Xbox next-gen: the big question about the future of 360 and One physical games review

The Xbox community debates how physical retrocompatibility will work in the next generation.

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Doubts about the next generation of Xbox are back in the spotlight, and this time with a particularly sensitive point for many players: the future of physical collections of Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Microsoft’s latest messages point to “enormous” backwards compatibility, but without clarifying if that promise refers only to digital games or also to disc support.

The price increase of Xbox Series X (and another rumored adjustment in the coming weeks) has given more strength to this concern. Many users who bet on the physical format fear that the next console will exclusively bet on digital, leaving behind entire libraries that have been built over the years.

What the Xbox community is asking for

The players’ responses paint a clear picture:

• An external disc drive would be the ideal solution. Several users claim that if the new Xbox arrives without a disc reader, they won’t buy it.

• Others recall that Microsoft has been firm in saying that “the current library will work” on the future console, although they haven’t specified how.

• Some fear a focus solely on Xbox Play Anywhere and Game Pass, which would leave out a large part of the physical catalog.

• Others point to the cost of hybrid hardware capable of running console and Windows games natively: something possible, but expensive.

This possibility of an Xbox without a disc reader generates a debate that is becoming more and more recurrent, especially at a time when physical editions are starting to disappear in certain third-party releases.

The big question mark of the next generation of Xbox

Despite the concern, there is one point on which almost everyone agrees: Microsoft has not yet detailed how physical backwards compatibility will work, and any option is on the table. The company has insisted that the goal is to maintain the continuity of the ecosystem, but it remains to be seen if that will include:

• Console with disc reader

• Official external disc reader

• Only digital backwards compatibility

• A hybrid model with several configurations

Whatever the answer may be, the physical format is once again at the center of the debate. Xbox Series X players with large collections of 360 and One hope that the next generation will keep alive a legacy that has accompanied the brand since 2001.