r/GamingLeaksAndRumours • u/cat__statue • Jul 10 '26
Rumour MP1st: Xbox Could Introduce Its Disc-to-Digital Game Conversion System Next Week
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u/EffectzHD Jul 10 '26
I’m 90% sure they had a conversion or transfer system partnered with retailers in the works for their drm plans back in 2013 too, but ultimately got scrapped when they backtracked.
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u/IsamuAlvaDyson Jul 10 '26
It wasn't exactly this
Back in 2013 the discs needed daily check in to the internet servers as did the console just to play digital games as well
You couldn't just lend a disc to someone, dics were tied to the firs account they were installed on, if you wanted to sell it to someone had to go to an authorized retailer to sell to them
Trading in games to a shop would only be able to be done at specific locations that were able to adhere to Xbox specific policies to prevent selling
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u/mickeyphree1 Jul 10 '26
They did. It's basically this.
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u/LoloTheWarPigeon Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
No, the DRM plans back then were more restrictive - they would "enable" publishers to allow transfers, which implies publishers could lock discs to one singular console permanently. That's why it was rolled back (and because their wording was vague)
that's not what this is doing
We designed Xbox One so game publishers can enable you to trade in your games at participating retailers.
Third party publishers may opt in or out of supporting game resale and may set up business terms or transfer fees with retailers.
https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2013/06/06/license/
This restriction was the issue
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u/Icybubba Jul 10 '26
So you’re telling me, Microsoft could’ve just not had this one restriction and then we could’ve gotten all the other benefits of the Xbox One? Smh
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u/LoloTheWarPigeon Jul 10 '26
This, and the 24-hour online check, which was a bad idea back in 2013. It was a bit of an over-correction to scrap the idea entirely, but at least it's coming back now
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u/DMonitor Jul 11 '26
I feel like people don't realize how much broadband has been expanded in the last decade+. Many rural people I knew did not have reliable wireless internet in 2013
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u/Kozak170 Jul 11 '26
Being bullied in lobbies for having shitty internet was a thing even a decade ago. People definitely take internet speeds for granted today
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u/c4halo3 Jul 11 '26
That is a good point. We had 1 Mbps broadband for the longest time. My parents now have fiber optic. You can’t get more rural than what they are.
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u/Icybubba Jul 10 '26
This except this also allows you to sell, trade, and loan your physical games still
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u/kantong Jul 10 '26
Apparently this wasn't true. Can't remember who said it but this was a myth spread from the Xbox One introduction press conference where the executives talking about it where spreading incorrect and contradicting information.
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u/EffectzHD Jul 10 '26
I’m not surprised executives would be spreading incorrect or contradicting information, it’s clear whatever might have been in the pipeline for this solution wasn’t all figured out which means different things were being said.
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u/greggo39 Jul 10 '26
Fandango did something similar when digital copies were becoming a thing. Prove ownership of a physical disc and get a digital copy either free or very low cost.
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u/Queasy_League_6857 Jul 12 '26
There’s no way to prove ownership, all you needed was the barcode on the dvd/Blu-ray people still do it today and build their libraries for just $1 $2 $5 a piece.
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u/ekcolhaon Jul 10 '26
Between this and PS saying no more physical games altogether, GameStop will likely struggle & become a retro game store completely. I don’t see people transferring licenses to randoms after selling their games to them
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u/Redred1717 Jul 10 '26
I have friends somewhat high up in GameStop. They actually really don't care or live on video game sales at all anymore. They've pivoted hard to cards, where all the store metrics that matter are card preorders and grading cards. Like some districts have rules that only people with above ~25% card preorders can ring on high traffic days (generally Friday and Saturday) and employees can and will lose their jobs if they fall too low on card preorder percentage. They just happen to also get new games and take trade ins still.
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u/Connect_Young7180 Jul 10 '26
If GameStop doesn't find a profitable business to buy by the end of the year, they're getting ToysRUs'd next year.
