Xbox Taps into the Future: Disc-to-Digital Arrives

Xbox's disc-to-digital feature was first conceived in 2011, but its development took nearly 15 years. Microsoft had planned to enable digital game sharing and other features on the Xbox One at launch, but ultimately walked back those plans due to a backlash.

The company had embedded unique identifiers on discs that could be read by Xbox consoles, allowing for digitization of physical games. This feature is now available, letting users convert their existing disc collections into digital copies.

The move is seen as a response to Sony's announcement that it will discontinue PlayStation discs in 2028. Microsoft has been working on game preservation efforts, including bringing original Xbox and Xbox 360 games to PC and improving backward compatibility.