XBOX Project Helix may also ditch discs - but there's a physical copy plan

Shortly after the hugely unpopular announcement from Sony that it will stop producing physical discs for games releasing from January 2028 onwards, with speculation the expected upcoming PS6 will be all digital, reports emerged XBOX Project Helix may not have a disc drive either.

However further reports suggest XBOX may be coming up with a plan for gamers to still be able to play their existing library of physical games.

Project Helix is XBOX's upcoming next generation of console and Windows Central reports its "sources also suggest that Microsoft's next-generation console will drop the disc drive, too". In that report, another of its articles from May is referenced about a potential "disc-to-digital entitlement program".

And The Verge has recently reported this is being tested internally at XBOX and has the codename 'Disc2Digital'.

The Verge reports players will be grated a digital license for the game when inserting a compatible XBOX disc, like they have bought it through the XBOX Store.

It's claimed to be intended to work with Series X and XBOX One discs but not with 360 or original XBOX games and the license would be tied to each disc.

That means if the physical copy was shared or sold, the player that uses the disc would gain the digital license and it would be lost from the original owner. It would swap between accounts.

Neither Project Helix not having a disc drive or 'Disc2Digital' have been officially confirmed by XBOX at the time of writing.

XBOX Project Helix might not have a disc drive but it's understood the company is working on a way for players to still be able to play games they own physical copies of XBOX, Microsoft

This comes after Sony announced it will end the production of physical discs for new PlayStation games releasing from January 2028 onwards.

Physical copies of games have remained popular and preferred among some gamers because they own that physical disc, and therefore a copy of the game, whereas if players buy a game digitally, they buy a license to play that game and do not own it.

For example, with GTA 6 being a digital only game at the moment with physical boxes only having download codes in them, no-one will actually own a copy of the game unless Rockstar Games decides to print the game on to discs.

PlayStation is already removing more than 500 StudioCanal movies that were available to purchase on the platform that users have had to pay money for, meaning although they've likely paid the same amount as they would for a physical copy, they will no longer be able to enjoy that movie digitally any more.

That's a key example of why so many users have been keen and even campaigning for physical media to be preserved and continued - but now the biggest step yet in what appears to be an upcoming all-digital future has been made by Sony.

Elsewhere from Indy100:

• Sony confirms end to physical PlayStation game discs and the internet has erupted
• XBOX CEO reveals crucial Project Helix update amid 'component crisis'

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