Games on Microsoft’s Next Xbox console will run directly from the hard drive and won’t need the original disc to play, according to a new leak.

The console will come with a massive hard drive that can “hold a large number of games.” The move is apparently part of Microsoft’s improved anti-piracy protection for the next generation.

“All games will be installed on the hard drive,” documentation leaked by VGLeaks reveals. ”Play from the optical disc will not be supported.” As well as this the documentation mentions that the console will be ”always-on, always connected,” which adds more weight to the blocking of pre-owned games.

Considering that Sony has chosen not to block pre-owned games I doubt that Microsoft would then choose to do so as it could greatly damage its chances in the overall console war, especially considering how against the idea most gamers are.

As for the lack of optical discs, it could easily work on some sort of product registration system, so that once the disc has been placed in the console and the game installed the console will link itself to that copy of the game via code, and then simply verify the code every time you load the game to ensure the console it is linked to is the correct one. This system could easily be used to eradicate pre-owned games if it locked a game to a console once played.

Hopefully most these questions will be answered next month when Microsoft is rumored to be holding its Next Xbox reveal event.

How do you feel about hard drive only games? Share your thoughts below.

Source and Image: VGLeaks