Xbox Opens Disc-to-Digital to Everyone, but the Disc Still Holds the Key
Microsoft opened its Xbox Disc-to-Digital program to all players on September 29, letting owners of supported Xbox One and Xbox Series X discs claim a digital license that works without the disc sitting in the drive. The license comes with a condition that sets it apart from a normal purchase: it stays tied to the disc, and it can be lost if the disc changes hands.
That condition, more than the convenience, is what makes the rollout matter for game ownership. Xbox Disc-to-Digital had spent about a month with Xbox Insiders, the group that tests early builds, before Microsoft announced the wider release in a post on social media.
Players are receiving it through a system update, and some may need to restart their console before it appears. Xbox said support for another batch of games a...