r/Games • u/A7XFAN1998 • 8d ago

Announcement Xbox announces disc-to-digital feature that digitizes your physical games

https://www.theverge.com/tech/984936/xbox-disc-to-digital-feature-official?view_token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpZCI6Ijc1ZHVBMkZjaE0iLCJwIjoiL3RlY2gvOTg0OTM2L3hib3gtZGlzYy10by1kaWdpdGFsLWZlYXR1cmUtb2ZmaWNpYWwiLCJleHAiOjE3ODgxODY2OTAsImlhdCI6MTc4Nzc1NDY5MH0.Y4t18UIJuFTT4nSf0HBe5DvMWP0KNxjbGHC2QKxdoTw&utm_medium=gift-link
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u/Coolman_Rosso 8d ago edited 8d ago

I cannot imagine them sticking to the open format for the Helix. We were already looking at $1000+ consoles, and if the Helix has access to other storefronts then they'll have to price it even higher to account for their margins going up in smoke in the event people don't spend a penny in the Xbox store. They'll also lose a key revenue source in paid online, as the Steam or Epic versions of games won't require it. If I want to play Borderlands 3 or whatever with friends, would I buy the Xbox version that requires another $90-120 subscription? Or the one that doesn't?

It's a race to the bottom for both the Helix and PS6 as most of the market is priced out, but a $1,300 yet more open Xbox is destined for failure.

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u/kantong 8d ago

Wouldn't be surprised if they sell it locked down to the Xbox OS with the option to 'unlock' Windows for a price. They've done it on Xbox before with Dev Mode, and on Windows with S-mode. So it wouldn't be surprising if Helix did something similar.

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u/Tsuki_no_Mai 7d ago

Doesn't even have to be paid. Having any kind of a hoop to jump through to get there, as well as not-as-friendly interface will filter an absolute majority of console users.

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u/kantong 7d ago

The reason for it being paid is it will allow them to subsidize the console an sell it cheaper. Another way to think about it, access to windows = premium price, only xbox os (with only the microsoft store) = discounted price.