Firstly, I'd wait for the full picture before panicking so much about this. They are making a digital only Series X. It's literally the same console as the Series X but with a few minor improvements to minor things...People have asked for a digital Series X for years now. Absolutely nobody says that Sony is abandoning discs because they made a digital only PS5, Lol. We have no idea if the original Series X will be discontinued but even if it is, your discs are still going to work on it the Series X that you have, Lol. Unless publishers decide to stop doing physical releases but that is literally already starting to happen, one of the most anticipated titles of 2023 is releasing digital only and barely anyone cares. We also don't know if Xbox won't just release a disc drive adapter for the console/detachable disc drive as Sony is doing for their rumoured new PS5 model.

But the fact is that more and more publishers will move to digital only, it is the future whether we like it or not. It's just a question of whether you're willing to accept it or throw away dozens of years of gaming because of it. Digital ratios are dramatically increasing among all publishers every single year and Xbox's digital ratios are higher than most thanks to Game Pass and other factors. Sony will eventually join Xbox, I've no doubt about that, they're already experimenting with optional disc drives, it won't be long before the drive goes completely because they're catering to a vocal minority market. The Series S has been a success for Microsoft and I'm sure they have data which backs up that most of their players buy digitally.

Also, Physical Media = Game Preservation. PC is the best platform for game preservation and yet it is massively skewed towards digital, Valve is better at preservation than any of the console manufacturers digital stores. Nobody would accuse Valve of not caring about preservation because they don't sell physical discs, Lol. Which are just license keys at this stage thanks to the amount of day one patches, post launch patches, disc installs etc. One day, your discs are going to stop working on an Xbox Series console too, they won't last forever and the Xbox won't always support them, all you will have is a useless disc, especially if Xbox switches to ARM.

Game preservation won't be achieved through physicals discs, nor does it need to be, it's a losing battle and a distraction to where preservation folk should be focusing their effort because eventually everyone will start abandoning physical media, every major corporation. Digital preservation should be the focus and emulation and PC are currently the best places for that right now. Push for more digital preservation.

You can rip the band aid off and encourage more digital preservation but whether you like it or not, physical media is decreasing in relevancy and ultimately the loud vocal minority won't be listened to anymore because the vast majority will be digital. It won't be just Microsoft. And are you really willing to throw away dozens of years of gaming because you can't get a physical disc? Physical discs that also don't last forever and can degrade. It's a bit weird because Microsoft has done more for preservation than Sony and Nintendo combined, Lol.

As a PC only gamer since the end of the 360/PS3 era I'm still astonished how some console gamers still need these discs so badly.  To me it's almost as to see someone with a Walkman.

But I would also appreciate if MS would lower the price even with a bigger drive.

That leaked roadmap shows that the "Starkville" model is going to be EOL ahead of the release of "Brooklin" (the digital-only Series X). Assuming Starkville is the current Series X, then that's it for disc-based Xbox systems. The leaked materials also refer to the "Xbox ecosystem" as an "all-digital experience."

Is there a chance that Starkville is actually the Series S? Possibly, but I wouldn't count on it.

Also, every disc game I have is at least playable without ever having to connect to the internet. Aside from Halo, I only play single-player games.

I've seen plenty of news stories about games, e-books, and other media being forcibly removed from people's digital libraries. I've seen stories where people weren't able to migrate their libraries to new versions of a platform and had to repurchase everything. I've seen stories about people having their entire digital libraries wiped and their accounts closed. I've run into the drawbacks of digital personally, having lost access to my Halo 2 DLC at some point and no longer having the ability to re-download them. That was one of the first things that made me a digital skeptic.

Also, have you seen the state of streaming lately? Entire series being wiped out of existence at the flip of a switch simply because it was more profitable for the publisher. Even before that, there are countless examples of games being de-listed from various platforms, many of them never to be seen again. If you didn't buy them before that, you're just shit outta luck. At least with a physical copy, they're still in principle available for purchase long after going out of print. I have many old NES & SNES games that have never been re-released in any form, yet those copies are still mine to play whenever, and even games I missed out on back in the day I've been able to track down and buy.

Should post in that thread from that user who likes to “lurk” around VGC just waiting to pounce and make a new bait thread whenever there’s anything remotely seen as bad Xbox PR

I've said it before many times over the years both here and elsewhere, but if any of the Big Three decided to abandon physical media, that's when I abandon them. I'll have 40+ years worth of video games to draw from and continue playing for the rest of my days. I'm not giving up ownership of my games, period. Yes, it's that important to me. It's not worth giving up just so I don't have to get up and switch out discs or buy a game from a store (B&M or online retail). It's also a nightmare for game preservation.