Rumor: Microsoft to offer disc-to-digital program: Exchange discs for digital download at retail

upinsmoke said:

No lol

So you want me to trade my physical game in for the same game so I can't ever make money off that game again in terms of a sale or trade in

Hahahhaah

Good one

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In my experience, to sell or trade used games is to rip yourself off. It's almost always cheaper to just rent the game..

I buy go digital if I plan on playing a game well past is resellable life. Otherwise I rent. wait till it comes out on GamePass or GWG.

The games I have on disc now, from earlier this green have almost no resell value. Id love to be able to trade the disc in for digital code, just so I don't have to use up the storage space.

This is awesome. I stopped buying physical a while back, but still have a couple dozen games on disc that I'd love to convert. Hopefully it will be in more places than just the Microsoft store.

Great job Microsoft loving these new options..

Philly Cheesesteak said:

I would think this most certainly would make people go from physical to digital considering you are trading in a disc for a digital version. There has never been an option like this before so obviously there may be some hiccups, but the benefit for MS outweighs the risk immensely if they can get you deeper into their ecosystem. Like this is literally the same program they wanted to enact with the OG Xbone in 2013 except now it's an option instead of it being mandatory. The same concerns about consumers' digital rights that applied then, still apply now.

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People still buying discs are most likely doing so because that's what they prefer or have to do because of technology.

Alucardx23 said:

This is basically a smaller version of the Xbox One without a disc reader. You should not consider this as anything else. Microsoft stopped manufacturing the Xbox 360 in 2016, that is 11 years after release. I see this a test so they can see the reception of a console that is Digital only.

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I also believe it's a sort of a test, but it's late. Since Microsoft tend to switch to their new console pretty much immediately and the Xbox One will likely die pretty soon when Scarlett launches, I wonder what that test will show, really. If they had launched in 2017 it would've bee different. Now they chose to launch One X instead, which I certainly applaud.

Options are good.

Bioshocker said:

The only thing that would strike me as a little weird is the timing of this. Everybody expects the next Xbox to launch in 2020, and unlike Sony Microsoft isn't known to keep two generations of console alive at the same time. Which means they'll launch a new Xbox One in 2019 just to abandon it one year later?

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Xbox 360 E launched the same year as Xbox One. Microsoft kept supporting Xbox 360 with first and third party releases for a couple of years after that, and they ended the console's production run two and a half years later, in April of 2016. This time around streaming and Game Pass might ensure that their old consoles remain relevant for even longer.

Bioshocker said:

I also believe it's a sort of a test, but it's late. Since Microsoft tend to switch to their new console pretty much immediately and the Xbox One will likely die pretty soon when Scarlett launches, I wonder what that test will show, really. If they had launched in 2017 it would've bee different. Now they chose to launch One X instead, which I certainly applaud.

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It will show how a console without a disc reader is received by the martket. This is pretty smart on their part in my opinion. By the time the Xbox Scarlett launches the public will already be used to the idea of a console without a disc reader and that nobody died from it. Microsoft will continue to give the option of a console that works with physical media, so nobody can complain. Whatever the sales are for the Xbox One models, by the time the discless model comes out, they will be hable to measure how sales compare or even increase relative to the older models.

Remo Williams said:

Xbox 360 E launched the same year as Xbox One. Microsoft kept supporting Xbox 360 with first and third party releases for a couple of years after that, and they ended the console's production run two and a half years later, in April of 2016. This time around streaming and Game Pass might ensure that their old consoles remain relevant for even longer.

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Xbox 360 E was a way to further cut production costs, I assume. It was not an experiment or a test of some sort. Sure, Forza Horizon 2 launched in 2014, iirc, but what else? Rise of the Tomb Raider is a big one, but that's third party. Third parties can of course keep releasing games, FIFA 19 launched on the 360 I believe.

I hope the One will keep being relevant, I like that older consoles can still be supported even after new ones have launched. But given the limited success Microsoft's had with Xbox One, unlike the 360 which was a hit, I would be surprised.

For several years now, I only buy physical if a particular sale doesn't offer digital. I hate discs, and with BC on the Xbox it's advantageous to digital anyway.

Alucardx23 said:

It will show how a console without a disc reader is received by the martket. This is pretty smart on their part in my opinion. By the time the Xbox Scarlett launches the public will already be used to the idea of a console without a disc reader and that nobody died from it. Microsoft will continue to give the option of a console that works with physical media, so nobody can complain. Whatever the sales are for the Xbox One models, by the time the discless model comes out, they will be hable to measure how sales compare or even increase relative to the older models.

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My point is that if they launch an Xbox One without a disc drive in 2019 and the next Xbox launches in 2020, it's not that much time between them. Is one year enough to judge how well received this digital only Xbox is? Spencer's talked about the next generation of Xbox consoles (plural), so I'm assuming they already have more than just one traditional Xbox console in the works. Maybe for a simultaneous launch. These things takes years, so I don't think that they'll decide this in early 2020 after judging the digital only Xbox One a success or not, not if the new Xbox will launch later that year.

I'm not saying they shouldn't do it, I'm just trying to figure out how they're thinking.

That's really cool. Microsoft making a lot of good moves.

Bioshocker said:

My point is that if they launch an Xbox One without a disc drive in 2019 and the next Xbox launches in 2020, it's not that much time between them. Is one year enough to judge how well received this digital only Xbox is? Spencer's talked about the next generation of Xbox consoles (plural), so I'm assuming they already have more than just one traditional Xbox console in the works. Maybe for a simultaneous launch. These things takes years, so I don't think that they'll decide this in early 2020 after judging the digital only Xbox One a success or not, not if the new Xbox will launch later that year.

