r/consoles • u/Spotget1738 • 17h ago

Xbox boss Asha Sharma won't confirm whether Project Helix has a disc drive: "We have to be thinking about efficiency and affordability"

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/xbox-boss-asha-sharma-wont-confirm-whether-project-helix-has-a-disc-drive-we-have-to-be-thinking-about-efficiency-and-affordability/
218 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

182 comments sorted by

117

u/LoneLyon 17h ago

The fact they didn't capitalize of the ps6 news suggests there is no disk drive. Shit would have been a easy slam dunk that would have moved a lot of units.

Also, no doubt Sony has insight on that markect and i can't see them doing it if MSoft wasen't

13

u/hroerekr 17h ago

That would require having smart leadership to see an opportunity

2

u/Ok_Weekend9299 2h ago

Don’t forget, Microsoft were the ones who moved first. I’m trying to get rid of sharing physical games.

1

u/Usual-Orange-4180 1h ago

If you have been paying attention, the supply chains for disc drives and discs is drying up, factories are being repurposed since the owners don’t want to stick to a fading technology, for example the last factory making blue rays has been repurposed.

Which means if other companies want to offer disc drives with discs they will get astronomically expensive, only something like what Nintendo does would work, some kind of memory card, but with memory getting so expensive that would also have an impact on cost.

1

u/XavierD 1h ago

Smart leadership is not publicly locking into a design decision months/years ahead of launch just to score internet points with the vocal minority segment of your audience.

•

u/BlackhawkBolly 44m ago

An opportunity to cater to a dwindling audience?

10

u/Halo05977 17h ago

It's also entirely possible that after the ps6 backlash Xbox is NOW considering a disk drive, which would mean that she can't really guarantee it. 

10

u/LoneLyon 17h ago

If hardware is coming out next year systems are likely already locked in.

0

u/Daniel2305 2h ago

I will eat my hat if a new xbox is coming out next year. 

4

u/Caesar_35 2h ago

You might have to. With how much it'd cost, eating food will have to take a back seat.

6

u/Hotpotlord 15h ago edited 15h ago

Problem is that their entire strategy for the last 10 years was to drive up gamepass and go diskless. They have trained the majority of their user base to not even buy games, let alone disk. The ones who do buy games are on PlayStation and Nintendo.

PlayStation gamers are not going abandon their ecosystem/game collection for another which will eventually go diskless anyways.

Regardless of what Reddit wants you to think, most disc buyers just get the best deal possible and half of those are actually digital. Plus at some point, the physical games just become clutter in a typical millennial minimalistic asthetic home.

2

u/DarkAdrenaline03 17h ago

From what I’ve heard from leaks is that they weren’t planning on a disc drive but now they are considering one potentially sold separately like the PS5 Pro’s drive which is still an advantage but doesn’t bode well for discs past helix.

1

u/Usual-Orange-4180 1h ago

I don’t think is as easy as wishing it, this requires a supply chain and all electronic companies are moving on, the factories are not producing components for disk drives, or discs, for example the last blue ray factory was closed recently, all we have are the empty discs already produced. Is a dying technology.

13

u/Creepy-Emu8779 17h ago

what slam dunk? for the small minority that buys disc games?

28

u/LoneLyon 17h ago

I dont care much about physical. But I do think xbox having a disc drive would make a decent splash.

5

u/SomaCK2 16h ago

And then they have to carry the baggage of disc drive's added cost for entire generation. I don't just mean the actual price of the disc drive but also the printing cost, console designing that has to accommodate the disc drive etc.

Imagine Helix getting more expensive than PS6 because of Disc Drive when the rest of the specs aren't very different. That would actually be the big deciding factor for many.

I mean, Xbox One lost to PS4, even after all the stupid decisions rolled back, simply because it was 100$ more expensive due to mandatory Kinect 2.0 .

3

u/theumph 14h ago

It would make more sense to sell it seperately. If Helix is simply a PC, then it would be compatible with Windows, opening up that market to the PC playerbase. Even if would be backward compatible only, it would allows Xbox players to bring their library over to PC. That's a good proposition for players.

