Xbox drops 1000s of free digital games as physical media's future secured

Xbox has officially announced the rollout of its new disc-to-digital programme, securing a future for physical media for its users.

PlayStation devastated gamers and developers alike earlier this year when it announced that it would be ceasing production of physical games from January 2028.

From then on, games will seemingly only be available from the PlayStation Store, prompting concerns over the price of video games and how our libraries might be preserved.

When you buy a digital game, you actually only buy a license for that game and don't own the title at all.

That means that one day when a storefront or console system stops being supported, you'll lose access to everything you've purchased. In fact, a digital license can be revoked at any time, and you wouldn't be entitled to a refund.

The PlayStation 6 era is going to look very different to the PlayStation 1 era. You can pull out a working PlayStation 1 today, a quarter of a century on, and still enjoy your favourite physical games.

If you plug in a digital PlayStation 6 a quarter of a century after its release, you'll probably only be met with system errors.

Xbox, clearly, has spotted an opportunity to gain favour with gamers following PlayStation's move with the reveal of a new disc-to-digital programme.

Xbox One and Series X/S physical games can now be used to claim digital versions

There's no hiding from the fact that, yes, there is a drift towards digital from some gamers, but you can't exclude those who prefer physical.

Well, Xbox's new programme will allow you to convert your physical games into a digital license.

You may be wondering how that aids in the preservation of physical media, as it's turning a physical product into a digital one.

Most console generations support backwards compatibility, but usually only in reference to the console generation immediately preceding the current one.

You won't, for example, be able to stick an Xbox 360 disc into a next-gen Xbox.

What you may now be able to do, however, is obtain a digital copy of your current-gen titles that'll have far more longevity and flexibility. It's a way of allowing users to still enjoy physical media whilst also recognising the demand of the times.

Even if Xbox phase out discs, this ensures longevity for gamers' existing disc games

Hopefully, this means that Xbox's next-gen console actually boasts a disc drive. What we don't want is Xbox's next-gen tech to ditch discs too, and this is Microsoft's early way of softening the blow. Should the latter turn out to be true, at least there's still a level of respect towards physical media, which is yet to be displayed by Sony.

Announcing the new programme, Xbox's Asha Sharma tweeted, "Your physical game library is more than a collection of discs. 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."

Digital versions of your games are completely free to claim. For now, only Series X/S and Xbox One discs are supported.

Being an Xbox Insider may sound exclusive, but anyone can actually sign up via the Xbox Insider app, both on console and PC, with Insider access kicking off on August 31.

If you don't want the faff of signing up, the feature will roll out to all users eventually. The Insider programme is usually used as somewhat of a test.

READ MORE: Xbox unveils pricey new console that'll cost you almost four PS5s

The response to the programme seems pretty positive, initially at least.

"Xbox preserves physical games. Something no one else is doing right now," replied user colteastwood to Sharma.

"While this is fantastic, please make a disc drive for the next Xbox console! Even if I have to buy it separately, to be honest," added another user, sharing the fear that remains in the back of our minds.