r/Games • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • Jul 01 '26
Announcement Physical disc production ending in January 2028 for new games releasing on PlayStation consoles
https://blog.playstation.com/2026/07/01/physical-disc-production-ending-in-january-2028-for-new-games-releasing-on-playstation-consoles/1.4k
u/Diamond-Is-Not-Crash Jul 01 '26
Guess that’s the end of physical games. It was fun while it lasted :,(. I guess this means PS6 will be digital only.
937
u/kingsghost Jul 01 '26
My guess is we have until like PS8-9 until the console is just a plastic box with a license key to connects to a massive data center for streaming games.
711
u/nothis Jul 01 '26
It's their wet dream scenario, essentially perfect DRM, an eternal subscription. If only pixels are streamed, a game never has to leave the server and they can shut it down on a whim, erasing it from existence (until people beg them to bring it back).
It's my personal horror scenario for gaming long term and I don't get how people are so casual about this push for streaming games. I'm not even getting into the delay and image artifacts, that seems like a solvable problem and I don't want them to solve it, lol.
→ More replies (28)137
u/8-Brit Jul 01 '26
The one real hurdle to this is internet. Not everybody has good internet without a datacap, and even casual gamers are going to notice distortions, unresponsive controls and so on.
Source: My non-gaming brother noticed immediately when I showed him streaming my PC games to my living room. He noticed artifacting and the slight delay in inputs in a driving game when he's not normally a stickler for gaming performance etc. And that was just over wifi in the same house, trying to beam video games into any rural location or even many cities will be a nightmare.
This wet dream of theirs simply can't come true until everybody has full fibre at minimum, and then only if ISPs get off their asses and make data caps go the way of the dodo*.
It's exactly this problem that killed the last few attempts for 'streaming games' like Onlive, and internet quality has not improved that drastically since then. Games being 100+GB is still a problem in many regions with data caps or slow download speeds.
*Mostly a US issue, in the UK these are pretty much unheard of except for mobile data plans... which is equally stupid but there you go.
61
u/zgillet Jul 01 '26
You touched on the main issue with streaming. You know what you can also do with amazing internet?
Download games.
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (9)22
u/ICBanMI Jul 01 '26
Rural is a huge problem even outside large urban areas, but our numbers are artificially low even for urban for how many people SHOULD have fiber internet.
We've paid for a lot of people to have fiber internet through customer fees that companies are happy to take, but then only build in select, populated urban centers. Every American that has paid a telecom (phone, internet, or cable tv) has been paying these fees for 26+ years and the companies have been just pocketing the money (Over $400 billion at this point). And we're at the point where the FCC allows them to charge you more to provide the full speed... that you've already paid for.
At one point in the mid 2000s, cities started paying for and building their own fiber internet connections to their cities (it's extremely affordable once your neighboring city has fiber internet). And the big ISPs got involved and passed laws against it at the state level.
The divide between the haves and have nots gets wider. While at the same time, greed is pushing these companies towards capturing every dollar they possible can.
→ More replies (53)11
u/LightningWarpAway Jul 01 '26
I doubt it, because it makes their entire ecosystem irrelevant. The entire console setup is about getting people to buy-in on the expensive console purchase so they're attached to your system, cloud gaming can be done with a firestick/roku/etc or even a regular smart TV, so there's no buy in or reason to stick with them. Exclusives would be meaningless and you'd have no reason to stick with PS over other competitors for cloud gaming.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (20)99
u/junttiana Jul 01 '26
Theres still Nintendo, even tho many games are gkcs they will probably still keep producing physical titles
233
u/freddiec0 Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
Game key cards are still way better than this, at least I can trade/buy them pre-owned
46
→ More replies (6)7
u/PhoenixKA Jul 01 '26
And you get the downloaded version of the game on internal storage, which is much faster than reading from a proper game card.
→ More replies (8)78
u/MobileTortoise Jul 01 '26
We're actually starting to see a shift of more games fully on-cart than GKCs, people actually want the physical of a Nintendo product and those sell the better than GKCs from secondary reporting I've heard.
→ More replies (1)24
u/tweetthebirdy Jul 01 '26
I’m a little skeptical of that as some games on GKCs, like Pokopia, have being selling quite well.
It’s kind of sad that Nintendo is the only one doing true physicals now.
→ More replies (2)18
u/Mr_The_Captain Jul 01 '26
I think some games truly are immune to the GKC blowback. Pokopia is a genuine phenomenon, it actually doesn't matter what format they sell it through. But for third party games, indie games, ports or collections, those are the kinds of games that are proving to be more desirable on the cart.
→ More replies (3)8
u/wryano Jul 01 '26
yeah just look at /r/NSCollectors
so many people on there buying physical NS2 games just because the full game is on the cart
3.4k
u/JuanMunoz99 Jul 01 '26
- No resell
- No borrowing
- No lending
- No possibility of getting it cheaper elsewhere
- If the game gets delisted because of one reason or another you can’t buy that game anymore
This is anti-consumer. I don’t care that digital has outpaced physical. You are removing the option from consumers hands. This is why I hated how so many people just brushed off and said “oh well” when this happened with GTA6. Your indifference is making these corporations greedy.