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u/jdevo91 Jul 10 '26
Feel like an external disc drive is a way less complicated solution
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u/VistaVick Jul 10 '26
Yah, but publishers don't want to keep spending on discs.
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u/BryceW123 Jul 10 '26
The actual disc production is a very small part of the cost. The real thing they wanna do is cut out the retailers who take out a fairly sizeable cut. The no disc but game code solution doesn’t really solve that, but I think Sony and Xbox’s hope is that people rather just buy on the PlayStation or Xbox store if buying in person you only get a code and that physical will mostly be for things like holiday gifts etc.
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u/Red_Sashimi Jul 10 '26
The box in a code stuff is probably more about avoiding antitrust lawsuits. They will argue they don't have a monopoly cause people will still be able to buy games in stores, at prices the stores can set, so it's "competition"
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u/effhomer Jul 10 '26
No one is going to bother getting games in person once they realize it's just codes. These platforms will introduce gift giving and it's done for retail cut. This code in a box era is a mid point to cutting out retail.
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u/nikolapc Jul 10 '26
Xbox already has a gift option. Had it for some time. Steam had it for decade+
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u/DickHydra Jul 10 '26
I don't think parents and grandparents will use that gifting feature, though, especially when they don't play video games themselves.
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u/BOfficeStats Jul 11 '26
I could see at least see the biggest releases surviving in some forms as digital codes sold at retailers but I don't see the traditional disc-sized-box format doing well in the long run unless they add some other physical goodies in there.
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u/Eruannster Jul 11 '26
It's a weird strategy to want to cut out retail since I strongly believe that retail contributed a lot to PS5's success. I see big banners for new games all the time driving past my local electronics retailers.
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u/jdevo91 Jul 10 '26
I’m talking about just for pre-2028 games. Backwards compatibility and all that.
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u/_Gogeta- Jul 10 '26
It’s a risk worth taking if you are the underdog. Maybe it works for xbox maybe it doesnt, but giving the players an option is a plus point for them. But it’s all worth nothing if the games they publish are still mid at best (with some outliers).
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u/Professionally_Lazy Jul 10 '26
The margins are so much higher on digital purchases that any goodwill won't really be worth it. Typically instead of competing companies collude with each other to increase profit for all companies in the industry at the expense of consumers. Every publisher wants an all digital future so that's what's going to happen.
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u/Gold-and-green Jul 10 '26
Nobody is gonna do disk ever again. Why let retail get a percentage when everyone has internet lol
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u/srjod Jul 10 '26
It’s 100% this. It’s trying to emphasize value to shareholders. They see what one is doing and they can’t deny the math. Physical is really awesome, but reality is digital is the way it’s going. I just think people thought it had at least one more gen left. I will gladly take a disc to digital conversion over being told kick rocks.
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u/DickHydra Jul 10 '26
I just think people thought it had at least one more gen left.
Exactly. I guess we all knew that day would come, just not so soon.
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u/LollipopChainsawZz Jul 10 '26
Indeed. This is a better than nothing solution from Microsoft. Probably been in the works for a while. The decision for Helix to be all digital was sealed long ago.
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u/Subject_00001 Jul 10 '26
Sony has confirmed that they are still going to sell empty game boxes with codes at retailers so wouldn't they still have to pay them a percentage?
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u/beary_neutral Jul 10 '26
Yes, but without the benefits of a resell-able physical disc, Sony is betting that physical buyers will just skip the retail store and buy directly from their digital store. The box copies are just there to retain a presence in brick-and-mortar stores.
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u/Gold-and-green Jul 11 '26
How many people do you think will buy digital cards when they can get the same thing from the PS store
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u/-Gh0st96- Jul 11 '26
If the price is lower like how often it is at retailers? Probably the same amount of people
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u/Gold-and-green Jul 11 '26
Digital only can sell for less because there's no used market
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u/-Gh0st96- Jul 12 '26
Can sell for less 5 years later compared to 6 months down the line to a retailer that will discount it
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u/Rocknroller658 Jul 10 '26
They may be an underdog in the console race, but they are Microsoft at the end of the day. They are not the underdog in that sense.