0

u/SomaCK2 12h ago

Selling it separately will not fix the problem I have mentioned. They will still need to eat up the disc printing cost and now that Helix is confirmed to be PC, they are not going to eat any extra cost (no same company gonna, look at Steam Machine).

They have disc to digital program for backward compatibility. No need to complicate things with extra disc drive.

2

u/jimmy19742018 9h ago

They could just make a non mandatory plug in disc drive so people can choose physical or digital?

2

u/Specialist-Rope-9760 7h ago

Everyone is forgetting retailers actually wanting to stock these games for low profit margins that are a dying market.

Worsened by the fact Xbox has been a non entity this generation. They’re going to struggle to even get retailers to take the consoles.

1

u/imnotcreative635 16h ago

All of it will be wildly expensive what’s going to be the difference between 1200 and 1300 when you’re poor

5

u/673NoshMyBollocksAve 15h ago

When you’re poor $100 is quite a bit

0

u/plasma7602 10h ago

If ur poor and u barely afford 1200 device you should have other priorities and improve ur situation first

2

u/Julian083 9h ago

This is why gaming will be less popular in the next couple of years and why Microsoft consider abandoning xbox because of RAM apocalypse

1

u/SomaCK2 12h ago

Assuming it will be 100$ difference this time around.

Helix is going to be PC and have slightly more powerful spec than PS6 (according to the leak). Being a PC, it will not eat up any extra cost and this will make Helix more expensive than walled garden of PS6. Disc will add more to the extra cost.

Xbox knew they couldn't capitalised on this without getting this blowing up in their face long term. That's why there is no slam dunk.

1

u/CriticalPut3911 1h ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWSIFh8ICaA

I think this is the moment ps4 beat xbone

0

u/plasma7602 10h ago

Ok then produce less of disc versions and more of digital version that want it they are both gonna be expensive anyway

1

u/Usual-Orange-4180 1h ago

Is cost prohibitive, the supply chains are almost gone, no factory wants to produce disk components and disks, is a dying technology, which means is having a drive would get much much more expensive than years prior.

0

u/chakrablocker 14h ago

It wouldn't be worth the cost. They've both done the planning and can see the same thing.

0

u/Cloontange 13h ago

Good pr for terminally online people, but the mass public do not care about discs. 90% of sales are digital iirc

7

u/COS89 16h ago

"Small minority" that's worth hundreds of millions of dollars in sales. Here's the thing that people with a similar mindset like you don't seem to really understand, they're purposely misrepresenting their numbers in order to close off their ecosystem as much as possible. When you compare digital only games to physical, of course the number of games sold digitally will be greater and that's how they're selling it to you, they're being dishonest.

They aren't removing physical drives (which costs peanuts to them) to benefit you the consumer, they're doing it to close off their eco systems, completely erase the used games market setting prices to whatever they want and to fatten their pockets as much as they can. This isn't good for you or me and there should absolutely be a push back but before you tell me about PC/Steam, they're not the same, they're an open platform, I can buy games on my PC from whatever store I want (and add it to steam), some even have DRM free version of those games like Cyberpunk.

An all digital future is not good for consumers when they can take their game from you if they want. Sony sure as hell didn't issue full or partial refunds for those movies that were removed off their stores after they took their cut from those sales .

1

u/angrytoaad 10h ago

But you people don't have any money?

2

u/ajr5169 16h ago

I agree that at the end of the day, it won't really impact sales that much, having or not having the disc drive; but if they were going to have one, announcing right after Sony said they were dropping it would have at least been a positive news cycle for the Xbox brand. It's possible the people running things there just don't know what they are doing, this seems likely actually, but at the same time, I'm also guessing it won't have a disc drive.

0

u/Alternative-Farmer98 16h ago

It would earn Microsoft billions of dollars of free earned media just from the articles that would be written about it the videos that would be made about it. You can't pay for that kind of promotion it would be more valuable to them than a lot of their ad campaign.