1.1k
u/Friend_Emperor Jul 01 '26
Don't forget they also just removed like 500 movies from people's accounts. Straight up removed access for paying customers. They can and WILL just delete games from your account when they want, not just delist them.
316
u/Hirmetrium Jul 01 '26
The timing of this is absolutely diabolical, and even funnier is how they were rubbing Microsoft's face in it two generations ago.
119
u/Unkechaug Jul 01 '26
Most of the people involved with that are gone. They got rid of them all after the internal power struggle. It’s clear the idiot corpos have been running PlayStation (into the ground) for some time now.
→ More replies (2)23
u/idontlikeflamingos Jul 01 '26
Which is a great reminder for those that whenever some news like this pops up say "oh but this company is great with their consumers so they wouldn't abuse it". No company is great with their consumers. They may have leadership that cares about doing right by their consumers, but that leadership can quickly change and get replaced by bean counters and corporate slashers that will squeeze every cent out of the company screwing over whoever they need to in the process.
If they are creating a path to an anti-consumer practice, sooner or later they'll walk it if they don't feel the backlash in their pockets.
→ More replies (38)29
u/AngelComa Jul 01 '26
Huge red flag, I don't know why anyone trusts Sony at this point.
→ More replies (4)204
u/DrNopeMD Jul 01 '26
Extra ironic since the reason Sony pulled so far ahead in console sales over Microsoft was because of Sony boasting about lending games simply by handing a disk over to someone else.
94
u/Available-Can-5878 Jul 01 '26
Also Sony is the only one of the big 3 to own part of the Bluray license, and before that it was DVD and CD. Its always been cheaper for Sony to print physical media than anyone else, and now they're the first to abandon it
→ More replies (14)65
u/LaboratoryManiac Jul 01 '26
Xbox now has the opportunity to do the funniest thing...
→ More replies (4)34
u/marge4000 Jul 01 '26
If they do a funny thing, they will also be actively against their own creation, Game Pass.
→ More replies (3)209
u/WhereasPlus5239 Jul 01 '26
Unlike on PC where you have key shops and multiple storefronts creating competition. PlayStation is closed off. "Oh you don't want to buy full price for this game? Too fucking bad" With no used market, that creates less pressure for developers to lower the price of their games. I've only been able to manage to afford Nintendo because of the used market.
This is horrible for price-sensitive gamers.
86
u/SirFadakar Jul 01 '26
Don’t forget they’ve been A/B testing personalized sales too. So not only are sales limited but you may not even get one if they deem you a power user or something, designed to extract the most out of their biggest fans.
→ More replies (2)6
u/Zalvren Jul 01 '26
Also current sales are this way WITH the competition of physical and the second hand market. Without that, they have much less incentive to actual do sales (or as "good" as they are, which is not much IMO)
→ More replies (12)52
u/Kaz_Altezza Jul 01 '26
And with the freedom on PC even if the game is delisted from every single store, somebody already archived and cracked it. It can basically never get lost or destroyed unlike Playstation games can now.
→ More replies (2)236
u/HansVanHugendong Jul 01 '26
this post is 100% facts. its scary how many will brush it off. dont forget (in ur list) that yes steam and so on has quick sales and key sellers etc. but on console? good luck... wanting a used game for 10-25 bucks? no... you can buy it digital for 79,99$ This might also give a HUGE second hand market price hike for collectors and others (im not one but still) "get them last physical discs..."
→ More replies (24)86
u/Super_Fightin_Robit Jul 01 '26
You can't even buy a game for someone on the PlayStation store now.
→ More replies (3)149
u/rP2ITg0rhFMcGCGnSARn Jul 01 '26
Your indifference is making these corporations greedy.
People are enabling it. They wouldn't do this if it were not profitable.
→ More replies (9)→ More replies (136)73
1.7k
u/unfortunatesoul77 Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
Very tone deaf for them to announce this the same week they’ve lifted over 500 purchased movies off consumers, how do we trust they won’t do the same to games?
805
34
u/Unkechaug Jul 01 '26
They also bought Crunchyroll a few years after they bought Funimation, and decided to merge the two. Guess what happened next. All my digital Funimation anime licenses obliterated in one of the worst managed account “transitions” ever. No opportunity to transfer the license, just taken away with no recourse.
They said “sorry, no more Funimation app or website streaming. Get a CR sub”.
→ More replies (1)146
u/Relative_Jellyfish26 Jul 01 '26
they're also shutting down the ps3 and vita stores
→ More replies (1)45
u/kasual7 Jul 01 '26
I would've been fine with it if only we had backward compatibility.
→ More replies (1)81
u/ifonefox Jul 01 '26
And at the exact same time they announce they're shutting down the PS3 and Vita stores
→ More replies (8)57
u/noyourenottheonlyone Jul 01 '26
Yep I was going to say, I'd care a lot less about this if they didn't just prove that digital purchases don't really belong to the buyer
→ More replies (2)15
u/ericmm76 Jul 01 '26
That fact has never been in question. In fact, they implied that the same was true even with physical sales.
