Sony will soon no longer release physical discs for PlayStation
Apparently, play has limits...
The end of physical discs is nigh. Sony has announced that by 2028 and beyond they will no longer release physical discs for PlayStation. Strongly hinting that the PS6 will be digital only.
It’s not like the majority of PC gamers have physical discs as well, thanks to Steam. And Xbox (sorry, XBOX), has been navigating through their overly complex strategy to win gamers through Game Pass.
It’s not like physical discs today mainly serve as game installation and confirmation of purchase, anyway. People have been talking about the future of games in digital, and maybe in the cloud. And it’s here, and it’s approaching like an unstoppable T-1000. Hasta la vista physical game discs. You were loved and cherished and we took you for granted.
The official reason is consumer trends. A large number of gamers simply prefer to go digital. According to this site, game sales for PlayStation is 85%, which is pretty huge.
What will the absence of physical discs entail?
No more second hand markets, meaning you can’t take your games to certain stores for trade-ins or resell it. You can’t exchange games with friends, which was a big cultural thing growing up back then.
This would also cause damages to physical retailers. Back then, game boxes included some really neat stuff, like a game manual with cool art and a game map, stuff that were normal back then and would probably be now part of some more expensive “Deluxe Edition.” But the digital forward format, maybe we won’t be getting any of that anymore. So, what’s the point in buying empty boxes that contain a download code? Hopefully, our favorite retailers would continue to survive through accessories and all sorts of gaming peripherals.
So yes, digital is here, and looks like some of us will just have to accept it.
Oh, by the way, have you heard about Sony deleting over 500 movies from their catalogue, effectively removing them from users library even though they paid for these movies full price?