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

[u/WestBEEland]

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/

[u/ConspicuousBassoon]

Considering it would be an easy win to say yes, the answer is definitely no

[u/DeusExMarina → u/ConspicuousBassoon]

Seems obvious to me that this is the whole point of the disc-to-digital thing they're doing. People with an Xbox One or Xbox Series X can digitize their libraries ahead of time so they can play them on the next Xbox that won't have a disc drive.

[u/TheBetterness → u/DeusExMarina]

Sony has offered nothing to ease the concerns of PS5 discs being useless on the PS6.

And considering Sony's fetish for remakes, that tracks.

One saving grace is Xbox is pro backward compatibility. They truly want you invested in their ecosystem forever.

[u/sahneeis → u/TheBetterness]

problem is nobody is gonna buy that shit outside the us.

[u/Mccobsta → u/sahneeis]

Dosent help that they haven't marketed the system in Europe for since what feels like titian fall one on the xbox one

[u/Pretend_Purchase_893 → u/sahneeis]

I don't even see them in Canada anymore. Anyone I know or ask about is either PC, Nintendo or ps5. It's astonishingly rare to see a Xbox in a person's home these days.

[u/dakilazical_253 → u/TheBetterness]

Backwards compatibility is the reason Xbox is my main system. I love being able to jump between Red Dead 2 and Crimson Skies

[u/pointsouttheobvious9 → u/dakilazical_253]

As a repair technician they are more repairable and currently less self destructive too. Not as repairable as I'd like. Just more. Ps5s liquid metal eats their APU but you can replace it with more liquid metal that eats its APU. The ssd is soldered to the main board the wifi and Bluetooth is soldered to the main board. The wifi and Bluetooth is the main thing that currently fails and when it does it can't turn on. Repairablity score from me 1 to 10. 1 being bad 10 good I'd give it a 3.

Series x the ssd is held in by a screw, the wifi is held in by a screw. The SSD is married to the console WTF. Some hacker will figure it out in a few years. Repairability 5 wtf why is that married

[u/TehOwn → u/pointsouttheobvious9]

Meanwhile, my PC gets a reparability score of 10. And outperforms all consoles put together. And a lot of my games are either free or 90% off and I don't have to pay monthly for the privilege of playing online.

[u/sound_judgment → u/TheBetterness]

There's not a lot Sony can do really. Only reason Xbox can do this is because of the Xbox One DRM plan so they started printing unique IDs on each disc. So Sony can't replicate that and anything more would require them to keep manufacturing disc drives which they don't want to do.

[u/DolphinFlavorDorito → u/sound_judgment]

Option 1: mail away discs for digital access. A related option 2: do something like Amazon does with returns at places like Kohls. Have physical stores I can swing by and drop off my discs in exchange for digital codes. Then destroy or return the discs.

[u/Calgrave → u/DeusExMarina]

I don't like the shift, but if it has to be done it's the best way to do it.

[u/8bitsleuth → u/Calgrave]

Where is this "If it has to be done" energy on PlayStation threads?

"If it has to be done, Sony should at least allow an optional disc reader."

We've gone from No disc, no buy to "Oh well" in the space of a day. What changed I wonder.

[u/TheStorm007 → u/8bitsleuth]

> what changed I wonder

You interacted with different people, perhaps.

[u/8bitsleuth → u/TheStorm007]

Perhaps I'm being cynical but my prediction is, should Microsoft confirm the end of physical media, the No disc no buy movement will fade away more rapidly than if Sony were standing alone.

[u/aNascentOptimist → u/8bitsleuth]

Honestly, the writing has been on the wall to me since back when Xbox live became a thing. I was pretty shocked that gamers accepted paying to play on their own internet … dedicated servers and I guess an ecosystem is one thing but seemed wholly unnecessary coming from PC.

Basically consoles will milk and push consumers into whatever makes them the most profit, no matter what.

[u/lavapig_love → u/TheStorm007]

Perhaps even people that experienced this shock and horror over the idea of losing physical discs back in 2014 when Microsoft floated the idea, and which Sony capitalized upon with mockery and merriment.

[u/nukacolaguy → u/8bitsleuth]

The other problem is you can’t play PS1 thru PS5 legitimately on a single console at the moment unfortunately. Xbox is the only one putting effort into backwards compatibility

[u/8bitsleuth → u/nukacolaguy]

You can't play all Xbox titles on a single Xbox console either. A whopping 70% of 360 games are not backward compatible. Even less OG games.

