One former Microsoft executive believes that the next generation of consoles will be the generation that finally gets rid of physical media. Robbie Bach – Former president of Microsoft‘s Entertainment & Devices Division recently sat down with an interview with Geekwire in which he said the need for physical media was coming to an end when it comes to gaming consoles. It should be noted that Bach doesn’t have his finger on the pulse of gaming these days. It also should be pointed out that he technically just said he thinks the PS5 and successor to the Xbox Onewill “likely” not have discs.
“Does it have a physical media? Probably not, so how does that look? Is it just a game box or is it more? What’s the balance between what an Apple TV is and what an Xbox or a PlayStation 4 is? These are really interesting questions, and the teams going to have to wrestle with those. That next generation will be a whole new game.” Bach said in the interview. Questions about the next generation of consoles has started swirling this month, likely because it’s this time of year that new consoles tend to hit the market. Some are wondering whether the new consoles will be just consoles at all, or more of a platform.
It should also be pointed out that this isn’t the first time gaming execs have talked about doing away with physical media. The Xbox One was actually supposed to be a console that didn’t have any discs, but there was a rather large backlash to those rumors. Maybe the next generation is the generation where the companies finally pull the trigger.