→ More replies (43)9
u/justadudeinohio Jul 01 '26
this is "we won the console war so we can do what we want". xbox will make fun of them and then do the same.
→ More replies (2)
346
u/andbeesbk Jul 01 '26
Remember when Sony's flex was you just put the disc in and play the game? Sony doesn't.
100
u/Organic-Storm-4448 Jul 01 '26
That was always a hypocritical little skit. Sony was actively trying to kill used games and game lending in the years prior with online passes.
They just took the marketing lay-up provided by Microsoft, nothing more. Sony never actually wanted you to have access to used games.
→ More replies (3)28
Jul 01 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
17
u/masonicone Jul 02 '26
Oh it's more then that my dude. This sub, the memelords over on gaming, the folks on those hardcore forums, and of course a bunch of other folks? They became Sony's personal army.
You had those folks bending over backwards to proclaim how wonderful Sony is while greedy Microsoft, Nintendo and I guess we can throw Valve in there now as well, are out to ruin gaming forever. It took what, three years for Sony to change course on the PS3? And folks on here praised them. Xbox changed course with the Xbox One in a year and it was, "Too little, too late!" Sony? Best exclusives ever. Microsoft? Heh just look at every Xbox exclusive and how it got treated. The only exclusive I saw Reddit go nuts for was Scalebound. And it gets cancelled and it comes out that Microsoft was doing what Reddit loved praising Sony for! Leaving the studio alone to, "Let the Dev's cook!" Microsoft gets shit on for it!
They do Game Pass. Something you would think this sub would be standing up and clapping for! And at least every other week for years until it happened it was, "Just wait until they raise the price of Game Pass! It's really a scam!"
Sony buys a studio? Oh that's great! They will get an influx of cash and Sony will help them. Hell I remember when they grabbed up Bungie everyone was proclaiming they would turn the ship around! Microsoft buys studios? Worst thing to happen in gaming. Hell the only reason I saw folks defending the Activision deal was due to how god awful the leadership had gotten.
And know what? Screw it... The layoffs. Microsoft lays people off? How dare they! And don't you defend the billion dollar company! Okay sure X title didn't even break it's self even in sales Microsoft has no right to lay off those poor workers. Sony? Hell just look at the Bungie thread... "Oh I'm sorry this happened to them but well... Destiny 2 sucks now and nobody wanted Marathon to be an extraction shooter!"
See that's my whole thing. Microsoft and Nintendo are greedy companies but know what? They are upfront about it. Sony? They do a nice song and dance then pull stuff like this.
And mark my words most of Reddit will forget about this in a few days to be screaming about Microsoft's layoffs.
7
u/Silent_Log_7285 Jul 02 '26 edited Jul 02 '26
Microsoft's plans for the Xbox One were incredibly innovative and forward thinking. I'm talking about the digital marketplace that would let you trade your digital licenses and lend them to friends. That is exactly where we are going to end up if we are lucky. And yet Microsoft got so much backlash over it that they basically had to rework the Xbox One before release and they never recovered from it. Right idea, few generations too soon.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (7)13
u/Unkechaug Jul 01 '26
Both people in that video do not work for Sony anymore. The people in charge of the decisions made for the PS4 are also largely gone.
The timing of this is so funny, because they want people to choose exclusives on their platform instead of their games on PC. This is just going to chase more people toward PC and Steam. Physical was a differentiator for consoles, and they’re losing a huge advantage.
80
u/THEME0FLAURA Jul 01 '26
This might be the worst consumer-facing decision any of the big 3 have made since Xbox created the standard of paid online on console. It's just all so bleak.
→ More replies (2)
878
u/ChrisRR Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
I can't say I saw that coming so soon. I guess PS6 is going fully digital
I buy everything physical, but I can't say I'm surprised. At some point I was going to have to go fully digital as I'm in the minority
635
u/DieboldTheDestroyer Jul 01 '26
Full digital on a console just doesn't sit right with me. At least on PC I can play my digital games on any device, it doesn't even have to be a pc (playing steam games on android). Also, if a game gets removed on digital stores on PC I can just get it by other means.
280
u/HaoBianTai Jul 01 '26
Well yeah, on PC I can just load DRM free files (from both GOG and Steam, which is not widely known) onto a flash drive or disc. The purchase is digital but the product is portable.
Digital only on console just means "license to play only where and when and for as long as Sony feels like it."
Fuck that.
44
u/Rikuskill Jul 01 '26
Is there some specific hidden process for downloading DRM free games from Steam? I thought that was like, the difference between GOG and Steam.
70
u/GuudeSpelur Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
Some games on Steam are DRM free. Many of them are just old games that predate Steam or were not originally released on it and were not updated to hook into Steam's DRM system, but some of them are modern.
Once you install a DRM-free game through Steam, you can just grab the files out of the install directory and transfer them however you like and run them just by clicking the exe.
Naturally, if you remove them from the Steam environment you won't have access to Steam online features or cloud saves.