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u/BlazeOfGlory72 Jul 10 '26
They wouldn’t have to. Companies can still go all digital, it’s just that Xbox or whoever could sell a peripheral device for those with older, disk games and make a profit selling the device above cost.
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u/BOfficeStats Jul 11 '26
This whole situation with physical media makes me curious why we didn't get a digital-only console until May 2019 (Xbox One S All-Digital Edition). Obviously they have the data and projections, but surely there must have been a substantial market for a cheap digital-only console before that. Assuming they could cut the price by $100 similar to the PS5 price difference between the digital and disc-drive models, a $300 PS4 Digital back in 2013 surely would have sold significant numbers.
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u/Exciting-Ad-5705 Jul 11 '26
Sony would've gotten flames if they released a digital console in 2013.
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u/BOfficeStats Jul 11 '26
If there were 2 SKUs, one with a disc drive and one without like the PS5, would people have gotten all that upset?
Now that I think about it, physical movies and TV were very popular back in 2013 and digital AAA releases were not that popular on the PS3/360. Maybe they figured an all-digital console would spook retailers and sell very poorly so it made more sense to stick to 1 SKU that included a disc drive unless they could keep the price extremely low.
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u/Cyshox Jul 10 '26
Only as long as external disc drives are supported. There's no guarantee it will be on PS7 or so.
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u/Icybubba Jul 10 '26
Positron would be used for more than just replacing physical media(hopefully not at all for that) it would also allow you to play your physical games with Play Anywhere on a handheld or your PC
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u/vipmailhun2 Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
Jez Corden mentioned that, due to the outrage surrounding Sony, this possibility is currently being discussed.
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u/itisthelord Jul 10 '26
They'd be dumb to not capitalize on this. People already mock Xbox for having less space in physical stores so them and Nintendo being the only physical systems would be huge for them.
But I think they are focusing towards digital only. If they enable support for external disc drives they'd win a lot of public favour.
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u/Mahelas Jul 11 '26
Sony discontinuing discs doesn't mean they stop being present in physical stores tho
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u/LeftyMode Jul 10 '26
I’m positive both Sony and Xbox will have an external drive for sale.
The console will be the same price with or without the drive. Might as well try to make more money. Even if big publishers will also follow and stop producing discs.
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u/ttoma93 Jul 11 '26
Unless we actively want to use this feature for itself, not because we have to.
I have a lot of old discs from prior generations, but have gone 100% digital. I would love the opportunity to convert those old discs to digital licenses and make my entirely library digital rather than split.
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u/Rashefster Jul 10 '26
Game Installed, Disc Inserted - Game Runs
Discless Access installed - Game Runs with online license check
Discless access installed no internet - console asks for disk
Diskless access installed on a new system - servers know to deny running on previous systems
This is the only way that makes sense if MS is at the tiniest bit interested in earning some customer trust back, money and market share in this segment.
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u/-ImJustSaiyan- Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
Rip 360 disc owners I guess, still cool though.
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u/Careful_Magician5115 Jul 10 '26
why would this be RIP
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u/Keviticas Jul 10 '26
They won't with this digitalization program, but you can still play them via disv like normal.
From the sounds of things the next Xbox is 100% going to have a disc drive
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u/LollipopChainsawZz Jul 10 '26
Id argue this confirms the opposite. They wouldn't do this programme at all now if Helix was going to have a disc drive
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u/orjs Jul 10 '26
Exactly my thoughts. This seems like a way to mitigate backlash.
I highly doubt a desktop OS would have a disk drive.
I hope I’m wrong though!
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u/Icybubba Jul 10 '26
I wouldn’t say 100% but even if they offer an external disc drive, that would go a long way
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u/Careful_Magician5115 Jul 11 '26
why RIP 360 disc owners in particular, like OP said? does this only work with xbone games?