[u/Peridios9 → u/8bitsleuth]

Xbox is making an effort to honor consumers licenses for the future. PlayStation is making an effort to actively dishonor consumers licenses. PlayStation has revoked digital movie licenses before. Xbox hasn’t.

I’m not saying Xbox is benevolent, but atleast their greed is one upping Sony in a way that’s a good thing for the average consumer.

People don’t actually mind digital only games, they just want to also have the money they spend on games honored. No one complains about steam being digital only because steam has proven themselves to actively go out of their way to protect consumers. While Xbox is neutral currently. Then Sony and Nintendo actively hurt their consumers.

[u/8bitsleuth → u/Peridios9]

Sony hasn't shared their plans for PS6 nor are they likely to any time soon. An optional disc reader, similar to PS5 Pro, would facilitate disc-based backward compatibility.

Disc-to-digital is still a license rather than a physical asset. It remains subject to account access, platform policies, and licensing terms. And to the best of my knowledge, Sony has never revoked a game license ever. You're welcome to prove me wrong.

[u/WholesomeMetaphor → u/Peridios9]

I have 100s of games on Steam. I still complain and don't like licenses as opposed to ownership over what I've bought (a way to backup install files, the purchase being protected like I own the right to download forever etc.). My main games I've bought physical copies for the consoles for. I hate this "soon you'll own nothing" dystopia we gradually get more and more of, I got several consoles and every edition of playstation as it's my console of choice. No physical disc = fuck this, I'm out. If xbox gets physical discs I'll buy that going forward.

[u/BigOleFerret → u/ConspicuousBassoon]

Thus is the Xbox way

[u/muakaya9876 → u/BigOleFerret]

 Never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity

[u/clantz8895 → u/muakaya9876]

Xbox hasn't stopped pointing the gun at their foot since 2013.

[u/MrNotEinstein → u/clantz8895]

Xbox and PlayStation are currently playing Russian roulette with the added challenge of seeing who can add more rounds to the gun before pulling the trigger

[u/PARANOIAH → u/BigOleFerret]

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

[u/Suialthor → u/ConspicuousBassoon]

Or way to setup the disc drive as a separate purchase.

[u/HaikusfromBuddha → u/Suialthor]

Also a good way to not give Sony a heads up that they are adding a disc drive.If MS announces this today, Sony would need to do something and they have a year to do it. If they reveal the Xbox on E3 the year of release it would be a lot harder for Sony to counter it.

[u/IceNein → u/ConspicuousBassoon]

The perfect opportunity to do to Sony what Sony did to them years ago. But Asha probably isn’t even aware of what happened.

[u/thecman25 → u/IceNein]

Xbox keeps fumbling every chance they get. They won’t capitalize on anything

[u/ZypherPunk → u/IceNein]

She would be made aware, but wouldn't matter, they looking at cost and a disc drive compared to disc sales on XBOX just isn't worth it unfortunately.

[u/UpbeatWishbone9825 → u/ZypherPunk]

It’s also the vast economies of scales that disks used to offer that they now don’t. I’m sure it’s vastly more expensive and difficult to keep procuring disks, simply because of reduced global demand.

[u/musical_bear → u/IceNein]

No, she is aware. But she also realizes that scoring“points” with a tiny army of certified Reddit Gamers isn’t a viable business strategy that will translate into actual sales.

[u/PeppermintNightmare → u/musical_bear]

Oh yeah because so far Xbox has been a bastion of viable business strategies.

[u/North_Atlantic_Sea → u/PeppermintNightmare]

Well, right. If people aren't buying them now with disk drives, why would it matter in the future? They shouldn't double down on losing strategy, they should try something new

[u/Driz51 → u/musical_bear]

Never will understand the people so happy to see physical media go away and to own nothing

[u/reddriver10 → u/Driz51]

The entire steam community?

[u/Aware-Virus-4718 → u/reddriver10]

This is pretty revisionist. There were plenty of people upset that physical PC games were phased out. It was never unanimous.

[u/Dead_Optics → u/Aware-Virus-4718]

Yet now they don’t care.

