Why can't I play a game that is already on my hard drive for my Xbox Series S?

1-800-2MY-BUTT · Apr 9, 2023

So I have a game I wanted to play and yet it asks me if I have the game and I do, how every I can not launch said game even tho it is already on my hard drive, what am I missing Herr? Do I spend the money again?

:)

Previous Crease

I’ve used the hard drives for my Xbox one but when I bought the hard drive, it said it was compatible for the series s.

The game I bought in the Microsoft store on the Xbox one. I was trying to play it on my series s.

Obsessive Power

If the game on your drive was installed from a disc then you'll need to buy it again. Since the Series S has no optical drive there is no way for the system to check if you own it.

Germangamr91

I installed them on my old xbox one and transferred them to the external hard drive so I know they are on the hard drive

All my installed games appear correctly as installed on my Xbox one if I connect the hard drive to it. But when I connect the hard drive to my Series S, most of the installed games appear but about 9 of them do not. The missing games appear as ready to install on my Series S

Obsessive Power

Hi,

External hard drives are not fast enough for Xbox Series X|S titles. Unfortunately you can't play these games off slow USB external hard drives. They need either be installed internally or to an optional Xbox Series X|S Expansion card.

Jesse E'

Hello, My name is Jesse. I'm an Independent Advisor and a member of the Microsoft community and I'd love to assist you today.

I assume you have the Series S. If that's the case, then yes, you can't play the game from that external drive. You'll need to move it to the internal drive to play.

Here's the only external drive where games can be played from on the Series X|S consoles https://www.xbox.com/en-US/accessories/hard-dri...

Why can't I play a game that is already on my hard drive for my Xbox Series S?