Oliver Haslam·

Microsoft May Release A Disc-Less, Digital-Only Xbox In 2019

If you cast your mind back to before the world started crumbling and even before the Xbox One arrived, you might remember that there was much talk of the console being digital-only, with gamers buying digital content with no method of buying games on more traditional discs being available.

That didn’t come to fruition, but according to the usually reliable Paul Thurrott, Microsoft is getting ready to have another try.

Writing on his blog, Thurrott says that Microsoft will launch a new Xbox next year that will not be part of the Scarlett family. That family is Microsoft’s replacement for the Xbox One and the consoles are not expected to arrive until 2020 at the earliest. This new console, arriving as soon as 2019, will instead focus on digital downloads, removing the disc drive completely in an attempt to cut costs. Xbox units can be had for around $300 right now, but the new disc-free Xbox is expected to sell for around $200.

The most obvious problem with this plan is the huge catalogs of games that fans already own. Microsoft apparently has a plan for that, and that plan involves asking selected retailers to take in old discs and furnish gamers with new digital download versions.

Quite how Microsoft is going to convince retailers to put themselves out of business is anyone’s guess, and we can’t imagine they will be too keen on pushing people to a gaming system that does away with the disc-based games that they have made their fortunes on.

All this comes alongside a new Xbox One S that is also said to arrive soon, one which does feature a disc but will apparently further lower the cost of entry into the world of Xbox.

(Source: Thurott.com)

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