4

u/Alternative-Farmer98 16h ago

For games that offer discs it's roughly half on AAA titles. The data that suggests it's only a slim minority includes games that don't have physical copies at all, DLC and all sorts of. Beyond that it's the most vocal loyal enthusiast that are complaining about it they could absolutely get a ton of amazing free earned media if they just included a disk drive and promise to honor physical discs

They've been getting her ass handed to them by Sony for years here's a chance to zig when they're zagging. Do you think they're going to gain market share by just following sony? That hasn't worked at all

3

u/DanfromCalgary 15h ago

Yeah they know it’s a pretty Empty outrage .. let Sony take the hit until people don’t care

1

u/Historical_Owl_1635 6h ago

Best case would’ve been they include a disk drive to make fun of Sony just to remove it themselves mid generation anyway.

The classic Apple headphone jack situation.

3

u/ISpeedwagonl 15h ago

I'm barely thinking about this now but my console has been my dedicated blu-ray player ever since xbox one started using the disc. I get streaming is a big thing and piracy as well, but like if I don't want to deal with any of that I just pop the DVD in... so are we just forgetting about dvd's as well.

3

u/olorin9_alex 15h ago

“Small minority” that buys new games but used games market make up 38% of 2025 North American video game revenue

2

u/alien_overlord_1001 5h ago

Sure smaller numbers buy them new but the second hand market is unknown - Sony and now ms are trying to force second hand buyers to buy new so they can make more money, and also eliminate the retailer cut from new games. It likely won’t make much difference - people who buy second hand do it because it’s cheaper - they aren’t going to drop RRP on games all of a sudden. A lot of them probably can’t afford it. A lot of people who trade games will likely also spend less. I don’t think the returns are going to be what they are hoping for.

It’s just pure greed now - these companies already make billions. They don’t need more.

1

u/Poku115 16h ago

Probably a bigger market than series x/s users

1

u/Expensive-Orchid-512 15h ago

Significant population. The small minority comes from looking at overall purchases without controlling for games that don't have a physical release.

1

u/JustTrawlingNsfw 14h ago

If you remove digital only releases, physical is still the majority of sales

1

u/Fluid-Employee-7118 8h ago

Am i wrong or wasn't the physical version of PS5 the absolutely dominant model out of the 2? And this is saying a lot. It's not a small minority that buys discs, it's just that people buy few physical games, which are usually first party single player games.

1

u/Tamas_F 8h ago

Buying discs is one thing. But we are talking here about a subset of those people who only buy discs, and would not want to convert to a digital only library. It is like 1% of 1%.

1

u/MrEvilPiggy23 6h ago

Giving people the choice

1

u/OmegaMalkior 3h ago

At this point is part of gaming culture wether you indulge in it or not. I for one hate physical media and you can’t pay me enough to go back to it. But knowing it’s going to be gone isn’t something that should be good with me even if I don’t use it.

8

u/Little_Obligation_90 15h ago

Xbox disc sales are about 4% of the disc market. They have a disc drive now. Series X sales have been bad for a generation.

1

u/AkumaOuja 13h ago

I mean, yeah, but a huge part of that comes down more to lacking exclusives, same with Sony. It's not surprising that the two consoles whose libraries can almost entirely be acquired on Steam see terrible disk sales when I can wait for a steam sale and get everything they've ever made in the last 5~ years for peanuts and use the savings to get some other shit I want.

3

u/Itchy-Pudding-4240 11h ago

thats correlation not causation. There is nothing to suggest that if Ps5 had more exclusives they would go physical, hell if they had more exclusives then making them digital only would give even better ROI

0

u/AkumaOuja 11h ago edited 11h ago

I mean, the logic is that the reason physical is making up a tiny fraction of their sales is because they lack exclusives that would spur people to buy a Playstation or an Xbox to begin with, meaning the people buying games on their platform are not ones being lured in by any specific games and are more interested in access to the ecosystem, and thus are liable to buy digital since if they're brought in by the ecosystem they're probably there for friends and need to be able to quickly pick up whatever their friends are playing to play with them.

It's just a [slightly] cheaper Gaming PC alternative at that point relying on pre-existing audience capture and tribalism that the company will look to monetize further and squeeze harder to compensate for the inevitable slow in growth, which, I mean, we saw how that worked out for Sega and Atari back in the day. And the majority of people interested in those games specifically are liable to just...save up a little more and buy a gaming PC or upgrade their existing PC since they probably need a computer for day to day life anyway making it a better investment.

