xbox series x disc tray

Xbox has implemented a pretty awesome new feature in its latest console update! The Xbox Series X 2206 update has made some welcome changes to offline installs for physical games. Basically, prior to this update Xbox One disc games required an online 'check in' for use on Xbox Series X, even when a Smart Delivery upgrade wasn't available. Xbox's Eden Marie says this check wasn't usually needed, and it has now been removed so that more games can be played fully offline. Nice one!

Features like free upgrades via Smart Delivery will still need to be implemented via an online update though, but at least more Xbox One games work fully offline! For instance, Resident Evil Village's Xbox One version now installs perfectly fine on Xbox Series X, as tested by YouTuber Hikikomori Media. However, you'll need to go online and update the game to access the next-gen version.

Sadly, this doesn't work with all cross-generation games. Titles like Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 don't have either version of the game fully available on the disc, so an online update is essential to play any version. There are plenty of other titles these days that aren't complete on disc either, and the update makes no changes to backwards compatible games, so this isn't a sweeping fix by Microsoft.

Still, it's a step in the right direction for game preservation and the usefulness of an Xbox Series X in offline mode. We can only hope that in future, Xbox Game Studios (and other Xbox developers) make an effort to include a fully playable game on disc for offline players.

Will you make use of this new feature? Or are you all-digital these days? Let us know below!