In early July this year, Sony unexpectedly announced that starting in 2028 it would stop releasing physical discs for new titles on PlayStation consoles. Predictably, the news caused an uproar among fans. Although many rumors hinted that Xbox would follow suit with this decision on its next-generation console, “Project Helix,” related rumors suggest that may not actually be the case.
In a recent episode of the DF Direct Q+A podcast hosted by well-known tech analysis channel Digital Foundry, channel analyst John Linneman shared a new rumor about Xbox consoles, hinting that Microsoft had planned to continue the physical disc drive design on its new hardware. Whether this has changed after new CEO Asha Sharma took office remains to be seen.
“Interestingly, Rich, I heard something from a few of these sources, but this is still, you know, just rumor-level at this point. At least before this big restructuring that’s unfolding in front of Xbox — I’m not sure if it’s still the case now — but Microsoft actually seemed quite likely to continue supporting physical disc drives, and the reason isn’t that they value physical game sales, but because they want to make sure players’ old Xbox games remain playable on the new console.”
Beyond that, Digital Foundry also speculated that Microsoft might consider options like external disc drives to keep physical games alive, but other rumors mention that Xbox is testing a system that would allow players to convert physical games into digital ones. However, after seeing how strongly players reacted to Sony’s digital-only decisions, they also believe Microsoft will likely treat that as a cautionary tale and continue supporting physical games on the next generation of consoles.
Ironically, before the PS4 and Xbox One generation arrived, reports hinted that Xbox intended to lock games to a specific console, effectively blocking used game sales. At the time, Sony even produced a promotional video mocking that decision, ultimately forcing Microsoft to slam on the brakes. Now, more than a decade later, their positions seem to have flipped. Whether Microsoft, having committed to keeping physical discs, will release a similar video mocking Sony remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: Sony appears unlikely to halt its controversial digital-only policy.
However, from a purely financial perspective and the shifts in the market, completely abandoning physical discs remains a more reasonable business decision. After all, the new head, Asha Sharma, has recently received explicit instructions from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to lead the Xbox division to profitability before the next fiscal year. Therefore, the exact situation will still depend on Xbox sharing more details about the new console.
Source: KOCPC Chinese