Microsoft's next-gen Xbox will reportedly drop disc drives, launching in 2013
Microsoft has stayed quiet on its plans to launch a successor to its wildly popular Xbox 360 console, but a new report today has suggested that the company will do away with the traditional disc drive for its next-generation console and launch in 2013.
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft's Xbox hardware plans have repeatedly been framed through optical media: reports in 2006 and 2007 pointed to built-in and add-on HD-DVD options, while a 2011 report placed the next Xbox reveal at E3 2012. The new claim reverses that emphasis, but it remains an unconfirmed report rather than a Microsoft announcement.
A disc-free design would make distribution, rather than a new disc format, the central question for the next Xbox generation.
First-order effects
- If the report is accurate, Microsoft would remove physical-disc playback from the next Xbox, shifting game acquisition for that console away from Xbox 360-style optical media.
- Xbox buyers with disc libraries and retailers selling boxed Xbox games would face a different compatibility and purchasing model at launch.
Second-order effects
- Game publishers serving Xbox would need to prioritize digital delivery and account-based access alongside any boxed-game strategy for the existing Xbox 360.
- Retailers and physical-game distributors would have less leverage over sales of a drive-free Xbox because they could not supply its games on disc.
Third-order effects
- If console makers follow this approach, platform owners gain greater control over game distribution, customer accounts and the commercial terms attached to each sale.
- The report points to a potential transition from consoles differentiated by optical formats to consoles differentiated by their software-distribution platforms.
The trend: Console hardware is being positioned to move from optical-media upgrades toward platform-controlled digital game distribution.