Sony took to their PlayStation Blog today to announce that future games disc support is ending in January 2028.
In a statement by Senior Director of Sony Interactive Entertainment Content Communications, Sid Shuman announced the news along with the reasoning as "in response to shifting trends in consumer preference".
Any games that were released prior to January 2028 and that had a disc version will not be affected by this change. Only games that release January 2028 and onward are going to be releasing in digital formats. You will be able to buy new games on the PlayStation Store and through download codes, similar to how Rockstar Games will be releasing Grand Theft Auto VI.
Many people, including myself, who love physical media are going to be outraged by this news. While I certainly saw this trend coming, many people are going to be completely blindsided by the development. Sentiment is already low with the decision to release the aforementioned Grand Theft Auto VI in a digital-only format.
Users commenting on the decision on the PlayStation Blog like Karlos_91 and c1recha0s have expressed sadness over the decision:
Horrible decision but what can you expect from this company at this point. – Karlos_91
I am not happy about this one bit. This leads more to the “not owning” side. Also if that’s the case then lower the prices by ~15% Physical media should be protected. – c1reccha0s
As you can see the sentiment is already as low as it could be and now things are getting even worse. This comes at the head of Sony laying many off from Bungie after many failed attempts of getting Live Service games off the ground and failing to do so with Concord and the recently released Marathon. With Concord being shelved entirely and the player count for Marathon completely nosediving.
This is in addition to Sony's decision on closing PlayStation 3 and PS Vita stores in select markets. You can read more about those changes here.
What are your thoughts on PlayStation removing physical media for the PlayStation 5? Are you happy? Don't care? Sound off on X and let me know how you feel.