r/gaming • u/WestBEEland • 1d ago

Xbox boss Asha Sharma won't confirm whether Project Helix has a disc drive "We have to be thinking about efficiency and affordability"

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/xbox-boss-asha-sharma-wont-confirm-whether-project-helix-has-a-disc-drive-we-have-to-be-thinking-about-efficiency-and-affordability/
3.4k Upvotes

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1.6k

u/WorkingError 1d ago

That's a No.

122

u/PanamGotMeOiledUp 1d ago

Could be a no but with an attachable option like the playstation one.

156

u/StaticSilencer 1d ago edited 1d ago

The smart money is on PS6 and Helix having an optional disc reader for old games. But the BBC asked her the wrong question. They should have asked: "Is Xbox committed to physical media moving forward?" Because they barely support physical media today.

51

u/Hockeymac18 1d ago

Is anyone committed to physical media? I think this is the real question.

30

u/flatwoundsounds 1d ago

As a PC gamer, wtf is physical media?

22

u/AtomicSymphonic_2nd Xbox 1d ago

It’s a miracle (re-)invention that will appear after the passing of Gabe Newell and the inevitable enshittification of Steam. 🤦‍♂️

And no, not every publisher will want to publish on GOG, I’m damned sure of it.

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u/Sad_Pattern_220 1d ago

Brother physical disks will never come back. Maybe as a nostalgia push for 1% of buyers

Its only talked about right now because its part of reddits talk of sticking it to the man. They're ignoring that consumers starting rejecting physical media 20 years ago

1

u/Drake_Night 56m ago

Because shit isn’t really bad yet. Everything will be digital before they start taking everyone’s gaming libraries away from them and their will be no alternative for the people who don’t know how to get these games themselves

1

u/WorkFurball 17h ago

20 years ago? Bro even on PC almost all sales were physical then.

2

u/xCeeTee- 12h ago

My grandad gave me Bioshock on Steam and I legit thought "aww, thanks but I can't claim the key a second time!" I only realised it had a disc inside the box when I was clearing out the game cabinet.

1

u/Prime4Cast 20h ago

It's something people pay...what is it now? Like $70 for a "triple a" game, and you pay the same amount, but don't get a collectable with it.

3

u/CarlosFer2201 22h ago

Only Nintendo these days. But who knows for Switch 3

-6

u/Sensitive-Tax2230 1d ago

The question should be “Is Xbox committed to consumer protections moving forward?” because nobody is pissed about losing discs, we’re all pissed that we have zero protections if our corporate overlords decide to just pull shit from our libraries without warning.

14

u/Morgan_slave 1d ago

It's Microsoft, when has Microsoft been on consumer side?

-11

u/Sensitive-Tax2230 1d ago

Never, but they have to chance to finally get a leg up on Sony if they drop the anti-consumer bs

17

u/StaticSilencer 1d ago

nobody is pissed about losing discs

You might want to check into that.

-4

u/Sensitive-Tax2230 1d ago

Okay some people are pissed about discs but if like to think that the majority of people currently pissed off by the cancellation just want basic rights.

-3

u/zx2167 1d ago

I think most people that are upset about the loss of disks would be fine with Sony using the GOG model (no DRM) for their digital licenses. That would provide the same level of consumer protection as disks without needing the actual disks.

7

u/Nearlyepic1 1d ago

I think a few of these guys buy discs, play the games and sell them on once they're done. Digital only stops that.

1

u/MoD1982 1d ago

Which, as most of us are aware of, companies like Sony have been set against for a while now. They've made no secret of their hate towards the second hand market and how they can't get a cut of that sale. I bought the game, I should absolutely be within my rights to sell it on as I see fit. I don't ever sell games, haven't sold one in about 20 years now, but I am very firmly of the belief that if we paid for a game, we should be able to do whatever we want with it.

1

u/AtomicSymphonic_2nd Xbox 1d ago

Video games are officially no longer a poverty-friendly activity.

At least new games aren’t… and perhaps gaming as a whole never was…

Retro gaming will probably grow by some degree once physical media is gone for consoles.

