Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has declined to confirm whether Microsoft's next console, codenamed Project Helix, will include a disc drive, deflecting repeated questions from the BBC about the future of physical media. The evasiveness matters because it fuels ongoing concerns among gamers that the games industry is moving inexorably towards an all-digital future, even as Microsoft insists it wants to preserve choice for players who value physical collections.

Instead of a direct answer, Sharma pointed to a new "disc-to-digital" initiative letting players convert a thousand physical game titles into digital entitlements, alongside previously announced PC backward compatibility features. Project Helix, revealed with few details so far, is expected to be a console-and-PC hybrid, with development kits not due until next year and a fuller reveal promised "soon". The interview comes as Microsoft's Xbox division continues major restructuring, having already cut 1,600 jobs with another 1,600 due to go by next summer.