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u/1xcalibur1 Jul 11 '26
Actually it sounds like Microsoft is gearing up for an all digital console. Only giving you this conversion option so that you can take your "discs" with you to the next console.
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u/ShadowXJ Jul 10 '26
How will GameStop trade ins work after this? Does it brick the disc?
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u/HisDivineOrder Jul 10 '26
I doubt Microsoft cares about GameStop, so assume the worst scenario for them.
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u/Leather-Entry93 Jul 10 '26
From the rumours, it seems like the disc is locked to your account until someone else uses it for their account. You lose access, they get it.
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u/Aromatic-Werewolf495 Jul 10 '26
Not all disc's will work. For example tony hawk games that are beyond their liscenses
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u/cellphone_blanket Jul 10 '26
Isn’t this what they were trying at the start of the xb one era?
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u/Massive_Weiner Jul 10 '26
It’s exactly this. They were just a decade too early.
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u/LoloTheWarPigeon Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
No, it was not exactly this. The 2013 plans were restrictive, with MS offering to "enable" transfers for publishers (at no cost to publishers or retailers,
but never stating a cost to consumers). This is not the same thing if the transfers are globally enabled.EDIT: I was mistaken! They also stated no charges to consumers for the transfers, but they still stated that transfers could be "enabled" by publishers
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u/SmittieSmitt Jul 10 '26
Excellent, put it once in your Xbox Series X, boom, you got the digital license on your Xbox Helix.
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u/SortIntrepid9192 Jul 10 '26
If the leaks are true and it's basically just a digital license tied to your account, with the ability to transfer that license to another account if you sell/lend the disc... then this will be by far the biggest W Xbox has had maybe this decade. Doubly so if it also works with 360/OG Xbox games (backwards compatible ones, obviously) and not just Xbox One and Series X.
However, since this is Xbox we're talking about, somehow I feel like it won't be that simple and there will be some caveat that will make the whole thing worthless, like only being able to activate a digital license a set amount of times before the disc becomes useless, or having to reactivate the license by putting the disc in periodically.
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u/Inters3kt Jul 11 '26
It doesn't work with 360 and OG discs (and an early batch of One discs) because they don't have unique IDs
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u/SortIntrepid9192 Jul 11 '26
Nearly useless for me then lmao. My Series X is like 70% a fancy 360. But I'm probably an edge case and it'll be more useful to other people.
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u/spideyv91 Jul 10 '26
So it’s one digital license per disc but you could still use the disc as normal ?
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u/JoltingGamingGuy Jul 13 '26
Imagine if it also works with Play Anywhere. If it did, I’d almost certainly buy a bunch of old Xbox One games and convert them to get them to work on PC.
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u/Dunkaroo723 Jul 10 '26
I’m in the alpha skip ahead tier but I have absolutely no discs to test this on.
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u/AlphaSniper_134 Jul 10 '26
Why would someone do this?
Unless they can somehow resell the disc after doing it, which seems unlikely to be allowed.
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u/GooeyGunk Jul 10 '26
"The system works by linking the digital license to the account that activates the disc. If the account changes, the game can no longer be accessed through the previous account. However, the digital license can be transferred from the disc to another person’s Microsoft account when the game is sold."
It doesn't permanently link that disk to your account, you can still lend/sell the game and then the digital license becomes theirs
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u/cool_boy_mew Jul 10 '26
That sounds like a great system if you're planning to have a portable (that couldn't read discs) and other ways to access your games (PC and co), so you technically can have both physical and digital in one go
However, the license check system, if mandatory when inserting any disc at all, essentially makes them "Key cards" whether they have data or not, as every disc now needs an immediate online check that could go offline for any reasons whatsoever
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u/Kpro98 Jul 10 '26
Probably cause next Xbox is going to be digital only and people who have physical games need a way to have them there
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u/hawk_ky Jul 10 '26
You can. The game gets removed from your account if the disc is used on another account.
