Xbox dropped a massive announcement on us yesterday in the form of the Disc to Digital feature, which officially begins rolling out for Xbox Insiders on August 31st, and we already know that it'll allow you to insert your Xbox One and Series X discs and receive a digital copy for free - you even get Xbox Cloud Gaming and Xbox Play Anywhere capabilities (if the digital versions support them) as well.

Thousands of games will be supported at launch, with more to come in the future.

We know all the basics of how this will work, then, but everyone still has plenty of questions about what to expect from Xbox Disc to Digital going forward. While not every answer has been revealed just yet, we can at least attempt to clarify some of the most burning queries that Xbox fans have about the feature ahead of its launch next week.

So, let's go through five of the most common Xbox Disc to Digital questions we've seen so far:

1. What If I Sell Or Lend My Disc To Someone Else?

The idea here is that the digital license is attached to the disc itself, so once you put it in your console and link it to your account, you are the only person who will get access to the digital version. However, if you then sell the disc or lend it to someone else and they insert it into their console, they'll then become the new owner of the digital license.

Some people have pointed out that you could obtain the digital license, give the disc to someone else, and just ask them to use it in offline mode only, but this is going to be highly inconvenient for most users. In general, it's best to just keep your discs and take advantage of the digital benefits via this feature.

2. Will OG Xbox & Xbox 360 Games Be Supported?

There's no sign of original Xbox and Xbox 360 games becoming part of the Xbox Disc to Digital feature as things stand. Xbox's Jason Ronald was asked about this by Parris in a Gamescom interview this week, and simply stated that there's nothing to announce about support for older Xbox games.

We assume the reason for this is because Xbox One and Xbox Series X discs each come with a unique identifier that allows the Disc to Digital feature to function, whereas the same can't be said of discs from the original Xbox and Xbox 360 eras. Whether they'll be able to find a way around this in the future remains to be seen.

3. What Happens With Delisted Games?

Xbox has said that "thousands" of discs from the Xbox One and Series X eras will work with Disc to Digital when it rolls out from August 31st, and they'll continue adding more over time. A full list of these supported titles has yet to be revealed at the time of writing, so we don't yet know whether delisted games will be included in the mix.

In theory, this feature could provide an amazing way to get access to delisted titles such as old Forza Horizon games and sports releases that no longer exist in digital format on the Xbox Store for new purchases. We'll just have to wait and see whether they make the cut in time for launch.

4. Will This Unlock Free Upgrades For Certain Titles?

There are some games on Xbox that have offered free upgrades to next-gen versions (such as Mafia: Definitive Edition and Red Dead Redemption) but only for the digital releases, and not the physical ones. In theory, the Disc to Digital feature should activate these free upgrades once the digital entitlement is received via the disc.

We don't have confirmation on whether this will be the case though, so we'll have to wait until August 31st for people to start testing it out and seeing if they can get access. This might also be where the "thousands" but not "all" discs being compatible comes in - they might need to figure out how to handle special cases like this.

5. Does This Mean Project Helix Won't Have A Disc Drive?

There's been speculation that Xbox is creating the Disc to Digital feature in order to prepare for an all-digital future where physical discs become impossible use on the Xbox Project Helix console and beyond. That's a very possible scenario, but it's not confirmed by any means yet, and we'll have to wait and see what the future holds.

Xbox boss Asha Sharma has declined to comment either way on whether Helix will have a disc drive when it launches, and we reckon an optional disc drive add-on is the best we can hope for on that front. For what it's worth, both Digital Foundry and Windows Central have suggested that it's proving harder than ever to create disc drives as well:

"Well-placed sources tell us that not only is it becoming harder for Microsoft to source Blu-ray disc drives, but the amount of disc manufacturing facilities is also declining - and the existence of the programme does lend more evidence to the idea that Helix will be an all-digital console. That makes this programme a much-needed stepping stone that lets users take their full Xbox libraries into the new generation."

Oh, and before we go, it's worth noting that August 31st is only the beginning for this feature, and it hasn't yet been determined whether all Xbox Insiders will get access to it on day one, or whether it'll start rolling out in small batches.

We reckon it's probably the latter, and then it'll keep being tested for a few more weeks/months until it appears for all Xbox users at some point in the near future. We'll obviously let you know as soon as it becomes available to everyone.

Got any other questions you want to ask? We'll try our best to answer them in the comments down below.