Microsoft Reportedly Planned to Continue Disc Support Before the Xbox 'Reset'

UPDATE: We've updated this article to make it clear that Digital Foundry's John Linneman is speculating about what Microsoft may do in the future around physical discs, rather than reporting on the company's plans. Linneman did say his sources had indicated that Microsoft planned to continue to support physical discs before the recent "reset" of the Xbox business, but it is unclear if the company will now do so with its next-gen console, Project Helix.

ORIGINAL STORY: Digital Foundry's John Linneman says sources have told him that Microsoft is planning to continue support for physical game discs with the aim of prioritizing backward compatibility.

The topic came up during a Digital Foundry Q&A video posted to YouTube on July 31, where Linneman raised the optimistic possibility that discs might not be going the way of the dinosaur, at least on Xbox’s side of things.

However, the reason for this isn’t necessarily due to sales numbers; rather, Linneman says that backward compatibility is a bigger priority.

"I'd heard from a couple sort of sources — and this is just kind of like potential rumor-y stuff — but at least, before the current Xbox reset, I don't know where it is now, it sounds like Microsoft was actually very much going to continue disc support. Not because they value retail disc sales, but because they wanted to ensure that all your Xbox games were still playable on new Xboxes,” he explained.

He went on to envision a future where, in stark contrast to Sony’s future plans, Xbox doubles down on preserving physical media, even hinting at ties to Microsoft’s possible plans to digitize players’ physical game libraries.

"And it's like, 'We could offer maybe like an external drive,' or basically some means, and I think that might all tie into this disc-to-digital stuff, as well. But I get this feeling that they might actually, especially given their reaction — I'm not saying they're going to solve problems or anything drastically going to change — but I do see a future where Microsoft actually supports discs going forward, for users that want to take their library with them, while Sony just completely cuts people off."

While nothing has been officially confirmed by Xbox or Microsoft themselves, these reports come as welcome news to players in the wake of Sony’s hotly-debated decision to end the production of physical game discs starting January 2028.

The company hasn’t backed down on this choice in spite of the massive backlash it’s received, either, with Sony’s Chief Financial Officer Lin Tao doubling down on killing discs in a first quarter fiscal results Q&A for investors in late July.

“We’re going to cautiously move this forward,” she said. “And to this decision, we have received various opinions and people have strong views, and we understand that the community has put forth those views to us. Games are loved by many people. It’s a form of entertainment that’s loved by people, and it’s connected to people’s fond memories in many cases.

“And so we understand those emotions. We want to consider that. And in the future digital ecosystem, how do we engage the gamers is something that we would like to continue to explore.”

Linneman’s latest comments follow optimistic remarks from Xbox’s Chief Technology Officer Scott Van Vliet following a network outage late last month. After hearing reports of players being unable to access their physical games during the outage, Vliet said that “disc-based entitlement checks should not prevent players from accessing their games, and this is by design,” something that set players’ minds at ease at least for a short while.

This is the latest Xbox news to stir up conversation among enthusiasts after a leaked document reportedly laid out plans to bring Xbox 360 games to both PC and its next-generation console, Project Helix, with a potential rollout slated for 2027-2028.

Virginia (she/her) is IGN’s News Editor. With ten years of experience reporting on games and entertainment, she’s got a storied background in the fighting game community, influencer news, and viral online trends. Find her on Twitter at @TheeMissGlaze.