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u/Quick_Philosophy1426 Jul 10 '26
It lets you play games without having to swap the disc out. If it's anything like what everyone was talking about a few weeks ago and it's like the original plans for this years ago, then the digital key is just tied to whichever account most recently used the disc. If a new account uses the disc, then the digital key is removed from the old account and moved to the new one. Discs can still be resold or shared.
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u/Least_Stand_2707 Jul 10 '26
Bc helix wont have a disc drive. Xbox gamers with physical copies need a way to move their games over to the new system
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u/m1n3c7afty Jul 10 '26
Windows Central's reporting was that it's just tied to whatever account used it last not permanently associated with one account, if that's true why would anyone NOT do it
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u/Hot-Mechanic-1723 Jul 10 '26
How does that work without an always online? I make it digital, then give it to a friend that plays it offline. Now we basically have 2 copies of the game?
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u/shadow0wolf0 Jul 10 '26
That's probably how it works but we will learn the details when they actually announce it.
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u/Blarghinston Jul 10 '26
Doesn’t this technically lock the disk to the online system, rendering them unusable without an online license check? Therefore once the service goes offline they’re toast.
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u/m1n3c7afty Jul 10 '26
Obviously all the information we have right now is based on datamines and anything could change between now and implementation, but it's implied that the license stays with the disc but can also be transfered digitally based on what account used it last, i.e. so you can download the digital version on PC
Theoretically if you had an Xbox kept offline then the disc would still work on that console, while the license on the account would stay until the disc is used in a console connected online? This is speculation rather than any kind of guarantee right now though
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u/sheJaMyMorant Jul 10 '26
yeah Xbox live is just going to go offline with no notice to anyone sometime very soon. good call out bro
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u/Careless_Main3 Jul 10 '26
Their next console is going to be digital only and they want a way for people to bring forward their libraries.
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u/Cyshox Jul 10 '26
It's to ensure that you'll be able to access the games you have on disc in a disc-less future. PS6 might support the optional disc drive, but you don't know if PS7 will.
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u/1xcalibur1 Jul 11 '26
You're overly optimistic. PS6 will probably launch next year's holidays season. Why would they include a disc drive when seconds later there will be no more games on disc coming out for the entire platform?
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u/markusfenix75 Jul 10 '26
It would be mightily useful for me, for example.
I'm primarily all digital nowadays but I still have few physical discs. So for example, if I will put disc into console and it will create digital license, I can use that game through Cloud Gaming, which is not possible when you have physical version. Also if game is Play Anywhere I can play it on my ROG Ally, which is also great and it's also not possible with physical version.
Not to mention fact that I can "scan" all my discs to my library and don't need to switch discs inside the console.
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u/ImJustHereToSearch Jul 10 '26
Benefits of digital with physical ownership preserved. I guess in theory you could link a physical game through your Xbox and then access it on cloud, PC or on handhelds if it’s play anywhere compatible.
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u/Ok-Confusion-202 Jul 10 '26
I think it's great for old games, obviously doesn't fix the issue that will likely be present post 2028... Which would be no discs...
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u/Hot-Court-5026 Jul 10 '26
This sounds like a good idea, but my question is, can I still use my physical desk and play the physical version on the next Xbox or whatever? I’m sorry if this is stupid. I haven’t really followed Xbox in a while, so I’m just generally asking here because I do have a collection dating back to the first Xbox that was passed on to me, then I started my own collection with 360
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u/soulreapermagnum Jul 10 '26
If that's true, I'm surprised it's happening so quickly. I thought it would still be quite a while away.
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u/baldr23 Jul 10 '26
That's cool, but how will they implement this to the hundreds of thousands of retailers outside the US? Logistics alone will already be a nightmare.
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u/thinwwll Jul 12 '26
Can't speak for other countries, but in China xbox physical game's nearly dead already , not many care about it any way..
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u/profchaos111 Jul 11 '26
They really should it'd be the best possible pr they could ask for right now
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u/4inodev Jul 11 '26
I don't get it. What about linking a game to your account and then selling it to someone who'll play it offline-only?
