Major studios snub Xbox disc-to-digital program, bad news for Assassin's Creed and Final Fantasy fans

Xbox's new revolutionary disc-to-digital program, which was set to immortalise physical gaming media, has been dealt a bitter blow as it appears that certain game studios can opt out of the feature.

It was a sign of intent from Xbox, following the announcement that the PlayStation was moving on from discs entirely in the next-gen consoles (snubbing a disc tray add-on).

The disc-to-digital program instead gave physical game owners the chance to download their new, old, and even delisted discs onto consoles and access them through the cloud.

However, it seems like that feature was too good to be true.

First, Xbox announced that it was limiting cloud gaming time depending on your Game Pass subscription and locking unlimited hours behind an additional paywall.

Now, it's become clear that not every physical game can be downloaded, as some developers appear to have opted out of the chance for the green team to digitise their old games.

Xbox gamers report Ubisoft and Square Enix titles are unavailable on disc-to-digital

According to multiple posts on X and Reddit, Ubisoft and Square Enix titles are reportedly throwing up an error when trying to be downloaded on the disc-to-digital program.

Players are met with messages stating ‘Digital license unavailable,' and ‘this game is not participating in digital licensing.'

This means franchises like Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy, and Square Enix's Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Kingdom Hearts won't be able to be downloaded from physical discs to become digitalised.

That's a real blow for Final Fantasy and Assassin's Creed fans specifically, with a range of old-school games passing the test of time to still be relevant today.

"Wouldn't be surprised that some publishers WANT to resell their games digital only so they can double dip as much as they can revenue-wise," one player pointed out on Reddit.

Read More: 8 must-play Xbox 360 games you can pick up for dirt cheap right now

Xbox has already revealed that not 'every' game that will end up on the program will be available at launch, meaning these studios could add their titles at a later date.

It's also worth noting that most of the old Assassin's Creed and Final Fantasy games are available on Game Pass, showing that there is a strong and ongoing relationship with both studios.

Historically, Square Enix has always leaned in favour of PlayStation, specifically with the Final Fantasy series.

The Final Fantasy VII Remake, FFVII Rebirth, and FFXVI all released as PlayStation exclusives and took a long time to bring them across to Xbox.

Yet Ubisoft has swayed either side of the argument. Back in the OG Xbox and 360 eras, their Splinter Cell series were launched as Xbox exclusives, only to be added to PlayStation at a later date.

More recently, though, Ubisoft has been team blue, offering exclusive bonuses and content to PS, such as Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag missions and an extra hour of Watch Dogs gameplay.

It's yet to be seen whether the studios will team up with Xbox in the future, but it sets a scary precedent for Microsoft that studios can choose to opt out, with others potentially thinking about doing the same with new game releases.