Microsoft reportedly working on a low cost – no disk drive Xbox One

Laurent Giret

Xbox One, Halo, Console, Bundle

After releasing the Xbox One S in 2016 and the Xbox One X console a year later, we could get new Xbox One hardware as soon as next year. According to Brad Sams from Thurrott.com, Microsoft may announce two new consoles next year: a newer version of the Xbox One S that would be a cost saver for Microsoft, as well as a cheaper Xbox version with no disc drive.

The first console would be pretty much like the Xbox 360 E was for Microsoft: Announced back at E3 2013 at the end of the Xbox 360 lifecycle, this hardware revision of the Xbox 360 S came with a refreshed design inspired by the upcoming Xbox One, but it also dropped some ports like the AV connector and the S/PDIF interface.

As for the disc-less version of the Xbox One that Microsoft could also be planning for next year, the report says that it could be as much as $100 cheaper than the current Xbox One S, which is usually priced at $299. Interestingly, Microsoft could also throw a bone to fans of physical disks by allowing them to exchange their discs for digital versions of Xbox One games:

In addition to the new console, there will be a ‘disc-to-digital’ program that, as the name states, turns your physical games into digital downloads. The idea is that you can take your disc to a participating retailer (like the Microsoft store) and trade in your disc for a digital download.

Sams said that the disc-less Xbox One console could be launching in Spring 2019, while the cost-saving version of the Xbox One S could be launched later in the year. “Microsoft is moving forward very carefully with this product as it knows that a sizeable portion of its users do prefer to buy physical games and not download them,” wrote Sams.

Both Microsoft and Sony are expected to launch their successors to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in 2020, and we already know that Microsoft’s “Scarlett” family of next gen consoles could include a cheaper console designed for Microsoft’s Project xCloud, in addition to a traditional game console. That’s definitely a lot of new hardware, but Microsoft may be right to launch cheaper Xbox One hardware next year before we eventually jump to the next console generation.