There seems to be an uproar on the Internet at the news that Sony will cease making physical game discs for its PlayStation console starting in January of 2028. High speed broadband Internet is so ubiquitous that it doesn’t make sense to waste resources on physical media, packaging, and shipping. Sony certainly has data reflecting gamers’ preference for digital downloads. Steam has perfected this on the PC side for decades. When is the last time you bought a physical copy of a PC game?
Of course, human nature is such that it’s painful to take away something from them. Even if that thing is something they seldom use. You may not have purchased a physical game in years, but you quite like the idea that the option is always there. Now that Sony is taking that away, you write loudly on the Internet at the injustice.
Even taking on Sony’s reasoning for this move to be true, it’s absolute a background ploy to make more money. Digital-only distribution means games cannot be shared. Nor can there be a secondary market for used games. The reason Rockstar is charging only $79 for Grand Theft Auto 6 is because anyone that wishes to play, has to buy. The physical version is only a glorified case with a code to download the game. Surely that code is one time use.
There other loss here is the inability to showcase your collection of games. Bookcases full of game titles will have a definite cut-off point in terms of newness. As someone that prefers analog and tactile, I can understand that pain. Half the reason I buy physical books is to display them on the shelves. You can tell I am a learned man when you see my stocked bookshelves in my Zoom background (tongue fully in cheek).
The one real concern for physical disc aficionados is that when games are solely in the digital realm, the distributor controls the access. You don’t really own the games - you’re at the mercy of Sony in continuing to support the PlayStation platform. It’s a fair question to ask whether or not PlayStation 5 games will still be active when the PlayStation 6 or 7 era come around. Even if you are fully trusting of Sony’s intentions, it doesn’t sit well with people that the potential will soon exist.
But honestly: how often have you gone back to replay a game?
That said, I am optimistic that our friends on the high seas will ensure copies of games will exist outside of Sony’s walled garden. And if that garden ever goes away, coders will surely whip up emulators to replace. It’s the same mechanism that’s been supporting retro gaming for many many years.
I shall still proverbially pour one out for the physical game disc.
One two three.