14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has revealed that it had considered launching the Xbox One next-gen console without a disc drive but decided against it as bandwidth is still an issue for some gamers, while others want to retain their physical media.
Before the PS4 and Xbox One were revealed to the world last year, some reports claimed that both Sony and Microsoft were ditching disc drives and going all-digital with the new devices, meaning the only way to get games was to buy them online via the PlayStation Store or Xbox Live Marketplace.
In the end, neither console featured such a thing, but Microsoft's Phil Spencer did reveal that the idea of a disc-less console had been considered for some time, even after the device's official debut.
"Obviously, after the announcement and E3, there was some feedback about what people wanted to change," he told OXM. "There was a real discussion about whether we should have an optical disc drive in Xbox One or if we could get away with a purely disc-less console, but when you start looking at bandwidth and game size, it does create issues."
Besides the bandwidth issues that are certainly a problem for many gamers, there were a lot of people still fond of the notion of physical discs.
"So we decided – which I think was the right decision – to go with the Blu-ray drive and give the people an easy way to install a lot of content. From some of those original thoughts, you saw a lot of us really focusing on the digital ecosystem you see on other devices – thinking of and building around that."
Microsoft considered plenty of other things for the Xbox One, including the 24-hour online checks and the modification of game trading, but it ultimately decided to keep the status quo in terms of game re-selling.