I'm not saying they shouldn't do it, I'm just trying to figure out how they're thinking.

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Sure it is, the minute this console is announced Microsoft will start to measure the public response, the minute it comes out they will start to measure and compare sales to the previous Xbox One versions. Depending on how soon it's released in 2019, it should be more than a year before the Scarlet, that is more than enough. It won't, but lets say the internet dies once the official announcement for this discless version is made, just like it did with the Xbox One announcement, do you think Microsoft will cancel the discless version of the Scarlet or not? This is a very well calculated move from Microsoft. An Xbox One Slimmer was surely on the cards anyhow for 2019, so why not take the opportunity to measure the reception without affecting the next gen console?

Bioshocker said:

Xbox 360 E was a way to further cut production costs, I assume. It was not an experiment or a test of some sort. Sure, Forza Horizon 2 launched in 2014, iirc, but what else? Rise of the Tomb Raider is a big one, but that's third party. Third parties can of course keep releasing games, FIFA 19 launched on the 360 I believe.

I hope the One will keep being relevant, I like that older consoles can still be supported even after new ones have launched. But given the limited success Microsoft's had with Xbox One, unlike the 360 which was a hit, I would be surprised.

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I think that a console with no disc drive would primarily be a way to cut down production costs, not some grand experiment. People who would consider buying a console that late into the generation, especially a model that lacks the functionality of other also available models, represent a completely different audience from people who would be interested in Microsoft's next gen machine. It's not a good way to test the waters for anything, I don't know where that idea is coming from, because it doesn't sound reasonable to me - it's never going to sell huge numbers no matter what, because most people who want Xbox One are likely to already have one by that point. This is going to be a product for families and cost-conscious gamers, obviously designed to work in concert with Game Pass and perhaps game streaming.

Rise was technically published by Microsoft on Xbox, but even ignoring that, there were also Fable Anniversary, Screamride, and a bunch of XBLA games in addition to a separate version of FH2 and its spin-off Fast & Furious game (and let's not forget that Titanfall also happened and hit Xbox 360 just because of Microsoft's direct involvement). Quite comparable to Sony whose post-PS4 releases consisted of Gran Turismo 6, LittleBigPlanet 3, yearly MLB: The Show games, and also a bunch of PSN games. I don't think that Nintendo published a single Wii game after the launch of Wii U, and Breath of the Wild was the only Wii U game published after the launch of Switch.

That's a great idea for those that want to embrace an all digital future (not me).

mangochutney said:

Being able to swap your elbows for edible underwear would be an 'option' but why would you do it. That is what people are asking. Why would I do it.

Except for if you own the hypothetical disc-less console.

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Because if I have the physical version, which I can usually find for cheaper than the digital version, I can trade that physical version in for the digital. Having the digital enables me to play it on my Xbox and my brother can play it on his (since his Xbox is my home console).

Meaning I paid less and essentially have two licenses for the games.

I'm on a bit of a mission to stop using plastics. If an all digital future can help that so be it.

Queen Kong said:

Great for folks that shares digital games like me. Most of the time new games would be cheaper physically, I can get it at release and trade it in for a digital copy that I can share.

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You are assuming a retailer won't charge for the privilage

Provided this allows physical stores to stay in business yet still allow people to benefit from the ability to go digital, I'm happy with this.

For now.

Still prevents reselling, and therefore any freedom to recoup your costs when you're done with a game.

Such a cool program. I'll take advantage of it.

This would be incredible. The main reason I buy physical is because it's usually cheaper. Having the best of both worlds is a borderline system seller.

They have been talking about this for almost a year at the store. Haven't seen anything about when it starts

Philly Cheesesteak said:

I would think this most certainly would make people go from physical to digital considering you are trading in a disc for a digital version. There has never been an option like this before so obviously there may be some hiccups, but the benefit for MS outweighs the risk immensely if they can get you deeper into their ecosystem. Like this is literally the same program they wanted to enact with the OG Xbone in 2013 except now it's an option instead of it being mandatory. The same concerns about consumers' digital rights that applied then, still apply now.

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Time just changed. ....some people are already only Digital and most have zero problems buying and downloading games ..not counting PC gamers do this already from decades

Alucardx23 said:

Sure it is, the minute this console is announced Microsoft will start to measure the public response, the minute it comes out they will start to measure and compare sales to the previous Xbox One versions. Depending on how soon it's released in 2019, it should be more than a year before the Scarlet, that is more than enough. It won't, but lets say the internet dies once the official announcement for this discless version is made, just like it did with the Xbox One announcement, do you think Microsoft will cancel the discless version of the Scarlet or not? This is a very well calculated move from Microsoft. An Xbox One Slimmer was surely on the cards anyhow for 2019, so why not take the opportunity to measure the reception without affecting the next gen console?

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Maybe you're right. I just think they could've done this before, not this late in the cycle. If they are indeed planning a discless Xbox Next, they're pretty far into that planning by now. Scrapping it completely because a discless Xbox One - which is getting hammered ny PS4 on almost every market, btw - sounds expensive, and I really wonder what conclusion you can draw from an eventual "failure" of the discless Xbox One five year into the generation. We'll see. Exciting times nevertheless.

Sony please do this. Of my 85 games on my Pro, only 5 are discs and I would love to make them digital as well.