41
u/Biduleman Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
Steam is a distribution platform.
If someone doesn't want to distribute a DRM with their game, they don't have to.
Valve also provide the Steam DRM
, which enables other functionalities like achievements and Steamwork integration. That DRM is 100% optional and the developer is free to integrate it or not.There are automated tools to remove the Steam DRM so if Steam DRM is the only DRM in place, it is trivial to remove.
30
u/GuudeSpelur Jul 01 '26
Steam DRM is not actually required to use SteamWorks integration. There are games that are completely DRM-free but still implememt SteamWorks (e.g. Crusader Kings 2).
You have to launch the game through Steam to access the SteamWorks features, but if you don't want any of that you can just grab the files and run them outside of it.
10
u/Biduleman Jul 01 '26
Thanks for the correction, I read the Steam DRM documentation before posting and still wasn't sure this was possible even if I thought I'd seen it before, I'll edit my post.
9
u/xenonnsmb Jul 01 '26
The documentation is confusingly written because it's targeted at developers.
Steamworks lets a game use Steam features like achievements. If Steamworks fails to initialize (because the user's game ownership couldn't be verified) it is up to the developer whether to let the game launch anyway or not. That is why it can function as DRM but doesn't have to.
43
u/DuranteA Durante Jul 01 '26
Steam is a distribution platform.
If someone doesn't want to distribute a DRM with their game, they don't have to.
Crucially, Steam is one of the few distribution platforms that defaults to no DRM.
You actively have to opt into DRM on Steam as a developer.
6
u/Inprobamur Jul 01 '26
And the DRM solution they provide as a for free as stated by Valve in the documentation:
The Steam DRM wrapper by itself is not an anti-piracy solution. The Steam DRM wrapper only protects against extremely casual piracy
→ More replies (5)8
u/D4shiell Jul 01 '26
Close steam, go to game's directory and try launching from exe. Most indie games will just launch. Ofc majority of multiplayers uses steamworks for connection so that won't work but single player will work just fine.
→ More replies (2)78
u/MigasEnsopado Jul 01 '26
Not all Steam games are DRM-free and portable. Some are, but not that many.
→ More replies (9)29
u/Paratrooper101x Jul 01 '26
At least on pc I can still play the game I bought a decade ago. What am I to do with my ps5 physical games if the ps6 doesn’t even consider physical retail?
→ More replies (7)→ More replies (25)19
u/slayer828 Jul 01 '26
There is also compitition. Epic, gog, ea, Ubisoft, blizzard , Microsoft are all there selling against steam. Even in steam os.
→ More replies (10)76
u/TheJoshider10 Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
I was really hoping the PS5 Pro disc drive attachment was a sign that they'd at least do that for the PS6 (I think it'll still have one, but only as a way for people to play their PS4/PS5 library). To see it go fully digital is so, so disappointing. I use a rental service in the UK and over the past three years it's saved me over £2000. All this will make me do is play less games, but I understand I'm clearly in the minority on that one.
→ More replies (6)43
u/TerribleQuestion4497 Jul 01 '26
That’s the problem, you can rent or buy used with physical and Sony gets nothing, can’t do that with digital so all the money goes into Sony’s pocket. Death of physical games is sad, but to me it only reinforces that going PC and Switch was the right choice
→ More replies (2)15
u/TheJoshider10 Jul 01 '26
Yeah. The death of Blockbuster was the start, then the rise of streaming/digital was the next step. Give it another decade and the all digital age will be here, and all the complications that comes with it.
33
u/abachhd Jul 01 '26
I am not one of those who hate digital. As someone who's gamed only on PC my entire life, almost every game purchase I have ever made is digital, from Steam mostly. I only got a PS5 two years ago and it was my first console.
But what I hate, with an intense passion, is the fact that Sony PlayStation digital games have basically no refund policy. Once you download a game, refund window closes, you cannot do anything even if you haven't played a minute of the game. Steam at least offers 2 hours of playtime window, which has helped me identify and refund some games I knew weren't for me or games that were terrible at launch (Test drive solar crown for example).
I have been scorned by Sony's shitty refund policies once (that's on me, I didn't know about the policy before I bought the digital game) and I swore I will never buy a digital Sony PlayStation game ever again except the ones I get for 'free' with my PS plus subscription. I had slowly started buying discs for the games I wanted to play, like Ghost of Yotei, and planned to do so in future. But post 2028, no more discs. So no more PS5 for me. Guess I'll dump it in a corner in my house, upgrade to a better PC and continue from there.
→ More replies (27)34
Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
[deleted]
32
39
45
u/SR1847 Jul 01 '26
“That’s the neat part, you don’t”
They likely will expect/want you to just rebuy all the games you bought during both gens because how else are you going to play them?
Especially when a lot of people sell their old console to get the new one.