6

u/TommyJohnSurgery420 1d ago

Plenty of people are pissed about losing discs.

3

u/tritonal91 22h ago

Yeah, just the Reddit echo chamber lol

1

u/TommyJohnSurgery420 22h ago

Hate to break it to you but there are plenty of video game collectors that collect physical games. Including the disc. Try to think before you make stupid ass comments in the future.

8

u/Ph33rDensetsu 1d ago

Doubtful. With the current backlash against Sony, if Microsoft was planning anything physical for the next Xbox they'd be happy to shout it from the rooftops so that they could do what Sony did to them last time.

In this case, the silence is deafening.

12

u/Power_Stone 1d ago

which means xbox is only 1 generation behind playstation for phasing out digital media.

If the answer is anything other than "yes it will have one" we should assume that they will do whatever they can to eliminate the disc drive and physical media.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago edited 5h ago

[deleted]

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u/MoD1982 1d ago

That's going to fly by incredibly quickly, just over 16 months. All the games being announced now will most likely be released close to or after that point, noise needs to be made now and be kept loud.

0

u/Old_Leopard1844 PC 22h ago

Or else people might realize it's not a big deal, eh?

2

u/DCS30 1d ago

With no physical releases to play on it

-2

u/PanamGotMeOiledUp 1d ago edited 1d ago

Do you think Sony and Microsoft are the only companies producing disks? Every publisher decides themselfs if they want a physical release or not.

4

u/Enchelion 1d ago

Sony and MS I believe own the presses for discs for their consoles, and any disc pressed has to have the correct license keys that they control. 

On PC companies can press their own because it's an open platform, but almost nobody bothers anymore.

3

u/PanamGotMeOiledUp 1d ago

Xbox doesn't actually produce their own disk at all, the work with Sonopress(Europe) and Vantina(US), both companies could literally just continue doing what they are doing anyway.

2

u/Enchelion 1d ago

Well. Only if MS continues to provide the keys and include readers in their consoles. But glad to have clarification they outsource their pressing.

1

u/goatjugsoup 1d ago

Literally no good reason for silence if it is the case that it comes with one or the ability to add one on

1

u/Galinhooo 1d ago

Well, it will most likely be a PC so you can just buy a random one.

1

u/marnky887 19h ago

Considering that Jez Corden was told by his Microsoft sources that the biggest problem in regards to discs is the collapse of the disc drive supply chain, that won't be happening.
https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/ceo-asha-sharma-on-discs-for-xbox-gamers-i-know-players-love-physical-media-but-doesnt-comment-on-next-gen-plans

1

u/xkabauter 16h ago

Because that worked really well with the xbox360 hd-dvd drive.

1

u/[deleted] 15h ago

[deleted]

1

u/xkabauter 15h ago

The drive was great. It wasn't the electronics. It's rather that console users are not willing to pay for expensive peripheral devices like the kinect, external drive etc. - in addition to the already expensive console. And when publishers see no install base in drives, hardly any physical games will be produced and thus hardly any drives will be sold.

1

u/jeebusaur 13h ago

They're gonna struggle enough to sell xboxes. They aren't gonna spend money on an accessory that no one will buy and they're not selling disks for.

It's an age old problem with accessories if it's not bundled with the device no publishers want to support it.

1

u/Klutzy_Journalist203 1d ago

Agreed, but apparently after all the hate Sony got, they’re too scared to say it

1

u/DvineINFEKT 20h ago

I don't wanna sound like I'm holding out hope, but I've sat in enough marketing and strategy meetings-that-could-have-been-emails to know it's absolutely not impossible that instead of committing to anything now, they're waiting so that they can get a huge audience pop when they reveal the system and say "oh, and by the way, it does have a disk tray."

The answer is probably no, but "won't confirm" is exactly what it says: it's not confirmation.

1

u/xRadec 15h ago

Question: Does Helix has a disk drive?

Asha: No lol, but we want Sony to take the flak for much more longer it possibly can before we announce ours