Xbox to offer digital licences with physical disc purchases

ShintaiUS · Thursday at 10:53 PM

The potential problem I have with this is now there is incentive from Microsoft to "protect publishers" by enforcing internet connection. They wouldn't be able to block a second user from launching the disc while the console is offline, what do they do? make everyone connect to the internet to launch the disc.

Post automatically merged: Thursday at 10:55 PM

BigOnYa said:
https://www.purexbox.com/features/x...-the-most-common-questions-were-seeing-so-far

If this is official, it may address my concerns.

Vixi · Friday at 6:52 AM

Scarlet said:
Given their stressing on it having all the benefits if digital ownership though,

Long term renting isn't ownership.

SylverReZ · Friday at 7:43 AM

The disc has always been a digital license in a way that installs the game straight to your Xbox. And back then, any games installed from the disc requires it to be always inserted so that it will launch. It's still a form of DRM, and until now, Microsoft has made all disc-based installs to launch straight from the console without needing it.

Since most games require online play, it doesn't make that much of a difference if you buy and download a game from the Microsoft store. Once the servers go offline, you don't own that game anymore, so there's absolutely no point in making that minor change since you still don't own anything on an all-digital platform.

purple_bandit · Friday at 8:35 AM

ShintaiUS said:
The potential problem I have with this is now there is incentive from Microsoft to "protect publishers" by enforcing internet connection. They wouldn't be able to block a second user from launching the disc while the console is offline, what do they do? make everyone connect to the internet to launch the disc.

Post automatically merged: Thursday at 10:55 PM

If this is official, it may address my concerns.

Realistically how many people are permanently offline lol. And you need to go online to download data for games to make them playable most of the time these days

Vixi · Friday at 3:10 PM

purple_bandit said:
Realistically how many people are permanently offline lol. And you need to go online to download data for games to make them playable most of the time these days

My N64 and Gameboys are permanently offline. I don't even own a Randnet cart or Mobile Adapter GB.
Games work pretty well.

purple_bandit · 2026-08-29T22:43:02+0100

Vixi said:
My N64 and Gameboys are permanently offline. I don't even own a Randnet cart or Mobile Adapter GB.
Games work pretty well.

Then you don't need to worry about some else getting the license for them do you

ShintaiUS · 2026-08-30T06:56:08+0100

purple_bandit said:
Realistically how many people are permanently offline lol.

Enough people to motivate Sony to introduce a 30 day window before your license becomes permanent.

And also me, my PS5 hasn't connected to the internet since Nov 2024.

purple_bandit said:
And you need to go online to download data for games to make them playable most of the time these days

All my games except for fucking Forza 6 work right out of the box. I can play just fine without an update.

purple_bandit said:
Then you don't need to worry about some else getting the license for them do you

That is not the point, deactivating the license sounds very fair. Today they will likely let you get away with someone playing your copy offline, some other day they will backpedal and will want to you to phone home to launch the disc even if you're not interested in this disc-to-digital shit.

purple_bandit · 2026-08-30T08:37:34+0100

ShintaiUS said:
Enough people to motivate Sony to introduce a 30 day window before your license becomes permanent.

And also me, my PS5 hasn't connected to the internet since Nov 2024.

All my games except for fucking Forza 6 work right out of the box. I can play just fine without an update.

That is not the point, deactivating the license sounds very fair. Today they will likely let you get away with someone playing your copy offline, some other day they will backpedal and will want to you to phone home to launch the disc even if you're not interested in this disc-to-digital shit.

Are you retarded? All your games will still work offline with a disc. You might MAYBE need to go online to access the free digital version. We don't know yet.

Gozaburo · 2026-08-30T15:06:59+0100

Game key disc...

ShintaiUS · 2026-08-30T20:54:05+0100

purple_bandit said:
Are you retarded? All your games will still work offline with a disc. You might MAYBE need to go online to access the free digital version. We don't know yet.

Really!? I wonder if YOU are braindead or purposely stupid? This conversation is about potential changes down the road which you have responded to and objected to. Why are you suddenly babbling about disc working offline, who said anything about still not working offline?

HaloEliteLegend · 2026-08-30T21:34:54+0100

SylverReZ said:
The disc has always been a digital license in a way that installs the game straight to your Xbox. And back then, any games installed from the disc requires it to be always inserted so that it will launch. It's still a form of DRM, and until now, Microsoft has made all disc-based installs to launch straight from the console without needing it.

Since most games require online play, it doesn't make that much of a difference if you buy and download a game from the Microsoft store. Once the servers go offline, you don't own that game anymore, so there's absolutely no point in making that minor change since you still don't own anything on an all-digital platform.

Yeah, discs after installs are just DRM. After the Xbox 360 era, I moved entirely to PC and Switch. Didn't own a PS4 or Xbone till the end of that console gen so imagine my surprise when I learned the games don't boot straight from disc anymore. Whole game's installed to the console first, and at that point I kinda felt needing the disc always inserted was meaningless.

SylverReZ · 2026-08-30T22:40:19+0100

HaloEliteLegend said:
Yeah, discs after installs are just DRM. After the Xbox 360 era, I moved entirely to PC and Switch.

But then you have to consider whether you want to install games on your PC, owing up to DRM like Easy Anti-Cheat and other kernel-level DRMs, which should be considered illegal because they are effectively rootkits that'll make your PC unstable and subject to other kinds of malware. These days, GoG is my preferred choice, because you can find classic and even current games without the DRM. But I know some folks on here don't want to spend the extra cash for games made years ago that are currently free and would rather pirate them, but this often comes with risks, especially given how easy it is to get malware on the internet with infostealers and the like.

Nonetheless, DRM does not provide the consumer access and freedoms to their digital goods that aren't theirs. We've learnt that for years, companies have been hiding the fact that digital goods are like subscriptions, and they have the right to cancel them, whether you like it or not. If it becomes lost or becomes unusable, then you're basically screwed and wasted all of your money for nothing.

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