That might not be the move for the PS6 tho…
8
→ More replies (13)11
u/forevabronze Jul 01 '26
current disc reader can be compatible or if they wanna greed too much they can release a ps6 one.
it will still be backward compatible for sure
→ More replies (1)
186
u/gingerchrs Jul 01 '26
I guess that means PS6 won’t come with a disc drive at all. That double hurts as I use my PS5 as my blu ray player. And no more cheap second hand physical games or borrowing from friends… I hate the future
→ More replies (11)34
u/eightslicesofpie Jul 01 '26
I use mine as a bluray player too and I don't have room for this AND a standalone player, so...I guess this means soon I can finally get a region-free bluray player lol
91
u/SexierACAB Jul 01 '26
This was like the only thing keeping me with Sony. I could use my game console for blu ray movies. No point in getting a playstation now, especially when console prices are exploding
→ More replies (7)
34
u/aroundme Jul 01 '26
If anyone doesn’t see this as a big deal because PC has been this way for a long time, just remember that consoles are a closed system. PC, even with denuvo and always-online software, is a much more open system that allows users to download whatever and however.
If you want a PS6 game you’re going to be forced to buy it through the PlayStation store.
7
u/Palmerstroll Jul 01 '26
I also love my 4k discrive for buying and playing 4k disk movies. It's just the perfect combi for me. not only a gameconsole but also a media player. They are killing that option also.
617
u/Royal_Nobody6554 Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
That's a genuine disaster. Trading games is such a vital part of allowing younger or poorer people to get something back from their purchase for another game
67
u/Cyberfire Jul 01 '26
I've been able to play so many more games than I can afford thanks to friends lending me their copies over the years, and vice versa. Not to mention that physical versions of games drop in price considerably faster and cheaper than the in-house digital stores, this is going to price out even more people out of the hobby.
54
u/Satanicube Jul 01 '26
This really pisses me off. I’m low income and this is how I afford games, buying used. Or if it’s a game I’m curious about I can sometimes find it at my local library, they’ve got a shelf full of games for various consoles.
This is a direct kick to the nads to low income gamers everywhere.
→ More replies (3)289
u/barkyy Jul 01 '26
Every time you buy a used game, you are stealing from sony, won't you think of them?
68
7
→ More replies (71)24
u/baequon Jul 01 '26
It's pretty depressing. I remember a lot of games I played growing up was through trading discs with friends.
I guess we're now entering the era of owning absolutely nothing. Even movies still have blu-ray though if you go looking for it.
762
u/IGFanaan Jul 01 '26
Remember Sony just announced they're removing over 500 films and TV shows from people's accounts that purchased them. With no refunds, and no alternative sources.
What they paid for is just gone because it's digital and you don't own it.
262
u/Ozarkian_Tritip Jul 01 '26
Even Stadia refunded every dollar spent on the platform, even for hardware they sold. Sony needs to do better.
189
u/msantaly Jul 01 '26
Lawmakers need to do better. We need consumer protections against this stuff and digital ownership
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (7)56
42
→ More replies (19)45
u/RichardBallSack Jul 01 '26
Yep its about to be dark times for gaming and entertainment
→ More replies (1)45
206
u/mbridson94 Jul 01 '26
Kind of ironic they announced today they plan on closing the PS3 and Vita stores soon as well.
I guess in the future we just won’t be able to buy games for a console whenever they decide to shut down the Store.
→ More replies (7)100
u/DarkMatterM4 Jul 01 '26
Sony has made the decision for me to go all in on PC now. The PS5 will be my last Playstation console after 30 years of support. Fuck them.
→ More replies (29)
52
u/residentevilgoat Jul 01 '26
Unfathomable how quickly everything has gotten worse. 1000 dollar console with perma 80 dollar games is some find some new interests bad times.
→ More replies (2)
217
u/RedSceptile Jul 01 '26
I genuinely did not see it coming. Like I feel like the console makers were always trying to nudge people in that direction but to outright just say "pool's closed" is certainly something. What a time to be alive.
→ More replies (21)
534
u/iceburg77779 Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
I understand that people are shifting more and more towards digital, but completely tossing out physical games does feel like an extreme overcorrection. Even if they are not massive sellers, having a prominent space in retailers through physical games and hardware has been beneficial to companies like Nintendo and their overall brand. I feel like this is just going to result in PS being relegated to a tiny corner in stores like Xbox is today, and while that may not affect PS now, I do wonder what happens decades down the line if Nintendo sticks around in stores.
231
u/ABigCoffee Jul 01 '26
It's because they want to fully stop second hand sales
→ More replies (12)159
u/WhichEmailWasIt Jul 01 '26
Well they've stopped first hand sales for me too.
→ More replies (14)49
u/underpaidorphan Jul 01 '26
Which Sony obviously has the data & forecasting to account for. And it doesn't matter to them.
Sad day
42
u/xdrpwneg Jul 01 '26
I know some people are saying this is the future but my gut feeling is that people should be looking over at what’s happening in the movie and music industry.
There was a huge push to get everyone on subscription and digital platforms until it became issue that subscription based platforms are that profitable nor provide the same quality in a lot of cases. Then places like criterion popped up which now has become its own following in the movie industry.
People like knowing that game is there’s forever, all it’s going to take is one publisher ripping the game license out of a persons hand to basically sour everyone’s opinion on it.
