Disc-To-Digital Is XBOX’s Only Way To Support Discs In The Long-Term

With XBOX announcing and kicking off its Disc-to-Digital program, allowing for players to digitize select physical Xbox Series and Xbox One games, it left many wondering if this is in preparation for Project Helix, the tenth generation Xbox console in the works, outing discs entirely. Frankly, it’s more likely that than anything else.

When the program launched, Windows Central sources told them it was more about disc drives than the discs themselves, as components to make said drives are drying up. This is something not many — myself included — thought about; the makers of said drives are pivoting away from making something on the nicher side like game console optical disc drives similar to how the Austrian disc maker for PlayStation discs is pivoting away from disc making ahead of 2028.

Digital Foundry had similar sources parrot the info, noting it’s an important step to ensure players can still play their library. Now, right now, Disc-to-Digital only works on some games and it lacks support for the Xbox 360 and OG Xbox, but hopefully, the service will expand far enough that by the deadline, it’ll have basically its entire library across all platforms supported.