Xbox CEO Dodges Disc Drive Question for Next-Gen Project Helix
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma declined to confirm if the next-gen Project Helix console will feature a disc drive, while announcing a new initiative to convert physical game discs into digital entitlements.
Speaking in a recent interview with the BBC, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma refused to confirm whether the upcoming next-generation console, codenamed Project Helix, will include a physical disc drive. When directly pressed on the future of physical media for the hardware, Sharma sidestepped the question entirely, choosing instead to emphasize cross-platform library portability and the broader evolution of the Xbox ecosystem.
To soften the blow for physical collectors, Xbox used the moment to announce a new disc-to-digital initiative designed to give players digital ownership entitlements for over a thousand physical titles. While this bridges the gap for players worried about losing access to their physical libraries in an increasingly all-digital industry, it also signals that Microsoft is aggressively laying the groundwork for a discless future.
Project Helix itself remains shrouded in mystery, with Microsoft previously confirming it will function as some kind of hybrid between a traditional console and a PC. Development kits are not expected to reach creators until next year, leaving players and developers alike guessing about the final hardware specs and whether optical media will have any place in the next generation of Xbox gaming.
Tags: Xbox, Next-Gen, Hardware, Digital Ownership, Gaming News
Original article: Eurogamer