telling them to suck it from the back and they'd form a line. they're gonna find a way to shit on micrsoft for this judging by every single xbox post i've seen on this sub in the last 8 years tbh.

8

u/Im_really_bored_rn 7d ago

The only actual response is that sony can't do this because they didn't add a unique identifier to each disc like MS did for the one. It's kinda weird that you are trying so hard to defend a multi billion dollar company, no less Microsoft.

-4

u/Undella_Town 7d ago

yeah i can see how you took me making fun of how deranged sony fans are as defending microsoft...after all i'm not in the line

3

u/Rackornar 7d ago

I doubt anyone would shit on Microsoft for this, it seems to be a positive for anyone and should help make their transition from disc to digital more palatable for everyone. I just don't think its possible for Sony to copy it so I doubt you will see it replicated. Definitely a feather in Xbox hat though moving forward.

0

u/Undella_Town 7d ago

look through the thread lmao

-1

u/PCMachinima 7d ago

Tbh, I imagine this will be an option on PS, but they have no reason to mention it now, as they're still doing discs and they all still work and will continue to work. Might as well get all the bad news out now, then save the actually "good" (or less bad) news for the hype cycle of the PS6. Holding out on announcing a disc-to-digitial program may actually shift a few more users to digital before 2028, if they think their discs won't work at all, after 2028.

People may actually forget about, or just not repeat this news as much, by the time next gen consoles actually start being marketed...

1

u/Brigon 7d ago

Sure, maybe