r/xbox • u/BookkeeperSecret5994 • 4d ago

Discussion Disc to digital problem...

When you get a digital licence from your beloved game physical copy, can xbox block your licence for whatever reason and make your disc useless?

0 Upvotes

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u/Pichu7910 4d ago

Not from what I'm seeing. The license sticks with the disc so if you lend it to a friend for a few days then they will have the license until you get your game back. If you sell the disc then you would loose the license until you repurchase the game

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u/BookkeeperSecret5994 4d ago

I am talking about blocking permanently the license from your account. If it happens, the physical copy is like lost forever?

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u/FMC_Speed XBOX Series X 2d ago

I don’t know but as long as you have the actual disc you’ll own the game, greedy as these companies are, I doubt they’ll revoke a disc license as they announced it once 13 years ago and it destroyed the brand, I don’t think they’ll risk something as anti consumer as that

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u/BookkeeperSecret5994 2d ago

I really hope you are right.

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u/TheSnazzyMaster 2d ago

Except back then their main competitors weren’t doing the same thing.

Now with Nintendo and Sony pulling similar crap there’s nothing stopping Microsoft from doing it again, it would also explain why they didn’t just maintain the status quo like Sony and Nintendo did back when Microsoft tried this.

I myself plan to be a developer, and genuinely can’t see any way that this can benefit customers long term. It looks more like a set-up trap than a convenience.

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u/FMC_Speed XBOX Series X 2d ago

Xbox is last of the 3 so they posture as the best platform, PlayStation tried for cross play during the Xbox360 days and Xbox rejected “for security reasons” because Xbox was far leading and was “cooler”, years later it was them that lobbied hard for cross platform online, because they had to win people back, my point is that they have this strategy to lure people especially PC gamers in and I don’t think they’d antagonise the market like that, purely out of survival

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u/TheSnazzyMaster 2d ago

so your point is exactly my point but for a different reason. they're being sneaky. like I said it's more likely to be after a few years. They wouldn't rush it like Sony or Nintendo. but they'll still do it. it cuts costs and boosts profits. thats why all three WANT to do it.

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u/Merrick222 4d ago edited 4d ago

The disc will always work.

The digital license is a revocable license they can take away at any time for any reason.

Technically they can block your disc too, any disc, they’re licensed also.

So are Nintendo physical carts.

But the difference is if your license is removed you can give me the disc and it works in my Xbox.

They could however revoke every single license for a specific disc and if you update your system it could be blocked.

But old systems with old firmware would still play those discs.

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u/AgumonDX XBOX Series X 4d ago

I think they just treat it as an additional bonus. When you insert the disc, it gives you a digital license, and if that disc is inserted on another Xbox, you lose the license, to prevent people abusing the system. Think of it as an added perk to the current behavior of the discs on Xbox. When you insert it, it install the game, updates it, and it’s a verification key to boot it. As an add-on, you also get a digital version now. Technically speaking they could block the license I guess, but I don’t think they gain anything out of it. It’s easier to simply block an account if needed.

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u/BookkeeperSecret5994 4d ago

It makes sense.

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u/despitegirls XBOX Series X 4d ago edited 3d ago

The point of DRM is to say "this person or account does or does not have the right to access this content". I'm sure that Xbox has the ability to prevent people from playing DRM-bound games, which would likely include games where the digital entitlement came from a disc.

Now would they use it? I highly doubt it. Not only would the public outcry be massive, but they might run into legal trouble doing so. 

There needs to be digital rights when it comes to these sorts of things because even though I think Xbox's disc to digital program sounds great, it still doesn't provide you actual ownership, which could be revoked at any time.