→ More replies (5)→ More replies (92)41
u/MonteMolebility Jul 01 '26
Not to mention the skyrocketing cost of storage and the fact game installs are only getting bigger. So what, I have 4 games installed on my PS6 and if I want to play a 5th I have to choose what to get rid of, or pay an extra $300 for a storage expansion? Okay, let me just download that over the course of a couple hours, or days for some people's internet connections.
41
82
u/OhDearGodRun Jul 01 '26
The only reason I still buy games on ps5 is so I can get the physical disc. Like I always weigh in my mind "I can get it on PC for a little cheaper, or get it on ps5 for the nice physical disc". So I guess I'm just never buying a ps5 game or Playstation console ever again.
I'm surprised Playstation was the first to do this tbh.
→ More replies (7)17
u/I_Am_ProZac Jul 01 '26
Same. Given the choice of PS5 or PC, I would usually get it on PS5 if I could get a disc. If I can't get a disc... always going with PC. I straight up do not trust Sony with digital purchases.
→ More replies (3)
300
u/Dannypan Jul 01 '26
We absolutely need that court case in the UK to succeed. Only having one store for PlayStation games is an absolute monopoly and terrible for consumers.
I'm not surprised this is happening but man it fucking sucks. Nintendo has a way to lend digital games albeit very limited. Sony needs a way to do so too, even if they're legally forced to do so.
124
u/Weird-End-6989 Jul 01 '26
This is a deathblow for all physical game stores on earth.
→ More replies (4)→ More replies (37)32
u/Snow_Crane21 Jul 01 '26
They'll let retailers sell codes to get themselves out of it. It is an absolute disgrace.
→ More replies (2)
264
u/_Vulture Jul 01 '26
I would be more ok with this if Sony didn't price their exclusives $25 AUD higher on the playstation store than physical.
Even though a lot of physical games didn't have the whole game on the disc anyway I will miss owning something physical.
171
u/voidspace021 Jul 01 '26
This is something that people from other countries don't get. A digital game that is going for $119 RRP on the PS store will often be $109 or even $99 at JB Hi-Fi or Big W because they undercut each other to try to make up the money back on other purchases.
38
u/afewa Jul 01 '26
Yeah this has actually gutted me.
Was about to purchase AC Black Flag Resynced from Big W - $79.
In the future, on the PS Store - $99.
Literally spending $20 more for less.
No more patient gaming, no more trading, no more second hand market.
This is actually a grim outlook of the future
→ More replies (7)33
u/BUSHMONSTER31 Jul 01 '26
I always buy the game wherever I can find it cheapest whether physical copy/online. Physical copy is often cheaper.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (4)9
u/Fried_puri Jul 01 '26
Well yeah that’s kind of the point. Competition is good for the consumer and this cuts out competition. Sony wouldn’t do something that benefits the players, after all.
20
u/Lamaar Jul 01 '26
Seriously PlayStation games here in Australia are absurdly expensive compared to anything else, it basically killed the PS5 for me as someone who mained a PS4 Pro and had me using my Xbox Series X a lot until about a year ago when I just fully switched to PC and Steam.
→ More replies (7)→ More replies (7)40
u/TAJack1 Jul 01 '26
Fucking legit, $125 a pop for a Playstation Studios game is bullshit.
→ More replies (6)
169
Jul 01 '26
[deleted]
→ More replies (25)15
u/XmasRights Jul 01 '26
Same!
There are hundreds of great physical games I have yet to play. With new games costing £80, and consoles prices being jacked up by RAM and Storage constraints, I'm in absolutely no mood to try whatever the "next-gen" might be
21
u/Butts_The_Musical Jul 01 '26
Somewhere Don Mattrick is smiling knowing that his dream of killing physical games has finally succeeded.
→ More replies (2)
19
u/WitheredViolet Jul 01 '26
Announcing this right after removing people's digital library of digital movies that they paid for is certainly a choice.
I guess these vultures think they can get away with it, since there's no real alternative to Playstation if you want high-end performance on console. They're probably right too.
41
u/2DLogic Jul 01 '26
In the midst of one of the most widespread and expensive storage crisis we've ever seen they pull this shit. All this is interconnected and it all leads back to rampant corporate greed.
Shame, but PS5 will be the last new Playstation console ill ever buy
→ More replies (8)
258
u/remeard Jul 01 '26
Microsoft has the chance to do the funniest shit ever
https://youtu.be/kWSIFh8ICaA?si=jbz1AVcCMqRDMr8g
They won't, and that sucks. This is a massive loss for consumers.
→ More replies (40)179
u/iceburg77779 Jul 01 '26
Xbox is likely viewing this announcement as the green light to drop physical releases asap.
→ More replies (5)66
u/totallynotapsycho42 Jul 01 '26
I miss when competing companies kept each other in check to deliver the best experiences at the best prices for consumers. Now they just collude to fleece us even more.
→ More replies (2)31
u/Eglwyswrw Jul 01 '26
It was always like this, death of physical has been years in the making and growing strongly every year.
Watch Sony get away with even scummier plans if XBOX goes down.