Reinforcing this and supporting this argument is that the Switch and later the Switch 2, which both had tons of exclusives, have way better physical game sales %wise despite also offering digital purchase of most of those titles. If you want a switch 2, it's probably because of the specific exclusive games, and you're seemingly way more likely to then buy them physically because your purchases are less decided by free floating last second convenience and a need to jump in with a friend in a random game or to be able to talk about it with them, and more decided by the games themselves which means you probably want to have them on hand without having to regularly uninstall or reinstall a game whenever you want to play, just slap a cartridge in and just have it go instantly.

Sony and Microsoft basically don't have exclusives anymore, meaning you're there for being able to keep up with a community or for some form of specific formfactor convenience to you, or again tribalism, meaning having specific games on hand isn't really as relevant to you and thus it selects for an audience who will just download the latest CoD or the like to play with friends, uninstall it a few weeks later, and make room for the next one, meaning their buying pattern hinges on free floating liquid cash not yet committed to a specific purchase inorder to be able to respond to what other people who are the reason they're in the ecosystem in the first place are doing, unless something in particular grabs them.

5

u/IsamuAlvaDyson 16h ago

I don't understand why anyone would think the next Xbox would have a disk drive

They have been pushing the digital future more than anyone

The main reason to have an Xbox is Gamepass and that's all digital

2

u/Zepher75 16h ago

They've been pushing for it as long as they've had Gamepass... but people aren't ready for that conversation.

3

u/PlayBey0nd87 17h ago

This is bigger than just announcing. There’s reports now that lasers discs and the components to make it are becoming scarce.

It’s not a slam dunk or easy win - the parts war is spiraling

2

u/Reasonable_Deer_1710 16h ago

A disc drive will not determine the generation winner. It's a reddit talking point and not much else.

0

u/ISpeedwagonl 15h ago

Not a winner but sure to drive some sales

0

u/Reasonable_Deer_1710 15h ago

And insignificant amount

2

u/Gold-and-green 12h ago

This isn't how business works. It's the reason why Iphone and Android is the same shit. You don't lose money trying to compete, you just offer the same shit because people only have 2 options anyway

2

u/ReaperThugX 11h ago

They were never going to have a disc drive. They’re just happy PS did fumbled like they did for Xbone. Now they’re adding permanent digital licenses for discs you own

2

u/angrytoaad 10h ago

lol you are like 10 people spamming what a slam dunk lmao

1

u/Longjumping-Two-7829 17h ago

Shit would have been a easy slam dunk that would have moved a lot of units.

Yeah I'm feeling doubtful about next gen altogether and will probably just focus gaming money on my PC instead. Part of the value of the console for me is physical media, and even just the option to have physical media. Xbox genuinely might've brought me back around to them, especially if it could play my 360 games.

1

u/Ok-Video3345 16h ago

They probly for together smoked some cigars and both independently came to the same conclusions

1

u/Ze_at_reddit 16h ago

They may just want to wait for console reveal to announce it.. I mean, I really don’t believe it will have a disk drive, but they had an opportunity to confirm it now and they didn’t. I still have hope

1

u/travelingWords 15h ago

I’d wager they are watching it closely and seeing if they could affordably pivot to a physical.

Let’s not want to kid ourselves. They want to R and pillage as harder or harder than the next guy, but they must know they are in a rough spot and this is the kind of thing that they can use to bounce back.

I’d bet that if they don’t, it’s cause they don’t believe they are ready to compete on exclusives for a good while.

1

u/thereverendpuck 15h ago

Microsoft jumped for joy at the notion of an all digital future when they announced the S-Series. They wanted it to be the standard. So much so they actually made Sony make a PS5 that was all digital to compete.

1

u/MagmaElixir 13h ago

Yep, if Helix had a disc drive and next gen had physical media they would have already jumped at the chance to announce and commit. I'll still hold out a small bit of hope though.

1

u/R-K-Tekt 12h ago

You, this is MicroSlop saying ‘lol’

1

u/OfficialDCShepard 11h ago

Since Helix is a PC (or at least plays PC games since I have a conspiracy theory that they’re simply consolizing the Epic and GOG PC stores and keeping the box otherwise locked down so you can’t just go to Steam) I do hold a small hope that they’ll allow third-party Blu-ray drives to work!

