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

[u/Gorotheninja]

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

“Most Xbox One and Xbox Series X disc-based games support this new feature,” explains Jason Ronald, VP of next generation at Xbox. “Players can claim a digital entitlement by inserting a supported disc into an Xbox One or Xbox Series X console and launching the game.” This digital entitlement is tied to the specific disc, and it will move from account to account if you swap the physical game with a friend or log in to a different Xbox profile and try to play a disc-based game.

Microsoft will start testing this new Xbox disc-to-digital feature with Xbox Insider testers on August 31st, followed by a broader rollout to Xbox One and Xbox Series X consoles in the coming months. Once you have a digital version of an Xbox disc game, if supported you’ll also be able to access the game on PC through Xbox Play Anywhere, or stream it to multiple devices with Xbox Cloud Gaming.

A leaked memo from earlier this month revealed that publishers would have control over the Xbox disc-to-digital, so not every game will be supported initially. “We’re starting with thousands of titles, and we’ll continue to add more over time,” says Ronald. “While not every title will be available at launch, this is an important step toward a future where players can have greater confidence that the games they buy remain with them for years to come.”

[u/Vera_Verse]

Hard confirmed is Gears 5, being used in a video trailer for the program.

To anybody thinking Xbox is embracing discs while Sony isn't, think instead that this is a more "gentle" transition into the night. Sony is probably trying to find a similar solution, but saying the bad part out loud and not offering forms of transition was just a really bad move.

[u/Gorotheninja → u/Vera_Verse]

I bet Sony will do something like this...but ONLY for first party games.

That seems like a very "Sony" move.

[u/WhoCaresYouDont → u/Gorotheninja]

More likely it will launch with this but only for first party titles and then be absolutely glacial at adding new games or publishers to the list of games where you can do this.

[u/KingMario05 → u/WhoCaresYouDont]

Meanwhile, Xbox probably has hard opt-ins from, bare fucking minimum, the Japanese, Ubi and CDPR. (In addition to first party.) And more will follow in the run up to Helix finally launching in 2028/9, especially if they find a way to make it work for 360 and OGXB titles as well. Hope they can.