Xbox "Positron" disc-to-digital program signals no Project Helix disc drive but gamer reactions might change things

Sony’s decision to move away from physical games has made it quite clear that the PlayStation 6 won’t have a physical disc drive. We don’t know whether the decision has been made to keep the price of the PS6 down or to increase Sony’s profits. We also don’t know what Xbox is going to do for next-gen. Many people fear that Sony's killing of physical games has given Xbox all the reason it needs to also abandon the medium by making Project Helix all digital.

Responding to a user question about the possibility of a physical disc drive on Project Helix, the folks at Digital Foundry were in agreement that a disc drive is pretty unlikely to come standard on the next-gen Xbox. Microsoft has been pushing people towards Game Pass and the service now has 30 million subscribers. Admittedly, the company would like to see this number grow, and killing physical games could help achieve that.

Moreover, we’ve recently seen reports of Microsoft preparing a disc-to-digital program termed “Positron”. The program reportedly allows gamers to tie their physical games to digital versions. In theory, this should allow a user to play the physical discs they own on Project Helix even if the next-gen Xbox doesn’t have a disc drive.

Finally, while DF’s John Linneman does think that Project Helix is unlikely to have a disc drive, he states that the “reactinary” Xbox CEO Asha Sharma might see all the flak Sony is getting online for killing physical games and change course.

Only time will tell what road Project Helix might take. A nice middle ground approach for Microsoft would be to sell an optional detachable disc drive for people who want the option.

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