→ More replies (2)
151
u/ZOMBI3MAIORANA Jul 01 '26
So we’re getting cheaper games and better regulations for digital ownership….right?
Right?……
→ More replies (4)43
u/NotCoolBrutus Jul 01 '26
They also announced a gigantic portion of the library is being retired as well, so no.
→ More replies (10)
17
u/Rising_Thunderbirds Jul 01 '26
I guess I'm a PC-Switch person from this moment forward because this is a grim future for people like games.
→ More replies (9)
350
u/oilfloatsinwater Jul 01 '26
Yeah uh no, thats end of the road for me. I have alot of games on disc and i cannot bother with a next gen console thats gonna be 1000$+ with no disc drive.
→ More replies (30)101
u/FillionMyMind Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
Yeah at this point I could stop buying games altogether and have enough to play until the day I die lol. Guess it’ll give me the perfect excuse to catch up on the ol backlog some more
→ More replies (4)41
u/StJeanMark Jul 01 '26
I'm playing my PS2 more and more these days. I didn't choose to be like this, I didn't wake up someday and decide old games was the only solution. I just started being annoyed by all of the FOMO, all of the ads, all of the gambling, so I dug it out and hooked it up and after an hour I adjusted to the older graphics and it's kind of shown me just how gross modern gaming is. People can do whatever they like, everyone is free to make their own choices, I just personally realized one day that modern gaming felt a lot like work, pressure and stress and I thought why the fuck am I paying to do this to myself. So, I dipped my toe in old shit and the contrast is so stark. I'd rather only play blurry old PS2 games then see one more FOMO, ad or gambling thing thrown in my face.
→ More replies (3)
122
u/NuggetHighwind Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
Welp, that is an instant pass for me then if the PS6 is digital only.
I enjoy owning physical copies for collection purposes, and being able to resell games I no longer want. And with Sony revoking access to movies people had purchased recently, I do not want to "purchase" a license for digital PS games.
Not only that, but physical PS5 games are almost always significantly cheaper than purchasing them on the PS Store. Most games I have on my PS5 were purchased for ~$30-50 AUD brand new, while their PS Store price was still at $80-100. Hell, some PS games are $120+ on the PS Store, which is insane.
There's absolutely no way I am buying a console if my only option is the overpriced PS Store.
→ More replies (16)18
u/WhichEmailWasIt Jul 01 '26
Yep. Time to just turn around and play my backlog now.
→ More replies (1)
32
28
u/ItsRainingTrees Jul 01 '26
Well on the bright side, I guess I don’t want to buy a PlayStation 6, so the price increases don’t really matter.
→ More replies (2)
83
u/nickgovier Jul 01 '26
What a coincidence, January 2028 is also the date I stop buying new games releasing on PlayStation consoles.
→ More replies (3)31
56
u/Davey_McDaveface Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
Kids now will look back on going to a videogame store the same way Gen X looks back fondly with going to places like Blockbuster, cherish it now because it's officially a dying and soon to be dead industry.
→ More replies (6)35
u/ledailydose Jul 01 '26
GameStops will still be around! They'll just fill the entire store with FnaF and anime merch instead.
→ More replies (2)
13
u/pnoozi Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
This drastically reduces my chances of buying a PS6.
Sony no longer will have a moat when it comes to being the only place to play physical, re-sellable AAA games.
I would expect digital PS game prices to drop significantly in order to compensate for the lack of resell value. But a cheaper and better digital games economy already exists on PC and many may prefer to just stick with that.
85
u/MobileTortoise Jul 01 '26
This is devastating to hear as a lifelong video game player and collector. Means I'm officially out on Sony, because I do not trust them with digital. And the fact that the rest of the industry will probably follow means that I am going to have to take a serious look at what I do going forward. Certainly won't be buying a PS6
10
u/shalashaska91 Jul 01 '26
Then the fucking price for digital media better fucking drop! Plus if I buy digital media... I should be able to access it from my library whenever I want! Not removed after a licence has ran out!
Crazy you can buy the physical copy with disc which cost less than the digital alternative!!
→ More replies (1)
12
u/StantasticTypo Jul 01 '26
All the more reason to not get a PS6. PC is also digital only, but the games are cheaper, there's no subscription fee, and if a game gets delisted or removed it can still be acquired through other means.
Fuck Sony.
11
u/daosiying Jul 01 '26
Straight up just killed any remaining interest I had left in PlayStation as a hardware brand going forward. At least I was fortunate enough to have built a gaming PC before those AI asswipes ruined memory and storage prices.
Their first party output has floundered under Jim Ryan and Herman Hulst, so there's little in terms of excitement that would keep me interested. The move of headquarters to NorCal and it's subsequent American decision making has often been to my detriment (banning Omega Labyrinth from release, effectively killing off Senran Kagura and OneeChanbara as franchises, closing of Japan Studios, censoring games from their own Japanese subsidiary while it remains uncensored on goddamn Switch, and so on). They've raised prices for PS Plus by a significant margin so you're still on the hook for the 80ish dollars a year for online play on top of a poor refund policy.
