Xbox’s clever disc-to-digital feature was 15 years in the making

Xbox’s clever disc-to-digital feature was 15 years in the making. When Xbox announced a new feature last month that lets you digitize existing physical game collections, I immediately thought of the Xbox One. Disc-to-digital seems like a clever new feature for Xbox, perfectly timed as a response to Sony killing PlayStation discs. But the reality is that it has been 15 years in the making […]

What happened

TechGamingMicrosoftXbox’s clever disc-to-digital feature was 15 years in the makingMicrosoft’s controversial Xbox One bets are paying off more than a decade later. Disc-to-digital seems like a clever new feature for Xbox, perfectly timed as a response to Sony killing PlayStation discs. Some of those technical challenges mean that not every single Xbox One disc will work with this new disc-to-digital feature. Microsoft warned its internal Xbox testers that “it all depends on how and when the disc was manufactured and it may not have the features we need for this program. ”Discs that are slightly damaged might also not work with disc-to-digital, but run just fine otherwise.

But the reality is that it has been 15 years in the making and is now a big part of Xbox’s ongoing game preservation efforts. Sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans tell me the company was exploring the idea of true Xbox digital ownership in 2011, including digital gifting, recycling digital games, and the ability to swap discs at retail stores in exchange for a digital version. Microsoft’s decision to essentially embed a serial number on the discs that Xbox consoles can read has allowed it to launch disc-to-digital, a method that lets you turn a physical Xbox One disc into a digital copy simply by slotting it into a disc drive.

The wider picture

A decision made 15 years ago has resulted in this useful feature and may well lead to true digital ownership in the coming years. Unless the PlayStation maker has been quietly adding metadata to its discs over the years, it will have to find another method to help PS5 owners move their physical collections over to the digital era. In the same year that disc-to-digital is launching, Microsoft is also bringing original Xbox and Xbox 360 games to PC.

Microsoft envisioned this true digital ownership future 15 years ago, and it has gradually taken steps toward making it a reality. Composite: Supplied‘Brutal’: thousands of T-shirt designs stolen and listed on Temu, Sydney label claimsWarwick Levy, who runs Lonely Kids Club, says AI may have been used to scrape his entire website and replicate designs Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast After 15 years running a small business making T-shirts, Warwick Levy says it was “brutal” when he first discovered an identical design for sale on Temu.

Microsoft’s controversial Xbox One bets are paying off more than a decade later. by Tom WarrenSep 17, 2026, 4:00 PM UTCImage: Cath Virginia / The VergeTom Warren is a senior correspondent and author of Notepad, who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. When Xbox announced a new feature last month that lets you digitize existing physical game collections, I immediately thought of the Xbox One. Ahead of the launch of the Xbox One in 2013, Microsoft made a key decision to uniquely identify discs.

What has been reported

Microsoft thought ahead, not necessarily to disc-to-digital, but just about identifying discs so it was ready for when console games moved into an all-digital era. I fully expect Microsoft to follow Sony and eventually scrap Xbox discs, especially as the number of authorized manufacturers capable of producing physical media continues to shrink. The company has also spent years working on its backward compatibility program, to get as many games from the Xbox and Xbox 360 eras working on modern Xbox consoles.

Publishers need to agree to disc-to-digital, and some could hold back. The next challenge beyond disc-to-digital is solving digital ownership. If you picked up an Arm-powered Copilot Plus PC over the past years, you may have noticed the new Copilot key that launches Microsoft’s digital assistant. Microsoft has started testing a new Xbox console feature that lets you enable the original Xbox One or Xbox One X boot screens on an Xbox Series S or X console.

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What happens next

Now they are making the most intriguing British fantasy game we have seen in many years. It offers a combination of elements that simply doesn’t exist anywhere else. ”Explore more on these topicsRole playing gamesGamesfeaturesShareReuse this contentComments (…)Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussionMost viewedMost viewed The ad was based on a digitally altered version of a selfie Schuman had taken in her car and posted on Instagram years earlier.

“So it’s a lose-lose from all ways of looking at it. ”Explore more on these topicsAI (artificial intelligence)ReworkedSocial mediaMetaTikTokInstagramDigital mediaDeepfakefeaturesShareReuse this contentMost viewedMost viewed Explore more on these topicsGamesPushing Buttons newsletterGames consolesRetro gamesNintendofeaturesShareReuse this contentComments (…)Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussionMost viewedMost viewed Some of those original Xbox One plans leaked out online, and many others have remained secret for more than a decade. Microsoft’s Xbox One launch hinted at some of these ideas, too.

The report has been compiled by The Daily Waves using information reported across theverge.com, theguardian.com. Details are presented according to the information available at the time of publication and may change as authorities, organisers or other relevant parties provide updates.