Xbox Is Letting Players Digitize Their Physical Games, Starting Next Week for Select Users
Xbox's new disc-to-digital feature is launching imminently, allowing users to add physical copies of games to their digital library.
The new feature will roll out to Xbox Insiders starting on August 31 before making its way to everyone at an unknown future date. This new initiative leaked earlier this summer and will be a way to allow players to put their Xbox One and Xbox Series X discs into their console and get a fully usable digital version.
Your discs will also remain playable, but if you give the game to someone else and they insert that copy into their console, you will lose access to your digital license as well. It's not only great for the sake of convenience, but perhaps more notably, it also enables you to stream the game through the cloud or access it on other devices via Xbox Play Anywhere if the game supports those features.
That means you don't have to have the game installed at all, and you can play it on PC, the ROG Ally, or even your mobile devices. Unfortunately, Microsoft made no mention of this feature being supported with original Xbox or Xbox 360 games, so don't expect those right now. Additionally, not every game will be supported off the bat. However, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has said the company will support thousands of games when this feature launches, with more added over time. Will that eventually encompass Xbox 360 titles? It's hard to say.
"Your physical game library is more than a collection of discs," said Sharma. "It holds years of memories and stories worth preserving. Starting next week, Xbox Insiders can unlock a digital entitlement for supported physical games. We’ll start with thousands of titles and add more as we can."
Some have speculated that this move is happening to create a smooth transition between this generation and the next Xbox, which may be a digital-only device. Microsoft has yet to confirm such a thing, but given PlayStation won't support discs starting in 2028, physical gaming media may be less of a standard next-gen. Regardless, this is a great feature that will definitely offer a lot of benefits to those who enjoy physical media.
Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN's news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.