Microsoft wanted to give players the illusion of free choice when buying games, while in the background the end of the disc drive was being prepared.
An unreleased Xbox promotional message from early 2025 shows how interchangeable marketing phrases become once production costs are weighed against consumer will.
The content of the cancelled commercial
In early 2025, Microsoft's advertising department conceived a 42-second clip comparing the advantages and disadvantages of physical media and digital downloads. This was revealed by the well-known Leaker billbil-kun.
The ad promoted the classic arguments for the disc format: ownership of the game, access to collector's editions, and the ability to lend it to friends. On the digital side, it highlighted pre-installation, quick game switching, and exclusive store editions.
The video ended with the open question of which version customers preferred. The clip was never broadcast. It disappeared into the archives.
The inevitable transition to purely digital distribution
The timing for the reappearance of this advertising corpse could hardly be worse. The market is moving relentlessly towards digital monopolies. Sony has the end of physical PlayStation discs Already announced for January 2028, Microsoft is following suit. According to current information, the upcoming console generation, codenamed Xbox Project Helix, will ship without an optical drive as standard.
The industry is eliminating physical choice, whereas just recently it was still philosophizing about it. To cushion the transition, Microsoft is currently testing a "Disc-to-Digital" functionA hardware ID at the pressing plant is used to read Xbox One and Xbox Series X discs and convert them into a digital license for the Microsoft account. The catch: Older generations like the Xbox 360 or early Xbox One batches are excluded due to a lack of hardware identifiers. Backward compatibility is reduced.
The rejected ad proves that customer surveys in modern marketing are nothing more than a placebo. Nobody wants to hear the opinions of gamers when cloud infrastructure and the elimination of disc drives increase profit margins. Anyone who wants to play old discs in the future will either keep their current hardware or rely on the goodwill of incomplete license conversions. The rest is just PR smoke and mirrors.
If they were smart, they could now give Sony a slap in the face by also offering their games on disc. But that's probably just wishful thinking.
Part 2 / And Sony? I think my console hobby ends here.
I've set up emulators and am playing Mega Drive and Saturn games again. The emulators are so good now that the original discs can safely stay in the cupboard.
Currently, I'm playing on Linux using older hardware. When AMD releases the next generation of graphics cards, I'll build myself a gaming PC again – with Linux, GOG, and maybe Steam. For me, GOG best demonstrates how digital games should work: without obligation, without expiration dates, and without constant dependence on an online account.
Sony probably won't see another euro from me. A new Uncharted might be an exception. But the next PlayStation is a non-starter for me personally. For years, I've been missing the exclusive titles that would justify buying a console for 800-900 euros including a game.
The PS5 Pro is here now. Most of the time it just gathers dust – or I simply fire up Driveclub again.
I don't even have a disc drive in my PC anymore. Despite that, I haven't bought a full-price game on the PSN in years. If discounted prices now equal the previous full prices, then my library will simply remain empty.
I cancelled PSN – just like all my other subscriptions. Netflix, Disney+, and the like are gone too. At some point, I realized I was paying around 60 euros a month for a catalog. You keep paying on vacation, you keep paying in the summer, you might even still be paying on your deathbed – and in the end, you own nothing. That was the point at which I quit.
I therefore hope that UHD Blu-rays will remain available for at least another 15 years. The market for physical media seems to be slowly stabilizing again.
I've started buying CDs again. Music is now a conscious part of my life again and plays through my own music server (Navidrome) instead of relying on any streaming service. I'm also collecting films again. Over the last two years, I've amassed around 280 movies. Of course, this costs money. But if I don't buy anything for a month, the money stays in my account. I don't automatically continue paying every month. / End of Part 1