Microsoft Survey Hints Next-Gen Xbox Could Keep Physical Discs Alive

Sony has caught a lot of flak from fans after it announced that it’s no longer going to be producing game discs for its PlayStation consoles beyond January 2028. Microsoft, meanwhile, is taking a different approach with the Xbox. It just launched a beta for its disc-to-digital program and is now seeking feedback from some of its loyal fans about the importance of game discs in its next-gen game system codenamed Project Helix.

Xbox insider XboxTimDog shared a post on social media platform X, which has been deleted but preserved by Power Up Gaming, that included screenshots of a survey Microsoft sent to those participating in the Xbox Insider program. One of the questions that immediately got everyone’s attention asks how important is it that the console “lets you install games from a disc.” Participants can choose either, “not necessary,” “nice to have,” or “must have.”


This likely means that Project Helix’s design isn’t yet set in stone, or at the very least that Microsoft is considering repeating the strategy of its current crop of consoles that saw the Xbox Series X have a disc drive alongside the all-digital Xbox Series S. This dual strategy certainly lines up with comments Xbox CEO Asha Sharma made last month where she states that the team is working on “a great family of devices for Helix.”

While the disc question has gotten the bulk of the attention, there were other questions on the survey that hint at what the Xbox design team might be cooking up. One of the questions asks about the importance of a system that can “automatically identify and save gameplay highlights,” while another asks if fans are interested in “lighting on the console that changes to match the game you are playing.”

It will be interesting to see what Project Helix ends up being, and if it means that game discs get a reprieve from the chopping block, at least when it comes to the Xbox ecosystem.