Discovered something which may be of use to some - been working through my physical library to see what is compatible with Xbox’s new disk to digital service. Only TSW I have on disk is the original (with GWE, Rapid Transit and the original NEC) but I’ve found it IS compatible and thus you can unlock the digital entitlements for these routes if you don’t already own them outside of on disk - believe you used to have to submit a request to DTG in these instances, but this should bypass that. Hopefully this should prove of use to someone and would presume the same would apply to any further disk versions.
With disc to digital, ownership of the disc is necessary for continued rights to the digital license. If you sell the game disc and new owner claims the licenses, they're theirs and you lose access. I've been wondering whether the same is true via DTGs system? I'd always assumed pre all this new disc to digital, that once they give out a license, then that's now tied to your account. If someone else tried, they'd say the license was already acquired. Now I'm doubting that. Would be interesting to know.
You lose access to a digital licence as soon as the disc is inserted into a second console (we've already tried it) and the licence only covers content directly accessible from the disc. Things like deluxe edition product keys are classed as consumables and once redeemed are yours to keep forever....and the same applies to any addons you received directly from Dovetail Games when you had to send a photo of your disc to claim content that didn't carry forward from (I believe) TSW2020 into TSW2. Also (and rather annoyingly), unless it's changed from when the service was first launched on XBOX Insider then you cannot split a digital licence between you and your game sharer...they still need to purchase a copy of the game in order to play it. Which basically means the only positive from disc to digital is having the ability to purchase cheaper physical copies of your games and preserve them in mint condition.
I can confirm that disk to digital works with TSW2020 collectors edition, TSW2 rush hour edition and TSW3. This also includes the addons, so i can play the Northern Trans-Pennine route on TSW5. The addon also work backwards, so the Southeastern Highspeed addon from TSW3 works in TSW2 plus the class 465 loco. If you submited a product key claim from Dovetail, you need to lose the digital licence in order to claim the code, otherwise it says you already own the content. A different account on the same console as an account that has claimed the licence (logged in, or the console set as home console), can still play the game plus use the addons.
The only positive? Seriously? What about the fact that if you own the disc D-2-D also gives you a free a digital copy of the game which you can then install or stream and play on other devices via Play Anywhere? Or the fact that you don't have to swap discs in and out of your console, wear out the drive, wear out the disc etc.? Or the fact that you can sell the disc if you want to raise some cash? The only downside is that not all discs are compatible at this stage, although more and more are being added over time.
Of course you lose the licence - why would you be able to sell the disc AND keep the digital copy? It'd be idiocy. At least you can sell the disc if you choose. Try selling a digital purchase when you've grown tired of it....
That's basically what I said....buy cheaper physical copes (which every man and his dog has always known you can sell on if your purchase is junk or you get bored of it) and claim a digital licence to keep your disc/s in mint condition. If Microsoft are trying to shift the emphasis away from physical purchases then this isn't the answer because it actually creates a greater incentive to buy a hard copy of a game! I mean, who in their right mind would want to pay top dollar for a game off the Microsoft store just to play it at the exact time of launch when they can wait for the postman to deliver an identical product on day one (and sometimes earlier) for anything upto 30% cheaper!! Oh, and as I also pointed out, when the service was beta launched in XBOX Insider you couldn't split the licence with a game sharer because all D2D games display a unique icon in your library (a disc image with several dots representing shared digital licence) and that seems to exclude said games from family sharing. It may have changed since the official launch but as of September it hadn't.
I totally agree. I was just challenging your comment that "the only positive from disc to digital is having the ability to purchase cheaper physical copies of your games and preserve them in mint condition.". It does seem strange that in the midst of the headlong multi-platform rush to kill physical media, MS should suddenly do something which considerably increases the value of physical media versus digital purchases. But then MS are a bit of an anomaly in other ways too, for instance their more wholehearted support of cross-generational backwards compatibility versus the mere lipservice paid by other platform holders like Sony who instead just keep charging players over and over for the same game. Regardless, I'm delighted by D-2-D which is IMHO best thing team XBOX has done in ages.
Yup, it is a bonus for those who want to preserve games but beyond that it doesn't really resolve the push towards a disc-free console. I have over 450 XB1/X360 games (some being incredibly rare....including an extremely valuable NTSC Raiden: Fighters Aces (X360) which I bought alongside Raiden IV hoping they'd both go back compat) and Microsoft have actually encouraged me to keep buying physical! Fun fact: Sony get more Physical releases than Microsoft because our games cannot just be mass produced. Unlike standard DVD's and Blurays, an XBOX game disc reads from the inside outwards...which makes them impossible to pirate and more expensive to produce. That's why if you crack a disc from constantly pulling it out of those ultra-grippy cases it'll never work again...you've basically destroyed the install data in the disc run-off area. Gawd, I'm a sad person
Ha - you might be sad, but it's my kind of sad! Really interesting info regarding disc manufacture and configuration - I had no idea that XBOX discs were harder to produce, and it helps to explain why XBOX physical releases are unfortunately becoming such an endangered species (along with the smaller installed userbase). Having already professed my love for D-2-D I would be in raptures if MS were somehow able to extend it to XBOX 360 and to a lesser extent OG XBOX discs (I must have close to 1,000 combined). My understanding is that this wouldn't be possible using the current D-2-D methodology but live in hope that they'll come up with something.... (but not holding my breath).
I know that the X360 storefront was completely independent of the current one but beyond that I really don't know why back compat games can't be digitally licensed in the same way....who knows, maybe it's because they're emulated and it's not possible. 1000 games is an impressive collection: My issue has always been having available space so I tend to have a purge every now and again....or if I want something expensive (hello Steam Deck) I'll offload some rarer games to help fund it.
That's because Xbox One era and newer discs have a unique ID tied to them - they each contain a different license. 360 discs don't have this feature. This means you cannot associate one disc with one digital license - there is no license management possible. This has nothing to do with the storefronts themselves, this has everything to do with the tech discs themselves were manufactured in.
