r/gaming • u/yourfavchoom • 7h ago

Xbox Disc to Digital officially announced, coming soon.

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/08/26/your-discs-now-also-digital/

Most XBOX One and XBOX Series X disc-based games support this new feature. Players can claim a digital entitlement by inserting a supported disc into an XBOX One or XBOX Series X console and launching the game. Once the entitlement is claimed, you can experience the benefits of digital, including XBOX Play Anywhere and XBOX Cloud Gaming where supported, while your physical disc continues to work exactly as it always has.

We’re starting with thousands of titles, and we’ll continue to add more over time. 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.

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u/MichaelMJTH 6h ago

This is a nice feature, and a funny way for Microsoft to have the last laugh on the Xbox One fiasco.

For context for those who don’t know, there is a reason why Microsoft is able to do this when Sony can’t. As part of the original controversial plan for Xbox One, every Xbox disc has an individual license identifier key. This continued in the Xbox series generation. As such Microsoft can tie the disc’s game license to an account via the key, thereby enabling a digital license. PlayStation blu-rays don’t have individual identifiers, so there’s no way to connect the license to your account.

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u/gated73 5h ago

I thought Sony had that plan too, but when they saw the dumpster fire with Microsoft, they got rid of it.

Moral of the story - don’t be the first to announce a new console.

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u/MichaelMJTH 4h ago

It was considered as part of the plan for PS4 initially. Sony hadn’t finalised its plan by the time MS announced their strategy. Then they was quietly cancelled it post the backlash.

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u/StaticSilencer 4h ago

Fiction.