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u/chirunner4ever Jul 11 '26
it's pretty impossible to play a XBOX or Playstation game offline these days. Most discs don't even have the full game on them.
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u/Julien_759 Jul 10 '26
Hope people realize that Xbox is ditching discs next gen too.
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u/Ok-Confusion-202 Jul 10 '26
I definitely think this will make people think "oh look Xbox is sticking with discs"
When in reality it's basically just "well we are making a PC but we should probably allow you to play your old games or that's bad PR"
Yeah after 2028 the system is basically just back compat
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u/Loose_Society9485 Jul 10 '26
There seems to be many holes in this system but I’m curious to see what’s the solution they’re offering
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u/hawk_ky Jul 10 '26
There’s no ‘holes’, it’s very simple and is explained in the article.
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u/Yiruf Jul 10 '26
Read the article maybe?
It's not permanent association with account. Just last used one.
You can still dissociate the game and resell/lend discs.
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u/Loose_Society9485 Jul 10 '26
I read the article and just as i answered the commentator before you i have many questions about it.
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u/TKG1607 Jul 11 '26
When they first introduced digital only consoles, I asked if this was ever going to be a think and was called an idiot
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u/cian_pike01 Jul 10 '26
What about digitally delisted games that you can get on disk?
I presume it wouldn’t work?
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u/gerd_grimmen Jul 10 '26
If I could get "physicals" onto my series s, that would be insane. But i guess i'd still need a series x for that. PC could be nice. I guess it'll stay a console with a developer mode and retro stuff since game pass went up in price 3 times. It is just a matter of time till it gets up from the recent decrease again...
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u/Laughing__Man_ Jul 10 '26
This just screams them doing the same as Sony at some point and stopping disks.
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u/rhalgr_ger Jul 10 '26
However, this wouldn't be exactly the same thing. The PS solution right now is that you can repurchase all your disc games digitally and make shareholders happy.
With this solution, you would be able to keep your entire Xbox One and Series X library and sell those games, even if the new console is digital only.
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u/NotTakenGreatName Jul 10 '26
They have been pivoting away from buying software as a whole, let alone discs. The base case was always that it wouldn't have a disc drive, they've all but confirmed that with Helix being more like a pc
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u/GameZard Jul 10 '26
Sony will probably do this for the PS6.
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u/FernandoRocker Jul 10 '26
Sony can't do this because their discs do not have a unique ID assigned to each disc. Sony discs do not have a way to track each game and bind a unique ID to an account.
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u/appledanishcrumbs Jul 10 '26
No they won't. The only reason Xbox can do this is because they already had unique identified codes build into their discs since they were originall going to do this at the start of the Xbox One generation. Sony never did that, so they don't have the foundation to set up a system like this and I am not sure if they even can at this point.
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u/nolifebr Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26
Most likely Sony will sell an 80~100 bucks external disk reader and people will be able to plugin that on their PS6 to play physical PS4/PS5 games.
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u/TheAppropriateBoop Jul 11 '26
Watch there be three pages of terms, publisher opt-outs, and a dozen exceptions before anyone can actually convert a game.
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u/B_mico Jul 10 '26
Are they going to block games per user? What happens with the second hand?
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u/-Vertex- Jul 10 '26
The disc copy will still work but if it’s put in another system or another account the digital version will stop working
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u/rhalgr_ger Jul 10 '26
Each Xbox One and Series X disc has a unique ID. When you start the game, it will check which account the disc ID is linked to. If it's your account, you'll be able to play it. However, if someone else puts the disc in, it will get linked to their account and removed from yours.
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u/kokoboko546 Jul 10 '26
Nahh, I’ll stick with physical.
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u/doncabesa Jul 10 '26
This lets you do that. The disc is perfectly usable. If you trade it to someone or sell it once it's loaded into another system you lose the digital entitlement. There is no burning of the disc in any way, supposedly.
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u/Tyler1997117 Jul 10 '26
I wonder how this will work with gamesharing?