More rumors point to disc-less Xbox One, here in spring

Another report, again citing unnamed sources, says a new Xbox One S model launching this year won’t have a disc drive. In fact, it could be here sooner than expected.Somewhat corroborating, or at least aligning, with earlier reports, Windows Central says the disc-less S (say that one very fast) would hit shelves in May, with pre-orders beginning mid-April.In November, tech outlet Thurrott quoted unnamed sources in saying such a console would sell for less than $200, and that Microsoft stores would support a program where users could take in their physical media games and exchange them for download codes to their Xbox Live account.So far, Microsoft has not commented on whether it’s true this console has no disc drive.Windows Central also reports that Microsoft is getting ready to announce a custom-design Fortnite Edition console, but doesn’t say if that would be the regular S, the Xbox One X, or the new disc-less type.Microsoft launched the Xbox One S in August 2016, then pushed into the digital distribution space hard with the launch of Xbox Game Pass in June 2017. Starting last year, Xbox’s first party games like Forza Horizon 4 and Crackdown 3 also launch day-and-date on Game Pass. So it makes sense for the company to drop the component cost of an optical media drive if there’s a library of 200-plus downloadable titles (with a monthly $9.99 subscription fee) to support it.