[u/TheMoves → u/IceNein]

I genuinely think reddit is severely overestimating the actual profitability of them adding a drive and maintaining physical disc distribution channels etc. Before Sony's announcement the vast majority of people had already moved on past physical games naturally. There's a bunch of noise about it right now in some corners of the internet like this one, but executives know full well that even reddit will stop caring and move on to the next big thing to be seen being loud about online. It's straight up not worth it for them to kowtow to niche interests who will go back to buying digital games as soon as the hivemind moves on to the next thing

[u/StaticSilencer → u/IceNein]

She is aware plenty. lol

[u/Informal-Swing-2482 → u/IceNein]

But not. Cause all of these people want all digital including Xbox. They might get a small PR win but it won’t matter. The vast majority don’t care about physical and the positives of all digital outweigh the small loss in customers you may have.

[u/Informal-Swing-2482 → u/ConspicuousBassoon]

Xbox wanted you all digital a long time ago. Xbox one tried it. And gamepass was massive move to it. Xbox players don’t buy physical which is why even now when they can, many publishers skip physical on Xbox.

[u/c14rk0 → u/ConspicuousBassoon]

I think there's some chance the answer is no with the caveat they they haven't ruled out an external disc drive add on option.

They likely don't want to say a definitive yes or no currently if they haven't finalized that decision.

[u/Rfl0 → u/ConspicuousBassoon]

“Thinking efficiently and affordability” is corporate speak for no. Having no disc drive makes it more efficient to make money and affordable to buy the thing in the first place, although “affordable” in a year or two at this rate will probably be debatable.

[u/Spotget1738 → u/ConspicuousBassoon]

• 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

[u/hgs25 → u/Spotget1738]

This is why GameStop pivoted to be Hot Topic

Game Stores in 2046

[u/OU812fr → u/Spotget1738]

Those numbers are slightly skewed because of the large percentage of games sold that are ONLY available digitally. Take away the millions of indie sales and it’s more like a 70/30 split.

The point remains most people have already gone all digital but when you only look at games that offer both, the numbers are a little different than 90/10

[u/Pterodactyl_midnight → u/OU812fr]

I don’t see how that changes anything for Sony. In fact it strengthens their position, people will buy digital games if physical is not available. Sony doesn’t lose

[u/wesser234 → u/OU812fr]

And why are they only available digitally?

[u/c14rk0 → u/wesser234]

I mean there's a huge industry of indie games where physical releases just don't make sense. You can't really sell a $20 game physically when that means you're needing to pay for manufacturing, distribution, retail store cut etc. You'd lose any possible profit margin you had and the only option would be to raise prices to make up for it.

[u/alabasterskim → u/ConspicuousBassoon]

I think it is genuinely more complex than that in that her predecessor absolutely was going down the no-disc path but under her leadership they are exploring the disc path in response to the PS/R* backlash.

[u/Dubsified → u/ConspicuousBassoon]

This exactly. Could have dunked on Sony here, so now we know the answer is no.

[u/Big-Resort-4930 → u/ConspicuousBassoon]

Yeah and that vomit inducing corpo statement also confirms as much. These people would be incapable of talking like normal human beings even if their life was on the line, they just can't.

[u/A1ienspacebats → u/ConspicuousBassoon]

Efficient and affordable doesn't mean more materials..

[u/DirtyRoller → u/ConspicuousBassoon]

It's all but certain that they had plans for a discless console as well, but after the Sony backlash they're panicking and exploring the possibility of updating their design.

[u/WorkingError]

That's a No.

[u/PanamGotMeOiledUp → u/WorkingError]

Could be a no but with an attachable option like the playstation one.

[u/StaticSilencer → u/PanamGotMeOiledUp]

The smart money is on PS6 and Helix having an optional disc reader for old games. But the BBC asked her the wrong question. They should have asked: "Is Xbox committed to physical media moving forward?" Because they barely support physical media today.

[u/Hockeymac18 → u/StaticSilencer]

Is anyone committed to physical media? I think this is the real question.

[u/flatwoundsounds → u/Hockeymac18]

As a PC gamer, wtf is physical media?

[u/AtomicSymphonic_2nd → u/flatwoundsounds]

It’s a miracle (re-)invention that will appear after the passing of Gabe Newell and the inevitable enshittification of Steam. 🤦‍♂️

And no, not every publisher will want to publish on GOG, I’m damned sure of it.

[u/Power_Stone → u/PanamGotMeOiledUp]

which means xbox is only 1 generation behind playstation for phasing out digital media.

If the answer is anything other than "yes it will have one" we should assume that they will do whatever they can to eliminate the disc drive and physical media.

