Xbox employees are reportedly testing a feature that would allow Xbox owners to digitize their existing physical game collections.

The news comes via The Verge, according to sources familiar with the matter. Microsoft has reportedly been working on a disc-to-digital feature, following the appearance of references to "enable Disc2Digital" in the Xbox PC app code back in May.

The reported feature will work on Xbox One and Xbox Series X discs only, excluding those for the Xbox 360 and the original Xbox console.

As The Verge explains, getting a digital copy of a game would work simply by inserting a compatible disc and installing and playing the game. The process requires a Microsoft account on an Xbox console, and will grant a so-called digital entitlement for physical games.

Said physical entitlement would be tied to the specific disc. Meaning that it will move from account to account if, for example, you swap the physical game with a friend or log in to a different Xbox profile and try to play a disc-based game.

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As such, the digital entitlement would be similar to purchasing a game from Microsoft's digital store. If the game is available on Xbox Cloud Gaming and you have a Game Pass subscription, you will be able to stream it. For titles that fit the Xbox Play Anywhere category, users will reportedly be able to access them on PCs and handhelds.

However, the feature will have some limitations. It will work with discs that come bundled with a console as well as multi-disc titles, providing access to everything the disc usually offers, including downloadable content. But Xbox One discs might not work. Microsoft reportedly warned its internal testers, "It all depends on how and when the disc was manufactured and it may not have the features we need for this program."

Lastly, discs will still work after they're digitized, with owners only losing a digital entitlement if they loan the disc to a friend or sell the disc to someone else. The Verge claims Microsoft is currently testing this feature internally, and that the company hasn't finalized whether the next-generation Xbox, codenamed Project Helix, will ship with a built-in disc drive or not.

The report comes amidst the news that Sony will no longer be releasing PlayStation software on physical discs from January 2028.

The pivot, according to the post on the PlayStation Blog, will mark an end to physical disc production for "all new games releasing on PlayStation consoles."

The decision reflects changing consumer preferences and a broader entertainment industry shift away from physical software, Sony says. Whether or not Xbox will also follow suit remains to be seen.

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About the Author

Diego Argüello

Contributing Editor, News, GameDeveloper.com

Diego Nicolás Argüello is a freelance journalist and critic from Argentina. Video games helped him to learn English, so now he covers them for places like The New York Times, NPR, Rolling Stone, and more. He also runs Into the Spine, a site dedicated to fostering and supporting new writers, and co-hosted Turnabout Breakdown, a podcast about the Ace Attorney series. He’s most likely playing a rhythm game as you read this.