Tech

These offline, disc-based games require an online check-in on Xbox Series X

Disc-based Xbox One games and many cross-generational discs that rely on “Smart Delivery” require an online connection to play on the Xbox Series X, placing a limitation on the system’s ballyhooed backward compatibility. This limitation, which has been present since the console launched last year, was recently highlighted in a video by ModernVintageGaming and confirmed in testing by Ars Technica.

What’s happening here?

When you put an Xbox One disc in the Xbox Series X, the system copies the data off that disc and onto the internal hard drive for play, mirroring what happens if you put the disc into an Xbox One. But if the Series X isn’t connected to the Internet, trying to load that disc-based copy from the hard drive for the first time results in an error message: “This game isn’t ready yet. Go online to finish installing it.”

When played on an Xbox One, that same disc-based copy can be copied to the hard drive and loaded even if the system is completely offline (provided the disc remains in the drive in all cases).

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