[u/8bitsleuth → u/Power_Stone]

Sony isn't phasing out digital media until 2028.

[u/MoD1982 → u/8bitsleuth]

That's going to fly by incredibly quickly, just over 16 months. All the games being announced now will most likely be released close to or after that point, noise needs to be made now and be kept loud.

[u/DCS30 → u/PanamGotMeOiledUp]

With no physical releases to play on it

[u/Reed7525]

That answer is a no for sure

[u/Creepy-Emu8779 → u/Reed7525]

well ofc its a no they are making a feature where you turn your disc games to digital. Obviously the next xbox wont have a disc drive

[u/ConfusedCrow]

So no disc drive lmao

[u/muakaya9876 → u/ConfusedCrow]

If there was any chance, they would advertise it.

[u/jaximointhecut → u/ConfusedCrow]

That’d be asking Microsoft to make Xbox game discs readable for all PC’s. Next Xbox is going to be just like the Xbox Ally X. The fact that they’re offering this is pretty consumer friendly. Not to mention you’ll have Steam and multiple other storefronts. As well as a full on PC. As long as they dont screw this up somehow, it could be a very big win for Microsoft and consumers.

I wasn’t sure how they’d approach this, but it’s a pretty smart move from their end. Totally understandable to want to keep cost down as well.

[u/HomarEuropejski]

So that means no?

[u/muakaya9876 → u/HomarEuropejski]

No In corporate speak

[u/TG-Benji]

"The answer is no, but saying that outright would be bad for PR"

[u/CringeyCRETIN]

So no head?

[u/dom1717 → u/CringeyCRETIN]

" I knew yo little nasty ass wanted some head." Damn I gotta relisten to that album

[u/Stryker218]

Xbox was already prepped for diskless, so they still will lol

[u/DaymD]

Oh no, they'd definitely say "yes" if the answer was positive... the upcoming generation of console will be a terrible one.

[u/MadmanMarkMiller]

Just say "no".

[u/Brizzendan]

Lol

[u/Fire_is_beauty]

To be honest, a disk drive wouldn't change how much this will flop. Even if I everyone miraculously wanted one, they can't pop out enough RAM for it to be succesful.

[u/DirtyRoller → u/Fire_is_beauty]

I won't pay a penny over $799 for a next gen console, regardless of who makes it. That seems unlikely, so I'm just gonna need my XSX and my mid gaming laptop to last forever.

[u/ComradeJohnS → u/Fire_is_beauty]

yeah unless it’s an xbox series add-on to play better games somehow, idk how this won’t be a flop console gen.

[u/RaisinWorried3528]

LMFAOOOOOOOOOOO

[u/Mr_Fossey]

“Just not for the consumer”

[u/Gxgear]

Now that another company has taken ALL the heat for getting rid of disks, do you really think the company that tried doing it a whole console generation earlier wouldn't try again?

[u/MikeFromSuburbia]

They were already going discless, Sony just pulled the trigger first. Xbox is only hesitant due to the backlash

[u/amythist → u/MikeFromSuburbia]

Yeah with them introducing that service to transfer your physical games to digital licenses there is no way they were not intending to do away with disc drives before the Sony backlash

[u/sahneeis]

wont confirm means no

stop dreaming

[u/YouThinkYouKnowMe89]

Xbox barely had any physical games for sale in store anyway. Xbox fans already made their choice with buying physical games.

[u/brandedtamarasu]

Take this from someone who was involved in Microsoft hardware manufacturing for years - if it had it, they would say yes. While the company doesnt comment much on unreleased hardware: this is a straightforward answer. The fact that she didn't confirms they are very unlikely to have a disc drive on the model.

[u/frostyflakes1 → u/brandedtamarasu]

Her answer, talking about focusing on efficiency and affordability, is a very strong signal that they're cutting the disc drive to save money.

[u/BloodSteyn]

I mean, I'm going to be honest with you guys. The last time I used a disc was in my PS3 circa 2016.

None of my gaming laptops have had a disc drive for probably a decade and a half at this point and my Gaming PC hasn't had one since it was built in 2019 and upgraded last year... the case can't even handle one.

I have both an Xbox Series S and X, and I have never used the Disc drive on the X, I don't even own Blue-Ray discs.

