Xbox tests a feature that will digitize physical games so users don’t lose their collection

Microsoft is preparing a feature that will allow games to be converted from physical disk to digital format, so that users will be able to preserve their game collection by digitizing it.

Precisely this Wednesday, PlayStation announced its intention to end the production of physical video games for its consoles starting in January 2028, thus marking the end of a period of titles on CD, to become exclusively digital.

It is unknown what Microsoft’s intentions are in this regard for its Xbox consoles, but it seems to be looking for options to preserve physical video games already existing players, when working on a new scanning function which will allow physical disc titles to be converted to digital format.

According to the technology media The Verge, several Xbox employees have begun testing the new function known internally as ‘enable Disc2Digital’, which appeared in the code for the Xbox app for PC in May.

The American media has indicated that this new ‘disc to digital’ function only works in Xbox One and Xbox Series X disc-based console models. The Xbox 360 and the original Xbox are out of the game. Thus, this system will allow users receive a digital copy of a game, simply by inserting the compatible disc and install it to play it.

There are a few points to take into account, as it requires a Microsoft account and an Xbox console to guarantee the transition to digital for physical games, and the digitized title will always be linked to the disc specific.

That is to say, that This link can be transferred from one account to another if the user eventually trades the physical game with a friend, or if they log into a different Xbox profile and try to play with that same disc.

On the other hand, if the user lends or sells the disc to another person, they will lose the digital right to that title, since The physical disk is still the true access key to the game. As soon as the new owner inserts the disc and logs in, Xbox will recognize it and transfer the digital rights to that new account.

The ‘enable Disc2Digital’ function will also be used to games that come in packs with the consolemulti-disc titles and packs that include downloadable content.

Yes, there is an exception, and it is for certain old Xbox One discs that at the time of their release did not have the necessary technology so that they can now be ‘digitized’.

At the moment, Microsoft is testing this new functionality internally and it is unknown when it plans to launch it so that users can keep their library of physical games.