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Physical games on Xbox aren’t going anyway anytime soon. At least not entirely. That’s the official word from Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer following an interview with Stephen Totilo of Game File. Xbox will continue to support disc-based games for the foreseeable future but, Spencer does acknowledge that digital games have carved out a substantial piece of sales.
In other words, Xbox isn’t going all digital just yet. But that doesn’t mean that will never be the case. Perhaps the most important thing for physical games enthusiasts on Xbox is that Micreosoft’s next console is likely to have a disc version. While also offering a digital version as it does now with the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. Spencer doesn’t touch on the next-gen console at all. But he does note that moving away from discs isn’t part of Microsoft’s strategy.
“I will say our strategy does not hinge on people moving all-digital. And getting rid of physical, that’s not a strategic thing for us,” Spencer said. Totilo’s question about physical Xbox games was a successful attempt to get some kind of answer out of Spencer about the possibility of Xbox going all-digital, thanks to a flurry of rumors that this might have been the case.
Xbox was rumored to be getting rid of physical games
These rumors stemmed from a leaked all-digital version of the Xbox Series X that popped up last year. An image of a smaller, cylindrical version of the console was part of emails and other information that surfaced during testimony in Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard trial. Although Microsoft hadn’t confirmed this version of the Series X was coming, Spencer later said that plans had changed. Suggesting that the console refresh may have been part of the plan at some point.
Spencer never confirms in the interview with Totilo that such a version is never coming. However, even if it does Microsoft isn’t getting rid of the disc version.
Xbox isn’t getting rid of discs, but that doesn’t mean every game will be available on disc
Discs aren’t going anywhere, but there is a possibility of more games being released in an all-digital format. “We are supportive of physical media, but we don’t have a need to drive that disproportionate to customer demand,” Spencer said. Spencer also touched on the fact that Microsoft’s focus is to follow what the customers are doing. Right now, the majority of players on Xbox are buying games digitally according to Spencer. So expect more games to come out digitally as opposed to both digitally and physically.
There’s also another factor to consider. Disc drives cost money to make and to buy for use in the console. And, as Spencer notes, fewer manufacturers are making them at the same time as fewer players are buying disc-based games. He states that this leads to the cost of the drive having an impact. Spencer doesn’t elaborate further, but it does seem to suggest that eventually, perhaps far down the road, all-digital may simply be the norm.