During an interview with the BBC, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma preferred not to answer directly regarding the presence or absence of a disc drive on the future Xbox Helix. A decision that each person will interpret in their own way, even if it is strongly suspected that the American company will follow in the footsteps of its long-time rival.
The affordability argument
“For this next generation, we need to think about efficiency and affordability just as much as performance,” Sharma replied when asked about this sensitive point. “The entire industry has to start innovating in terms of affordability and efficiency. This is something we have never had to do before. But with the current crisis affecting hardware and components, this is absolutely something we all need to think about and innovate around, in order to offer players more choice in how they play on their console and how they buy it”.
The choice of medium: a stated priority
Sharma is nevertheless aware of the current debate surrounding physical media and said she wants to leave players the choice of how they purchase their content. “I know that players love physical media and I know that digital has many advantages. I want to make sure that everyone can have a choice. There are stacks of games on everyone’s shelves”.
A link with the new digitization program?
A rather positive statement, even if it is certainly a reference to the recent digitization initiative launched by Xbox to preserve the game libraries accumulated by players over the years.