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Sony is moving away from physical discs, will soon only release PlayStation games digitally

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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.

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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Captain_N said:
All those that buy a lot of digital on PS4 and ps5 are to blame. it your own damn fault for buying so many digital games. Id be willing to bet 90% of those complainers bought more digital titles on PlayStation then physical.....
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They actually cooked the statistics they used. They included all digital only games in their assessment (including cheap ~$2 indie games), as well as PlayStation plus. For actual games released on physical and digital, physical purchases greatly exceed digital purchases. Seems more like an excuse they used to justify their greed here on ownership, control, and cost savings. They will likely even raise the prices on these games in addition to being only digital.

Sony is also setting themselves to be competitors with Apple and Valve instead of a physical media monopoly. They may very well lose this fight over time.
 
Last edited by ppkantorski,
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I would care if the discs meant anything now. Yeah, you get *a* game on it but it's just going to download gigs on gigs of patches to make it playable and not a buggy mess. Delete all the Cyberpunk updates, unplug your console from the internet and play the disc version. You only ever owned part of the game.

The situation sucks and we're watching video games change for the worse - again. Switching to PC is no longer an affordable option if you want to play anything from a big publisher AND now they'll be able to charge us RRP all the time. Great time to look at other hobbies!
 
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genxor said:
I would care if the discs meant anything now. Yeah, you get *a* game on it but it's just going to download gigs on gigs of patches to make it playable and not a buggy mess. Delete all the Cyberpunk updates, unplug your console from the internet and play the disc version. You only ever owned part of the game.

The situation sucks and we're watching video games change for the worse - again. Switching to PC is no longer an affordable option if you want to play anything from a big publisher AND now they'll be able to charge us RRP all the time. Great time to look at other hobbies!
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it does still mean something. It means that the used game market would be gone. Game stores would likely start closing. Games at places like Amazon or other retailers will never be on sale, forcing people to 100% rely on PSN store prices at all times just to play the game. Physical copies means you can transfer ownership, or resell the game if you ever choose to. Removing that check and balance from the equation will only hurt consumers, allowing them to even raise prices higher at any point down the road if they choose to (even for old games). Not to mention their little user agreement / terms and conditions state that they have the right to remove any digital content at any point in time with zero refunds if they want. And all your PS4 and PS5 discs would be essentially paper weights without a PS4 / PS5. Lots of people sell their last gen console to cover the price of buying the next gen. That won't be happening this time.
 
Last edited by ppkantorski,
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Well that's it...I've decided that I'm no longer going to renew my PS Plus subscription again at the end of this year...Also this would pretty much make piracy the only viable way to really "own" any future games.
 
MysticStarlight said:
There's no way to sell your games or get them second hand. This is why I am glad GKC exists. Full digital is worse.
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Well, I see no technical reason for us not to be able to resell our digital licenses that allow us to use the games on our always online devices - therefor, we should drag this to our politicans to rework the system so that it becomes mandatory for digital stores that "sell games" to provide a way for me to trade/sell these licenses to other users...
like Steam trading cards or CS weapons for example...

...surely, there won't be any resistance from Sony/the industry against that idea, right?
(guess I'm vastly underestimating the massive legal and financial resistance from the industry :rolleyes:)

And don't you "Shut up, Mimsy!" me - we need to fight back, this is THE moment :nayps3:
 

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