#Microsoft has stated that the #XboxSeriesX and #XboxSeriesS refresh will be all digital and will not have an optical drive. I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I fully understand this. Using optical media feels like something we used to do a couple of decades ago. At some point, it has to stop, and I fully recognize that this creates some challenges with video game preservation. But does it really? #Games nowadays are so dependent on servers, patches, etc… that I suspect physical media or not the game preservation efforts cannot rely on discs alone. #gaming
@gpowerf Agreed.
We need cartridges.
No, seriously, optical media existed purely as a cheap, reproducible high-storage option made for mass market production. That's not the world we live in.
Physical media is increasingly a boutique product for preservation-minded and offline players. Modular solid state storage is clearly the way to go. You could even sell branded, DRM'd blanl media to serve as both storage for install packages and offline fobs.