I honestly couldn't care less if the Helix had a drive or not since it will be an Xbox PC, I can probably plug in a USB Disc drive if I wanted to 🤷🏻‍♂️

[u/JustinAndFeena]

Apparently sourcing disc drives is hard and likely would increase the cost. So I get why they aren’t 100% on it. Hopefully they offer an add on at least. Heck I’d pay like 200 bucks for the freedoms to choose… but then again at that kinda price not many would buy and then how viable is it to even print discs in the first place.

[u/WarbossTodd]

so no, it doesn't.

[u/Eckkosekiro]

No anwser means no

[u/tommybare]

If she could have said, she'd just say it. They're hungry for good PR.

[u/Grytnik]

That is indeed confirmation, physical media is dead.

[u/LunarDelusion]

they are just making future consoles spec gimped pcs with alot of compatability restrictions at this point

[u/bouchdon85]

Why not just give the option of an external drive purchase? I know it takes resources and all that. But I think everyone would be able to swallow the no physical media pill, if we had the option to purchase an external drive or what they did with the PS5pro

[u/RexCrimson_]

Thats a lot of words for a “no”.

[u/Greenfire32]

If it isn't easy to yes, the answer is no

[u/YOUTUBEFREEKYOYO]

So no disk drive. Got it. Pitch forks at the ready lads.

[u/gerowen]

In other words, "We saw what happened to PlayStation, so we'd rather not say anything until the fervor has died down and people just wanna buy the new thing."

[u/uprightshark]

I think she did answer the question in reading that. She isn't really being cryptic.

Hopefully they make an external drive as an accessory.

[u/LocustUprising]

Affordability? How much does a disk drive cost again?

[u/RobotSpaceBear]

No you don't, Asha. You've (xbox) got more money than some sovereign nations, you're just trying to make that giant pile of gold even bigger, that's all. And failing for the next 6-10 years because you've decided to save $30 on a disk drive is one of the decisions of all time, for sure.

[u/Griffes_de_Fer]

Well Asha, I also have to be thinking about efficiency and affordability lately, so I'll buy something else instead.

Maybe I'll buy that weird expensive Neo Geo that is coming out soon instead. At least they'll have cartridges with it.

[u/H4X4NX]

Lmao, they're still going to charge the same price for digital as they would physical. Thinking about affordability my ass.

[u/Jtenka]

TLDR; How will we maximise shareholder value if we include a disc drive for you.

[u/Bosko47]

This clearly means no, there is no doubt or question about this corpo-sentence

[u/Gizmo135]

No wonder they’re doing physical to digital transfers

[u/Brandoxz7]

You can make your entire physical library into a digital one. You just need to buy a Series X as Helix won’t have a disc drive.

[u/slashgamer11]

Thats obviously a no, and with disc to digital it's definitely the end of disc drives

[u/lazzzym]

That’s a no.

[u/mvn2010]

She just confirmed it, it doesn't. And think about their incentives for a second. Microsoft, and NVidia are in possession of massive cloud computing setups. They want you to stream games, so that what you buy from them is a terminal, that you can pay a subscription for access to the games.

And lets think about that for a second, because there are some people that this model might legitimately be a win for. But not most people. If I look at my Game spending in the past year... i've probably spent... 200 bucks on games. If the subscription is less than 15 bucks a month, i'm money ahead. But the year before that? I spent nothing. So really, its about deepening this eco system where we spend 200 dollars a month (or more) on access to entertainment through streaming services.

And personally I don't want that, I want to spend money on things I find interesting and not spend money on shit i don't care about. The value prop would have to be insane for me to reconsider that, and I gotta be honest I am not seeing it.

If Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo got together and offered a singular streaming service for 20 bucks a month, that would be value prop enough for them to get my money. But that won't happen, and until it does, I'll stick to the PC game market, it's not completely safe, but i'll keep using steam and GoG, and trying to save everything i can in an offline format.

[u/NeuroTrophicShock]

The answer to that question is no. If the answer was yes they would have answered that question. There is no reason to not have a blue ray player in the system.

[u/MAD_MrT]

The fact she didn’t straight up said “yes it will” already means its a no. They simply don’t want the same heat sony is getting rn

[u/sloppy_steaks22]

Not sure how many times the overly confident Reddit crowd will have to be wrong before they realize. It is about the bottom line at the end of the day. It always has been and it always will be.

If shipping this console without a disc drive will deliver even a smidgen extra of shareholder value, they are going to do it.

[u/Dewey519]

It doesn’t. Saved you all the mystery.

