Microsoft is now working on a Disc-Free Xbox to be released next year, with a focus on making it the cheapest Xbox One the new system will be ditching the optical drive. According to Thurrott’s reports that new Xbox One could arrive next spring, Microsoft is also working on a Disc-To-Digital program where players will be able to trade physical games for digital download codes at participating retailers.
“The goal with the new console is to lower the price point for the hardware. Currently, it costs about $299 to buy into the Xbox One family of devices, Microsoft is looking to lower that price by possibly as much as $100; the new console price point is expected to be $200 or less.
In addition, the company also has a revised Xbox One S SKU that is targeted for later in the year that focuses solely on cost reduction but does feature a disc-drive for those who still prefer the traditional way to buy your games. Microsoft is moving forward very carefully with this product as it knows that a sizeable portion of its users do prefer to buy physical games and not download them.
Under Phil Spencer, Microsoft is investing heavily in its Xbox brand and announced the acquisition of a couple of new gaming studios over the weekend. When you pair this new hardware with the upcoming streaming service the company is developing, the road ahead for Xbox fans is incredibly bright.”
As for Project Scarlett, Microsoft is reportedly still trying to decide if their next-gen system will include a disc drive, and me personally with Xbox’s Disc-To-Digital program led me to realize that Microsoft already made their decision to not support optical drives anymore, and disappoints me because having the game in your shelf and being able to take it and see the game’s artwork is for me a huge part of the experience of playing a game, players who owned Grand Theft Auto titles were greeted with a huge wallpaper of the game with a map of the game on the other side, who doesn’t like stuff like that?
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