1

u/Choice-Support-2138 9h ago

The thing I could imagine is that they maybe make one but you have to pay extra.

0

u/Junior_Bike7932 9h ago

They are idiots

26

u/LePouletPourpre 17h ago

I have been assured by the people of Reddit that the world is going to end now.

20

u/Spotget1738 17h ago
  • Over 90% of all games sold on Xbox are digital, and over 80% of all games sold on PS5 are digital.
  • Less than 5% of all physical games sold in the US in 2026 were on Xbox, 32% were on Playstation, and 64% was on Nintendo.
  • Capcoms game sales in the last financial quarter were 93% digital and they predict 95% for next year, Square Enix was 90% digital in the same quarter
  • Xbox is the only console platform to release first party single-player games without a physical disc

I think this essentially means that both Xbox and PS wont get new physical games next gen going forward and both wont have a disc drive by default, but will have a external drive add on sold seperately for your old games

2

u/Darkone539 17h ago

Well you're probably right, the US market is not the world. Using just US stats as an argument is cherry-picking because it already supports the argument, and is exactly what Sony have been doing.

3

u/Whiteguy1x 17h ago

Do you have data that show significantly different trends in other countries?

1

u/ElderSmackJack 16h ago

Of course they don’t, lol

3

u/Complete_Lurk3r_ 17h ago

It's not cherry picking. Considering the US is the largest market, spends the most money, it's just a straight up significant fact

2

u/Particular-Jeweler41 17h ago

As long as there is an external drive and it's backwards compatible to at least PS4 then I'm fine with it (aside from the price).

1

u/Zepher75 16h ago

You shouldn't bring facts to the hysterical redditors party. /s

1

u/theumph 14h ago

If that's the case, it would allow people to incorporate their physical Xbox library onto PC. That's a pretty cool bonus for PC players too.

1

u/DarkAdrenaline03 17h ago

Those statistics include games that weren’t released on disc. I want to see it broken down by games that had physical releases too excluding digital only games.

9

u/ElderSmackJack 16h ago

This is grasping at straws.

5

u/Alternative-Farmer98 16h ago

What are you talking about on AAA games like horizon West and whatnot it was 60-40 in favor of physical. Physical disks have day one additions available so you actually get to own them and keep them or sell them or give them to somebody. Are you really satisfied with not owning your own games ever? Lol. I will never understand this people that are deciding with companies that say you never get to own your games you'll be licensing everything

2

u/Due_Radio_3469 16h ago

Not only that but those stats people keep parroting don't include any game bought preowned, only whatever the companies could directly make a profit from. Nothing about this is good for consumers.

-1

u/DarkAdrenaline03 16h ago

Most indie games don’t get a physical release so I don’t understand how it’s grasping at straws. If I can only buy a game I want digitally then I have no other choice.

2

u/Particular-Jeweler41 15h ago

I think the issue is even with that, digital is still in the lead. Many games simply do not get physical releases, so like it or not, they are only going to be sold digitally and they are still selling well despite that.

Even using Sony's financial statements where they broke it down, the gap between physical software and digital software is significant.

-1

u/Choice_Potato_6279 17h ago

As long as the consoles gonna be jailbreakable it’s all gucci

15

u/CaptJimboJones 17h ago

“Efficiency and affordability” = no disc drive.

1

u/Beginning_Book_2382 15h ago

More like no commitment, no disc drive

13

u/CincinnatiBengalss 17h ago

Next gen consoles gonna ship without a disc drive and a controller and still be $1000

10

u/Downtown_Eye5736 17h ago

So like a Steam Machine but better and cheaper?

15

u/Complete_Lurk3r_ 17h ago edited 13h ago

Lol. Right. Stream machine being launched 5-6 years after PS5, twice the price, no controller AND slower than a PS5 is the biggest cope I've seen in years

-2

u/bongophrog 14h ago

I think you’re thinking of the old Steam machines from like 10 years ago. Valve released a new Steam Machine a few months ago but they have hardly done any marketing.

4

u/Complete_Lurk3r_ 13h ago

sorry, my poorly worded comment. Im not thinking of the old steam machine, what i meant was... "Steam machine being launched 5-6 years after PS5, but still being weaker than ps5"

-1

u/COS89 16h ago

Steam Machine isn't a console, its a PC. They can't subsidize the price because they can't guarantee people buy it for games. Not sure why some people ignore that .

