PlayStation is getting rid of physical games – that much has been confirmed. From January 2028, PlayStation will cease all physical disc distribution and all future PS5 and PS5 games will be digital releases only.
It was then reported by Windows Central that the Xbox would likely follow suit, claiming that the company's next console (Project Helix) would not include a disc drive and would be an all-digital machine. For many, this is essentially the death knell for physical video games, only Nintendo offers cartridges for a select number of games.
The news has many people worried about what will happen to their physical libraries. If the next generation of consoles is all digital, does that mean our current libraries are inactive and useless? Are we forced to keep our old systems if we want to play the games we already bought? What about backwards compatibility?
Xbox is working on a disc-to-digital feature
We don't have answers to any of these questions yet, and it's likely that PlayStation and Xbox won't be preparing to sell us on their next-gen consoles until 2028, but a new report claims something promising, at least on Xbox's side.
According to The Verge's sources, Xbox is reportedly testing a disc-to-digital feature that will allow users to fully digitize their physical collections. To get a digital copy of the game, you have to insert your physical copy into your system and then install the game, which gives you digital rights for as long as you own the disc and links the game to your account.
Still think digital media is the future? PlayStation is deleting 500 movies from customer accounts
If you bought more than 500 movies from StudioCanal on PlayStation, you will soon lose access to them without compensation.
If the disc is loaned to a friend or sold, you will then lose your digital rights. It is claimed that this system will only work with Xbox One and Xbox Series X discs, and some Xbox One discs may not work due to the period in which the disc was manufactured.
If the reports are true and Project Helix is going to ship without a disc drive, setting up such a system on the Xbox Series X and transferring your games to the new console is a smart way to ensure fans with large physical collections aren't left behind. That being said, we'll have to wait and see what this feature looks like, or if it does, it's currently being tested internally, and nothing is set in stone.
- brand
-
Microsoft
- Original release date
-
November 10, 2020
- Original MSRP (USD)
-
$499
- operating system
-
Proprietary (Windows based)
- processor
-
Custom AMD 8-core Zen 2 3.8 GHz
- resolve
-
720p – 4K UHD
