After several weeks of testing with Xbox Insider programme members, Microsoft has finally rolled out its "Disc-to-Digital" feature to all players. But what exactly is it? The idea is to digitise every game you own on disc so you never have to faff about with them again. Essentially, anyone with an Xbox fitted with a Blu-ray drive can insert certain physical games and automatically receive a digital licence, free of charge. Once that's done, the game can be downloaded and launched without putting the disc back in the console. Yes, another step towards all-digital, you've got the idea, but there is one interesting wrinkle.
The feature was announced by Microsoft on 26 August, at a time when the future of physical gaming was being hotly debated. It's now available to everyone, with one interesting quirk: the digital licence can be used on other Xbox platforms that support the game. For Xbox Play Anywhere titles, it can even mean getting your library back on PC or on handhelds compatible with the Xbox ecosystem.
Not every game is eligible
You've read the subheading, and this is obviously where things get complicated. "Disc-to-Digital" won't turn just any physical Xbox game into a digital licence. Original Xbox and Xbox 360-era games aren't supported by the system, for instance. For now, Microsoft is limiting the feature to Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S games, with compatibility then coming down to each individual title. Microsoft hasn't published a full list of eligible games either, so for the moment it's a case of sticking a disc in at random to see whether it qualifies for conversion. The Redmond firm explains that eligibility can vary depending on several factors, including technical aspects, licensing, the edition of the game and even how it was manufactured. That said, Microsoft also points out that the terms may change over time.
Some major publishers have already announced their support for the scheme, Ubisoft and SEGA among them, but that doesn't mean their entire physical catalogues are automatically eligible. Compatibility is still decided case by case, once again.
Don't bin the disc, mind...
The most important thing to take away from this at-home digitising concerns ownership of the game. Once you've claimed the digital licence, the disc can indeed stay in its case and no longer needs to be inserted into the console to launch the game. But don't for a second assume the disc has become useless and get rid of it (who does that, anyway?). The digital licence remains tied to ownership of the physical copy. If you give your disc away, lose it or sell it on, Microsoft can revoke access to the corresponding digital licence. In other words, you can't buy a second-hand game, convert it to digital, then happily sell the disc on while keeping access to the game. Hey, they're not daft...
It makes sense, really, since the conversion hinges precisely on owning the disc, even if the distinction matters. "Disc-to-Digital" doesn't actually turn a physical game into a standalone digital copy; it simply lets a digital licence stand in for the disc temporarily, for as long as the physical copy stays in your hands.