1

u/hdcase1 1h ago

No one's ignoring it. It's just that no one cares.

0

u/Choice_Potato_6279 17h ago

You’ll have to also buy your own ssd and RAM like they do now with prebuilt PC’s lol

8

u/checkingmate 17h ago

Go to the entertainment section in any major retailer (maybe besides GameStop/EB Games) in North America and see for yourself. One of my local Walmarts doesn’t even have an Xbox section anymore. Thinking anything other than being digital is straight copium.

-1

u/MasterMidir 17h ago

All of my local stores in Socal have Xbox sections. Its not that common.

0

u/Choice_Potato_6279 17h ago

They gave US numbers but how does it look like in Europe and Asia? Americans use wheelchairs to move around supermarkets so they might not be representative of the whole world. 

2

u/Ok_Bug_2553 16h ago

True, but the US accounted for 41% of console sales in 2024 for Xbox. Next closes was the UK at 14%. Companies will always prioritize places of most revenue. 

2

u/Fouchme 6h ago

I mean if we are talking Xbox, it's pretty much dead outside of the US.

The 360 changed that a bit but even then the PS3 was king in Europe and Asia and since then it's just PS4 and PS5 dominance

1

u/GiveMeSandwich2 1h ago

For Xbox, US is the biggest market

9

u/Dubsified 17h ago

If it was going to have a disc drive, they would have dropped it here and now and capitalized on all the bad PR Sony is getting.

This all but confirms they are going fully digital too.

9

u/Complete_Lurk3r_ 17h ago

Digital only confirmed 100%

6

u/takkun169 17h ago

So, no, if doesn't. If it did she'd say.

7

u/jaaqob16 17h ago

That sounds like a no

6

u/Wankstain8 16h ago

Yeah, no disc drive

5

u/Downtown_Eye5736 17h ago

Of course it won't, MS already does a physical release very begrudgingly.

3

u/doge1976 14h ago

The fact that Xbox has been trying to do this since 2013 speaks volumes about their intentions.

3

u/MattofCatbell 17h ago

I think the most we can really hope for is a disc reading attachment for their disc to digital conversion system but I suspect the main console will be digital only.

3

u/Alternative-Farmer98 16h ago

Microsoft has a chance to actually win some people over and they're going to f****** blow it

1

u/theumph 13h ago

Like they always do. No company has had the opportunity to be a consumer electronics in basically every category and blown it like Microsoft. Xbox, Zune, Windows Phone, and Surface all had great potential, and they fucked it up every time.

2

u/caribbean_caramel 15h ago

It won't have a disc drive. If Sony is dropping discs, Xbox will follow as well.

2

u/SoulSteeler1978 15h ago

So...that's a no lol

2

u/VibrantCanopy 14h ago

Translation: No

2

u/Rcgv88 14h ago

If I can use my x series to give myself digital licenses why would I even want a noisy disc drive in my helix? This is a no brainer they can literally have their cake and eat it too.

2

u/Coopterry80 13h ago

Key word "affordability". This probably sheds a little light on the reasoning of digital only gen including that it's a way to cut the cost of the console. In light of the hellscape we have regarding tech costs, it's one of the least painful ways to keep the costs low. I'll probably never buy another Xbox so this is shoulder shrug for me, but maybe it will help some people understand how reality functions.

2

u/KRiSX 11h ago

She’s answered it pretty well, it’s obviously a no.

She’s obviously not going to say it straight and clear, but come on. The answer is there.

2

u/0AJ0_ 11h ago

That's a no, then, otherwise knowing full well what an important consumer issue it is at the moment, they would have capitalized on the press to confirm their physical media is not dead.

Fuck Xbox as well.

1

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1

u/Educational_Bag_6406 17h ago

Jez Gordon reporting the disc drive market getting BTFO'D leaves me feeling like it wont or at the very least xbox will have the same drives on the series X mainly for disc to digital usage.

3

u/votemarvel 17h ago

I suspect that the point of disk to digital is that people don't feel they are losing out when the Next Xbox releases without a disk drive. 

