Talking Point: Will Any Next-Gen Xbox Have A Disc Drive?

So, the rumours about Microsoft's slate of next-gen systems seem to have slowed down a little bit lately, after we heard about three potential devices being in the works over at Xbox earlier this month. Skipping over that 2025 partner handheld for the moment and looking ahead to the two widely-reported 2027 systems - do you think either of them will support physical media?

Of course, if one of these 2027 consoles ends up being a handheld device, it's extremely unlikely that it'll support physical media of any kind. While consoles like the Nintendo Switch and older handhelds like PlayStation Vita worked with cartridges, Microsoft has never used this game delivery method - and we can't see them starting now. That's one device likely crossed off the disc drive list, then, but what about the Series X successor?

The home console is where things get a little muddy. You'd think that for backwards compatibility's sake the team will include a disc drive - especially with Xbox Series X supporting four generations of physical media. However, Xbox Series S set a precedent that Microsoft is willing to launch discless consoles, and with handheld devices potentially being more of a focus going forward, the team could move even further into that direction. That's not to mention Xbox's new direction of being a software-first brand, either.

There's also been some discussion recently around Microsoft getting its vast Xbox library working on PC in some form - almost like an emulation layer that would allow the team to have more of its games working on PC-like devices; such as the rumoured 2025 handheld. That reality seems far away though, and potentially an impossibility, but we do know that Xbox has a game preservation team working on forwards compatibility of some kind. If any of this comes to fruition, it'd be another push towards an all-digital future for Xbox.

Here at Pure Xbox, we think (and hope) that Xbox's home console lineage has at least one more disc-based system in the pipeline. It still feels like a huge PR gamble to ditch physical media entirely in the next few years, and even though Microsoft is more than capable of a PR fumble or two, we hope it plays things safe with the Xbox Series X successor. That way, the team would provide some compelling reasons to own multiple next-gen Xbox consoles if all of these reports come to fruition.

Do you think we're getting a disc drive of any kind next generation? Talk to us about this prospect down below.