I have bought a bunch of Xbox One and PlayStation 4 games on retail disks. Big mistakes. They take up space and it a hassle to locate and swap the disks.
Can they be somehow “upgraded” to download-copies so I don’t need the disks anymore on either consoles?
Or do I need to pay full price for the games again?
Best Answer
As retail games are not purchased through the Xbox Live Marketplace, there is no way for Microsoft to know for sure that you are the original owner of the physical copy as physical copies can be sold secondhand. This, however, was possible via Microsoft's original DRM policies when they showcased the One on E3 in 2013. Due to huge outcry from the players for the excessive restrictions of the policies, MS decided to reverse the decision so that discs can now be sold secondhand, which means the 'upgrade' is no longer possible. The 'upgrade', as it was designed pre-2013 E3, consisted of buying a disc and registering it with your Xbox Live account so that it would appear in your list of purchased games.
Sony never offered this option with its PS4 to start with as far as I know. So not much to say here.