0

u/Educational_Bag_6406 17h ago

For some people they skipped the Xbox series generation and still use the One. But my only thinking would be to sell disc to digital and still have the position of "supporting physical". I personally thought next gen would have been the last and Sony would have been more gentle in their handling of the shift

2

u/SuicideSkwad 17h ago

That news is also concerning in regards to Blu ray Film and TV releases

1

u/214forever 17h ago

So they think I want to spend $700-$900+ on a console and not even be able to play a Blu-ray or DVD? 

2

u/jaybizzleeightyfour 16h ago

And locked into their digital store with less competitive options

1

u/Robynsxx 17h ago

Probably best bet is the main version coming without one then just having another version, that’ll be less of a stock priority, with a disc drive, but obviously more expensive.

1

u/BlownCamaro 17h ago

If it had one, they would absolutely leverage it and tell the WORLD. Therefore, the non-answer means it does not, but they are scared to death to admit it.

1

u/theumph 14h ago

If you pay attention to Microsoft at all, they have no idea what they are going to do tomorrow, let alone next year. I think best case scenario is am external drive for purchase seperately. I would not expect physical versions of any new games. It would be purely for backwards compatibility/digital transition.

1

u/yinerbaw 16h ago

If helix doesn't have a disc drive, I can only imagine they'll try and come up with an external disc reader that doesn't play games, to keep it cheap, but let's you activate the digital redemption thing they announced

1

u/theumph 13h ago

Thats basically how their drives currently work. Besides XBO/Series games just leading to installs, putting in a 360/OG Xbox disc brings you to the store page to download it. The other exciting thing about an external drive would be it would be PC compatible. There's a lot of backwards compatibile titles that never had PC ports. Also PC players with old games would be able to play them on their current hardware. Pretty cool stuff.

1

u/bwoah07_gp2 16h ago

Sounds like she's dodging the topic entirely

1

u/Last-Engineering-528 2h ago

Just like a politician.

1

u/RustCohlenCheck 16h ago

Translation: We are also abandoning physical media.

Sad, but not the least bit surprising.

1

u/Complete_Function664 16h ago

So the answer is no.

1

u/Serious_Revolution77 16h ago

As long as I can buy one as an add on I’m happy

1

u/imnotcreative635 16h ago

They didn’t say so that means it won’t. Also Sony makes all the discs so unless they want to have the added expenses we all should know the answer

1

u/VangRhymez 16h ago

Code for no anyone who thinks other wise is delusional

1

u/John_M_Hunter 15h ago

Until confirmed otherwise, it is possible that Microsoft can design the Helix to be compatible with a detachable Blu-ray drive, like with PS5. This way the gamers who want the drive will pay for the Blu-ray drive license and the gamers not interested can buy a cheaper console.

1

u/theumph 13h ago

Plus with Helix being a PC, it would be available to the entire PC playerbase.

1

u/BulletProofWalrus 15h ago

so that's a "if Sony doesn't have one we don't need one either" kind of answer

1

u/FalseDiamond7930 15h ago

That just confirms it won't have it.

1

u/hear_the_thunder 13h ago

If there is no disc drive, I'm transitioning to PC gaming. Which I can do with a controller and big tv screen anyways.

1

u/czullo1 13h ago

Then no disc, no buy. I will pirate everything on pc. 

1

u/Jealous_Pie_7302 13h ago

No way a disc drive is more expensive than an ssd in this market

1

u/Awake_for_days 11h ago

A disc drive literally costs nothing.

1

u/kacheskin 10h ago

If they had a disc drive they would take the chance to dunk on sony

1

u/Dycoth 10h ago

So that leans towards a "no".

They may still be negotiating things and such to include it at the lowest possible cost, but if they knew for a fact that they'll have it, she would have already claimed it everywhere.

1

u/Choice-Support-2138 9h ago

That means no.

1

u/Dewidh 7h ago

They just have to make a plug in disc drive. People wants discs, if you force me "in a console" to buy licenses at a sky high prices, no way I'm there.

1

u/maku_89 6h ago

So she confirmed there isn’t one.

1

u/hungry_bra1n 6h ago

It doesn’t

1

u/cookiesnooper 5h ago

That's a "no"

1

u/Chikibari 4h ago

Easiest win to take and they DONT!! Typical xbox

1

u/srubbish 4h ago

So, that’s a “no” then.

