Sony made a shocking announcement today, revealing that the company plans to move away from physical game releases in the future. Citing claims of how the industry is moving away from physical copies and disc-based games, and prefers digital media, PlayStation will follow suit, and will only release PlayStation games digitally. Starting January 2028, physical disc production will end, and you'll only be able to purchase video games through a digital format, either from retailers or PlayStation themselves.

According to the most recent financial report from Sony, only 3% of PlayStation's annual sales came from physical software releases, with projections for that already low number set to fall even further through the end of the PlayStation 5's lifecycle.

As consumer preferences and the broader entertainment industry continue to shift away from physical discs to digital, physical game disc production for all new games releasing on PlayStation consoles will be discontinued starting January 2028. Following this date, new games will be available on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital formats only. This transition has no impact on games that already released, or will be releasing, prior to January 2028 in disc format.

This is a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs. This transition will enable us to align more closely with how most of our community prefers to access and play games today.

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[Elfransat]

The EU will make them open up the PS5 to other marketplaces I predict, they did the same to apple

 

[Nakamichi]

hahaha @Flame oh my word.
... brilliant. THAT is the perfect first response to this. love it.

 

[Twinkler1lord]

How long will it take before ChibiMofo shows up and adds a laughing emoji to every comment he disagrees with, marks the ones he agrees with with a heart, and calls everyone who doesn't like digital-only an “incel” or a “whiny gamer”?

 

[DragonMals]

I could never hate Sony as much as I've had since the PS4 launched.

I would like to know the status of PS3 and PSVita when it comes to how much has been archived from the Internet

 

[Kraken_X]

First they drop PC ports, now Sony expects us to pay $1000+ for a PS6 with no disc drive (and thus limited backwards compatibility) and $100+ for digital only games that can't be resold or lent out. What's next? Having to send them a video of you on your hands and knees begging to give them your life savings? They really think their games are worth it, and I don't think they are. I hope consumers push back hard. Plenty of other things to play.

Also, Pokopia is the only Nintendo first party game not available on physical release, however I expect them to start making things digital only too soon. With Xbox dead, there isn't enough competition...

 

[WifeyWaffen]

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Sony made a shocking announcement today, revealing that the company plans to move away from physical game releases in the future. Citing claims of how the industry is moving away from physical copies and disc-based games, and prefers digital media, PlayStation will follow suit, and will only release PlayStation games digitally. Starting January 2028, physical disc production will end, and you'll only be able to purchase video games through a digital format, either from retailers or PlayStation themselves.

According to the most recent financial report from Sony, only 3% of PlayStation's annual sales came from physical software releases, with projections for that already low number set to fall even further through the end of the PlayStation 5's lifecycle.



Source

That is so gay.

 

[NostalgicMillennial]

Video game crash of 2027-2028 here we come

 

[Samus12345]

Even though I knew this was gonna happen eventually, it's still a shock to see it officially confirmed. Depending on what Nintendo does with the "Switch 3", looks like dedicated consoles are over for me after over 40 years of primarily gaming that way. Since consoles will no longer have tradable, sellable licenses as an advantage, it's gonna be all PC from here on out for me. Next "console" will be whatever Steam Machine-like PC I can afford to build to plug into the TV.

 

[linuxares]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAGSHSHAHAHAHAHAHAH

I hate this timeline....

Just a couple of days ago they deleted digitally purchased movies from user libraries.

Excellent timing, Sony.

Perfect PR move!

 

[Ethelbert]

Ultimately unsurprising, and it will cause less issues to Sony that you and me would like.

 

[DiscostewSM]

So are we still complaining about game key cards?

It is quite funny how some folks tried to push the notion that Nintendo was the one forcing an all-digital platform due to GKCs, but the reality is that Nintendo still hasn't pushed a platform of theirs to have mandatory installation for any and all games, physical or digital. Both Sony and Microsoft did that nearly 13 years ago.

 

[heathdogg]

I moved away from physical releases to fitgirl repacks a couple of years ago.

 

[purple_bandit]

Reason #274 I'm glad I dropped ever owning another Sony product after the PS4

 

[Exnor]

Its a $$ony !

F*ck them. I like to own my copies and not just long term rent them.

 

[lightwo]

If they transition to only offering games digitally, fine enough. I would be getting them digitally anyway, by other means

Seriously though, trusting Sony to keep your "purchases" accessible indefinitely is foolish given their track record. Also, bans on consoles are much heavier-handed than on PC (e.g. Steam), so whether a ban was justified or not, it could (to my understanding) mean loss of access to all purchased games.

I can't wait for modern consoles to die. Being hardly different from general-use x86_64 and ARM offerings nowadays, what's the point any more? Physical releases are the only advantage they had.

 

[Exnor]

Video game crash of 2027-2028 here we come

I hope so. This market needs a reset.

 

[KingVamp]

I guess more people are going PC.

 

[codezer0]

It seems illegal because they attain a monopoly on the store where they alone set the prices. Apple and to less degree Valve (even though its false for Valve because PC is an open platform) have gotten a lot of heat from wallgardening storefronts where there's no competitors. What makes Sony any special? This can easily go to court.

Console makers already won't allow a game to be made on their platforms without paying them first.

Then they also make these storefronts to set the prices as well, and lock out anyone else from even being able to offer an alternative for getting their games legitimately or otherwise. Thus, when (not if) they ban your account, it prevents you from even being able to play what you paid for, before whatever incident or offense took place.

 

[SecureBoot]

No physical option = no buy from me on systems where the files can't be readily backed up. If Xbox and Nintendo follow suit, I may be a strictly PC gamer from here on out

 

[Exnor]

No physical option = no buy from me on systems where the files can't be readily backed up. If Xbox and Nintendo follow suit, I may be a strictly PC gamer from here on out

Sadly i think that's the only alternative. I hate to play on the PC (more expensive, more tedious to set up, etc etc. i already have to deal with "pc" crap on a daily basis) BUT at least there i have options to actually get a copy that i can keep.