PlayStation is getting rid of physical games – it's been confirmed. Starting in January 2028, PlayStation will end all distribution of physical discs and all future PS5 and PS5 games will be digital only.
Windows Central then reported 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, it's essentially the death knell for physical video games, with only Nintendo providing cartridges for a select number of games.
The news also understandably 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 obsolete 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 reportedly working on a Disc-To-Digital feature
We don't have answers to any of these questions yet, and probably won't until PlayStation and Xbox get ready to sell their next-gen consoles in 2028, but a new report claimed something pretty promising, at least on the Xbox side.
According to The Verge's sources, Xbox has reportedly been testing a disc-to-digital transfer feature that will allow users to completely digitize their physical collections. To get a digital copy of the game, you would simply have to pop your physical copy into your system and then install the game, which will give you digital rights if you own the disc, and link the game to your account.
Still think digital media is the future? PlayStation deletes 500 movies from customer accounts
If you've purchased any of StudioCanal's more than 500 movies on PlayStation, you'll soon lose access to them without a refund.
If the disc is loaned to a friend or sold, you lose your digital rights. It is claimed that this system will only work with Xbox One and Xbox Series X discs, and that 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 will 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 pretty 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 will happen at all, as it's currently being tested internally and nothing is set in stone just yet.
- Mark
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Microsoft
- Original release date
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November 10, 2020
- Original MSRP (USD)
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499 dollars
- Operating system
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Proprietary (Windows based)
- Processor
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Custom 8-core AMD Zen 2 3.8 GHz
- Resolution
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720p – 4K UHD
