The two virtually contempo console generations have seen a marketplace shift away from physical disc-based games and towards digital downloads straight onto the console. While there are those that remain adamantly in favor of physical games, the option is becoming less and less substantial. The discs for many modern games like Halo Infinite don't hold the entire game and require a digital download and an online connectedness to play.

This current trend for online connectedness requirements and digital games was outset forecasted by Microsoft at the Xbox showcase reveal for the Xbox One back in 2013, where the reaction was then overwhelmingly negative that Microsoft backtracked on many of the features appear for the Xbox Ane. However, over time many of these features have since crept into the home consoles.

Digital games have now become so prevalent that both Xbox and PlayStation's next-gen consoles take versions without disc drives. These digital-only options are cheaper merely practice get out some players with a few worries. Nevertheless, Microsoft has now filed a patent for a system which may eliminate i of these worries for Xbox Serial S buyers. The patent describes a organisation that allows an external disc drive to authenticate an Xbox game and allow the player admission to the digital version of that game through the Xbox Series S Games Store.

xbox patent game discs digital verification

A organisation like this would do good players that feared any Xbox One discs they owned would get useless after purchasing an Xbox Series Southward, whereas on Xbox Series Ten they could have played every not-Kinect Xbox One game. This is a huge element of backwards compatibility to miss out on for players that are upgrading to next-gen after exclusively purchasing physical games for the Xbox Ane. It would also help whatever Xbox Series S players that received a physical game as a gift from friends or family who don't understand that the disc is not compatible, fifty-fifty if it's for the correct organisation.

It is unknown whether the patent would allow players to redeem a digital version of the game to add permanently to their digital library, or whether the patent would simply exist the basis for an external disc drive Xbox Series S players could purchase if they wanted to play backwards uniform Xbox One games. It would seem unlikely that players would be allowed to duplicate their copy of a game if there were any chance the disc could and so be sold and duplicated again, though peradventure the patent could place whether the disc had been validated before similar with the codes for redeeming digital games through the Xbox Games Store.

The patent description also seems to suggest that an Xbox One could exist linked with the Xbox Serial Due south and used as the external deejay drive for authenticating the game, but whether they could exist linked wirelessly or would require a connexion is unclear.

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