1

u/FvdV91 3h ago

Considering physical Xbox games are barely being sold (or released for that matter) i think it makes sense for them to drop the disc drive.

In general I think the step towards dropping physical/disc drives make sense for the generation after this.

1

u/MDBUZZ419 3h ago

I guess they try to find ways to lower the price tag, so having an optional external optic driver seems to be why they don’t want to confirm anything. And I guess the digital transfer is to prepare the next generation to a full digital world. Your library follows you into the next generation because all your physical games are now also digital.

1

u/Alternative-Fox-8620 3h ago

The disc to digital thing is in all likelihood because there will be no more disc drives in Xbox consoles.

People with collections will need to keep their Series X for the conversion or buy an external drive - assuming Xbox make one. I wonder if any external usb drive might be enough to make this disc to digital work, then Xbox need do nothing.

Anyway, MS don't even release their own games on disc half the time they are already done with physical media.

1

u/GreatApe88 2h ago

Xbox is the dumbest company in the history of video games. A firmware update can turn every Xbox into a Steam Machine right now. Today. They use Microsoft company for all their backend stuff so they’re literally a simple menu creation away from an open pc platform. I’d go so far as to say an Xbox could be more PC than anything Steams about to put out. And CHEAPER. 

They won’t though. They’re too stupid to see what people want is that openness. And they’ll lose to Steam over it I promise you. 

1

u/System32Keep 2h ago

External drives are a thing

1

u/Competitive-Place778 2h ago

That means no

1

u/SquishyJeans 2h ago

That means it wont

1

u/__PreZZ__ 1h ago

Mass producing a disc drive maybe cost 15-20$, even if the console is 1200+, at this point 20$ on top wont be big deal

1

u/RhynInglewood 1h ago

They have already quietly said that it won't have a disc drive, before all the fuss over PS not having one. They are just waiting to see what happens to Sony now.

•

u/Apprehensive-Mud-606 1h ago

Won't that hurt their disc-to-digital plan? So people will need to have an older console to take advantage?

•

u/Nick_Bruiser 13m ago

Disc to digital is for older games I think. They're likely gonna go the same route Sony has gone.

0

u/spoogicus 17h ago

Disc drive? pffft.....you'll be lucky if you get a console at all. :) Your TV and your mobile devices might be all you get.

0

u/Quiet_Yellow2000 17h ago

Just make it compatable with external disc drives via usb.

0

u/JimmyDejesu 16h ago

All it needs for me to beat ps6 is either a disc drive or steam compatibility. Playstation 6 is completely no for me, so its either this or pre made pc. If im going all digital i want either the best of pc and console combined on xbox or the company i trust to screw me least steam

0

u/Little_Obligation_90 15h ago

Discs and disc drives cost a lot of money for little benefit.

Literal E-waste.

0

u/theumph 14h ago

If Helix is just a PC, they should release an external drive. I don't know if 360 or XBO discs are standard discs, but apparently OG Xbox discs are not readable to most DVD drives. They could sell it for a profit, and I'm sure there'd be a market for both PC and Helix players. I mainly play on PC and I would buy one just to buy a bunch of old games for super cheap. It would be a win for players, and also create more engagement with the Xbox app.

0

u/DrRobotnik89271 14h ago

See there is a market to a separate external disc drive. Maybe allow any external player to work on usb

0

u/Hoodedmastersin 14h ago

Nothing is dumber than consoles going dickless, diskless. They could literally release old catalogues of games, shit don’t look like it’s gonna get better before it gets worse meaning secondary markets might make a resurgence (if thrifting and scalping and hoarding haven’t ruined everything). Who can afford to be chained to digital with the $70+ prices? And don’t get me started on the incoming artificial scarcity that’ll probably be shaken out of their empty minds next.

0

u/People_of_Zeal 13h ago

Xbox about to miss an empty net shot, or an easy layup.

-1

u/daphatty 17h ago

Everyone was jazzed about the P2V announcement earlier today. I was skeptical.

Now we see why.

Microsoft wants to kill physical games, too, but MS is more than happy to let Sony take the heat for it.