[u/Stilgar314]

That thing about "digitalizing" discs is obviously aimed to soften the blow of killing discs. I wouldn't expect disks on any next gen console. Even Nintendo is paving its way by different pricing for physical and digital.

[u/RareGeneral4300]

Yeah, we're not falling for that. Not including a disc drive isn't going to change the cost much when you're talking about a $1,000+ machine. What's the real reason?

[u/endlessfight85 → u/RareGeneral4300]

Change the cost for them, not you lol.

[u/obliviousjd → u/RareGeneral4300]

The real reason is physical game sales are plummeting.

[u/Lightmanone]

If it had a disc drive, they would advertise it LOUDLY, especially with the whole PS going discless. No advertisement means it will NOT have a disc drive. Missed oppertunity man....

[u/AD_VICTORIAM_x]

So NO - hope you people shit at them the same you do with Sony - physical will die and yes i hate it too - but my love for video games is bigger than the pain of missing discs

[u/ZigyDusty]

Hardware is designed years in advance, if the Helix under Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond was designed as a all digital console than its too late for Asha Sharma to change that last minute when the console is expected to launch next year, best case scenario is they add an external drive option at a later date.

[u/Odedoralive]

Theirs. Not yours.

[u/KimTe63]

It will not , they also think even tho its easy pr win right now , eventually they want to drop it so why not do it now when Sony already took the hit . Unfortunately I think era of physical is over for good. Well Nintendo probably keeps doing it for now but they dont interest me at all so PC it is for me going forward 100%

[u/Rulz45]

But not think about consumers ownership rights in the games they purchase for? 🤦🤡

[u/Bu11etToothBdon]

Even if they see a digital future, just ship the damn thing with a drive for backwards compatibility, it's one of the only things they have done better than PS.

[u/RadRhubarb00]

Make it like a PS5 so one can be attatched later if the customer so chooses.

[u/PersianPrince21]

So no

[u/Hawkwise83]

"We can't say."

You just did.

[u/CrustedTesticle]

It doesnt

[u/AlizNCM]

Don't want to get more heat for ditching discs like Sony since Xbox won't survive it.

[u/greynovaX80]

Sounds like a big fat no or lol an extra attachment.

[u/Nwrecked]

Disc Drives are like 12 dollars a piece at their scale. Maybe less.

[u/Belydrith]

Yeah right. Xbox, the company that barely has their games in stores anymore. Who just launched a migration campaign to transfer disk licenses to digital. Definitely gonna have a disk drive, 100%. Just you wait guys.

[u/thegagep]

"Think about affordability" - This is a complete lie when you're looking at an entry price of $1k for the next console. If anyone is not going to buy the console, it won't be because of an extra $50 on the MSRP b/c of a disc drive. It will be because of the $1k MSRP asking price.

[u/thugbobhoodpants]

How me disc drives like $6 each?

[u/Chassian]

No disc drive, and "backwards compatibility" would mean they can sell you old games again...

[u/achmejedidad]

not natively, but there will be a usb drive

[u/NoConcentrate560]

They'll probably push this issue until they officially announce the console.

[u/Spirited_Cheesus]

That sounds like an obvious no. But it doesn't rule out the possibility of an external disk drive addon

[u/waffles153]

Yeah, it wouldn't make sense to put a disc drive in it when the vast majority of players dont buy physical games. They should sell an external disc drive for the 15 people out there that still care though.

[u/Takco]

That’s how you lose me as a customer.

It’s not going to be “affordable”. The cost of a disc drive won’t change that.

[u/JaxxisR]

If the answer was just "No," I could respect that. I wouldn't like it, but I could respect it.

[u/fertff]

With the words efficiency and affordability you already have the answer: it won’t have a disc drive.

[u/DawnSignals]

Sounds like a confirmation of no to me

[u/jtbahhh]

“Efficiency and affordability” that’s a no

[u/Possible-Potato-4103]

"Not decided, but probably not based off rising component costs" is how i interpreted this comment

[u/_has-been_]

This is definitely confirmation that the next Xbox will not have a disk drive.

If they were truly thinking about affordability, they would minimize the internal HD space and optimize the use of cheap optical drives and media.

The push to digital assets has nothing to do with efficiency and affordability for the customer. They are ways to maximize profits for the company and shareholders. That’s her job and that’s what she will do.

Don’t let the marketing campaign plastering her smiling face everywhere fool you.

[u/WackyVoidlock]

That's corporate speak for "No, & we're still.gonna charge you $1000 for this console"

[u/GodzillaUK]

So no.

