Xbox One S goes disc-less with the All-Digital Edition

Microsoft is making an Xbox with no disc drive. Dubbed the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition, it launches in the US on 7 May with Sea of Thieves, Minecraft, and Forza Horizon 3 pre-installed for US$250. The new Xbox One works best with the Xbox Game Pass. Unfortunately, the All-Digital Edition console won’t be available in Asian markets (including South-east Asia countries) just yet.

The release of a disc-less console shouldn’t come as a surprise, with rumours about one harking back before even the launch of the original Xbox One – it was widely known that the negativity surrounding the lack of a disc drive forced Microsoft to put one back into the console prior to the Xbox One’s reveal at E3.

The Xbox One S All-Digital Edition could also be a litmus test on how gamers take to a disc-less future for consoles. Broadband speeds in matured gaming markets have improved over the years, as has the price of hard-disks (including solid-state ones). In fact, the time taken to download a digital game versus installing a disc game on either the Xbox One or PlayStation 4 are not that far off.

What will suck though, when we go disc-less, is that gamers will no longer be able to trade or sell of their physical copies. And also, one less reason to visit our friendly neighbourhood video game shop.