- Xbox is reportedly working on a disc-to-digital feature for existing consoles called ‘Positron’
- The feature will allow Xbox users to insert a disc and convert their game to digital format.
- A separate report also claims that Project Helix will not have a disk drive.
Like PlayStation, Xbox appears to be moving away from physical gaming, as new reports claim that Microsoft is testing a disc-to-digital conversion feature for existing consoles and could release a next-gen Project Helix console without a disc drive.
According to The Verge, sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans claim that the company is currently working on a way for Xbox users to digitize their existing physical game library following a reference to “enable Disc2Digital” found in the Xbox app code for PC in May.
The new feature, reportedly called ‘Positron’, will supposedly only work with Xbox One and Xbox Series X discs, not Xbox 360 or original Xbox consoles. However, some Xbox One discs may not work with this new feature.
“It all depends on how and when the drive was manufactured and may not have the features we need for this program,” Microsoft told its internal Xbox testers.
To convert a physical game to digital, it is said that users will only need to insert a compatible disc, install it and play. A Microsoft account on an Xbox console will grant a digital entitlement to physical games, which are tied to a specific disc and can be moved between accounts if users trade the physical game with a friend or log into a different profile and try to play a disc-based game.
The feature will also work for physical games included with a console and multi-disc titles. Players can still use the discs after converting them, but they will lose their digital rights if they lend or sell the disc to someone else.
More information is coming in the coming months, so it appears to be a feature that could be planned ahead of the next-gen Xbox console, Project Helix.
Speaking of which, it looks like Microsoft is betting on the digital market by launching Project Helix without a disk drive, according to Windows Central sources.
No additional details were provided, but new details about the console are said to be revealed later this year.
The Xbox reports came after Sony announced that no new PlayStation games will be released on physical disc starting in January 2028.
The company shared a post, saying the decision is “a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the overall preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs” and “will allow us to more closely align with how the majority of our community prefers to access and play games today.”
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