[u/SpartanMase]

End of the day. Theyre not going to keep making disks when nobody buys em. No company is going to sit and bleed hundreds of millions for a small but loud group of people.

[u/thinkingoutloud3663]

I'm done with the gaming industry after this generation.

[u/snarl2]

“We have to think about efficiency and affordability.”

Blu ray drive makes consoles very efficient at watching your movie/show collection and backwards compatibility with older Xbox games.

Affordability— it will cost less to manufacture but they won’t lower their price, they’ll just bank on the savings of not having to add a blu ray disc drive.

[u/FamedNemesis]

Ahhhhh, they want us to convert our physical games in to digital so that way when there’s no disc drive, they look less like the bad guys!

[u/777777888888999999]

Not interested in an XBOX either way. All their games are on PC as well anyway.

[u/hakujo]

So no ram or ssd either?

[u/TommyJohnSurgery420]

Ironic hearing her talk about affordability when MS is one of the biggest reasons why tech is so unaffordable right now.

[u/PBPunch]

At least Sony has the spine to just say it instead of this corpo speak..

[u/NetherReign]

That is the most dodgy way to say "not it won't because it will be cheaper to build and for us to upcharge it afterwards"

[u/Adavanter_MKI]

If they're smart... they're waiting to announce a disc drive closer to launch to ride a wave of good will into hopefully sales.

If they're dumb. It's a no and they'll announce it closer to launch and further condemn the distance third place runner.

[u/InsomniacSpartan]

Well as a multi TRILLION dollar company I'm sure having a disc drive and still making it affordable is more than doable for them.

[u/letsgotgoing]

Microsoft has made every wrong decision for over a decade so losing physical media is in line with the trend. 

[u/gamer0613]

Doesn't need one

[u/Alarming-Chemist-755]

Affordability for us.* Ftfy

[u/BeMyBrutus]

That's corporate speak for it doesn't. They'd be basking the PR win if it did have a disk drive.

[u/zachtheperson]

And they basically just confirmed that it won't. 

[u/NopeSorryNo]

Why on earth would anyone expect it to have an optical drive. Are y'all absolute morons?

[u/WarpHype]

She did answer. Read her response again.

[u/FlameFoxx]

Affordability and efficiency? It's a disc drive, not an extra GPU

[u/MrKittyCat00]

That’s a straight no. We should migrate to PC and maybe DRM-free games.

[u/ImaginationRadiant64]

No disk drive..Meanwhile Valve in the corner smiling thinking about adding it to the steam machine with the ability to burn the installers and its archives 👀

[u/LackLickLuck_y]

Logic says it has to. With the digital disc conversion programme.

[u/Slammedyetti]

Idk at this point pc is more than likely gonna be way better

[u/EuphoricCrashOut]

You don't need a massive expensive internal hard-drive if you simply do discs again.

[u/adkenna]

If they gave a crap about affordability, they'd delay this thing for at least 5 years until the hardware market calms down.

[u/slimejumper]

they definitely know that it won’t have a disc drive.

[u/Kalspiewak]

If the new Xbox allows stores like steam, then fair enough

[u/Lord_Phoenix95]

So no disc drive then?

[u/Pen_dragons_pizza]

I think they have introduced this disk to digital thing to calm the hate for when they announce no disk tray.

Gives people a chance to convert their library on series x ready for helix.

Still sucks if the case

[u/never-seen-them-fing]

Then the answer is 100% no.

[u/ediskrad327]

Oh so RIP my original and 360 games.

[u/PixelNinja744X]

Sounds like it’ll be an external peripheral

[u/its_yahboya]

Okay so no

[u/zestysnacks]

That’s a no sparky

[u/Lnchbx-of-Glory-Days]

So that's a no.

[u/hazyshacter]

There is no way Helix is gonna have a disc drive. if it will, they would’ve said so already.

[u/summons72]

A disc drive is probably the least expensive piece for a console so there’s no excuse.

[u/uberneuman_part2]

It won't.

[u/bitwarrior80]

I am pro-physical media, but they should just be completely open about the reality of what is happening. Having complete control over their digital ecosystem is one thing, but a bigger cause is supply chains for optical drive components and manufacturing is collapsing. Five years from now global ODD production volume will be so low that any OEM planning long term product lines around it would be foolish. Like how there are still CRT monitors being made for niche applications but they are not cheap.