Next-gen Xbox console will include a disc drive

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has confirmed that Microsoft’s next-gen console will include a physical disc drive.

The platform holder revealed new Project Scarlett details during its E3 briefing last night, including plans to launch the console next year alongside Halo Infinite.

Microsoft released its first digital-only console just last month and streaming will play an increasingly big part of Xbox’s strategy, but Spencer told GamesIndustry.biz: “Yeah [physical discs are part of our future].”

“I want to give people choice, and right now physical is a choice that millions of people love,” he added.

“We know, because we see it, that more and more players are buying digital. We think the experience in certain instances, specifically if I am away from my console and everything is on my hard-drive with the entitlements are all there, there are some scenarios that are easy. But we know that people still have discs.

“So even when we put out things like the Xbox One S All-Digital edition, we are very clear with the name because I am not trying to confuse anybody, that if you are somebody that has a library of discs, or that’s the way you want to acquire the content, then you should buy the Xbox One S, not the Xbox One S All-Digital.”

Xbox Game Studios boss Matt Booty said this week that the arrival of Project Scarlett in tandem with advancements in cloud technology means we could be about to witness “as big a transition as when we went from 2D to 3D”.