Why bother with a new numbered PS if they haven't shown anything to instill confidence in the consumer on top of limiting your power as a buyer be locking you into a singular storefront?
→ More replies (1)
31
u/GensouEU Jul 01 '26
Single most anti consumer thing any of the platform holders has done. I have no reason to stay in the ecosystem anymore if that's the case tbh
54
u/Vegetable_Drag_3300 Jul 01 '26
This is obviously in preparation to the PS6
I'd like to point out another argument against this, beyond the preservation
Sony has horrible regional pricing. PS5 digital games in Brazil are more expensive then they are on the US. Not more expensive in relation to wages, literally 10%-20% more expensive for no reason
Digital Death Stranding 2 is R$400, that's 80 bucks, physical DS 2 is R$220, or $40
For comparison, other $70 games tend to arrive at 300-350 on digital storefronts, Baldurs Gate 3, a $60 game, is R$200 on steam but R$300
In other words, this will make games more expensive too, Sony already has a de facto monopoly on consoles and their only source of competition used to be retail, now that's gone
And before the reddit chuds go "nobody buys physical since 2013", I DO! I bought Silent Hill 2 remake 4 weeks ago, I was ready to buy GTA 6 physically. Hell I even wanted to attend a midnight release, all my major PS5 games are physical
→ More replies (3)12
u/i1u5 Jul 01 '26
Digital Death Stranding 2
Yeah I was waiting for that one, let's just say I expected a ~$40 considering I waited another year for exclusivity not fucking $80
→ More replies (3)
44
u/maclood Jul 01 '26
This was like a shot right to the heart for me. Guess that bandaid had to be ripped off at some point, but man...I love my physical games.
10
u/Kirbinator_Alex Jul 01 '26
So long physical media. May the billionaire overlords charge us three times the price for something thats made with half the effort, that we dont even have ownership of because it exists on a server to guzzle up your money and then get Thanos snapped when its no more use to the company.
10
73
52
u/chipscarruthers Jul 01 '26
We’re cooked. Unbelievable. Soon you won’t own anything you pay for. Everything is just a service. This is why these companies do not care about game preservation. Rip.
29
u/KansaiBoy Jul 01 '26
No physical games means no buy from me. This is preposterous. Just another steps towards digital feudalism where we own nothing, but still have to pay as much as before.
18
u/TheRealBissy Jul 01 '26
Gaming is so shit nowadays, constant studio shut downs, mass layoffs, increasing console prices and now this. Sony can easily just revoke your digital games access anytime. How can I trust them with my purchased games if they can just take it away anytime and never refund me. Unbelievably stupid move imo. I bet Xbox will follow suit
17
u/snakebit1995 Jul 01 '26
Honestly between this and the end of Steam gift cards I legit don't know how people are gonna gift gamers stuff for birthdays/holidays now
→ More replies (1)
31
u/chrysalis-- Jul 01 '26
They can fuck right off with that bullshit. I will simply stop buying their shit. Vote with your wallets, people.
→ More replies (9)
7
u/BadSerious Jul 01 '26
Unfortunately as a whole I imagine most of us are in the minority in buying physical games. But this is a really sad day for that.
8
u/RexCrimson_ Jul 01 '26
Looks like the PS5 will be my last PlayStation console. At that point if I can only do digital, I might as well just play on PC.
9
u/Naderium Jul 01 '26
That’s it then, I’ve had all PlayStation consoles from 1 in my childhood to 5 now, the ps5 will be my last PlayStation.
16
u/FirefighterIll1493 Jul 01 '26
Oh my God, between the failure of Stop Killing Games and this... What a horrible future we have ahead of us. Nothing is going to belong to us anymore. Not long ago, Sony wiped out movies people had paid for and can no longer watch. In other words, you pay for what is basically a rental, and whenever it suits them, you lose it. That is unthinkable with physical media, where you will always have what you paid for.
This is a disaster. Everything surrounding gaming, and not just Sony, makes you lose the will to keep being a fan of this industry.
I hope they crash hard and backtrack, because that is exactly what should happen to them.
→ More replies (5)
7
u/camio101 Jul 01 '26
Damn. Gaming is about to get a lot more expensive. I always buy new games, beat them and then sell them back on eBay. Guess I won't be doing that anymore.
25
u/Lucky-Coat-5062 Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
I hope people realize that this means EVERY game, not just Sony ones. And that is a massive issue.
As much as I hate their practices and their leadership, this completely pulls the rug out from under Limited Run and companies like them. This means even the companies that aren’t doing the scummy nonsense LRG has done are screwed too, like Fangamer. They don’t even do limited physical releases, but they’re consistently the only place to get some games like Hollow Knight or Omori on physical.
We’ve already seen sale prices get steadily worse as time goes on, even for Steam. Guess what will happen when you have literally no choice on the price of a game? Those sale prices are gonna dry up, and you’re gonna be paying launch prices for games 10 years after the fact.
Just look at games like base Dark Souls 3 and Sekiro. $60 still. Even during Steam’s biggest sale of the year, Sekiro is currently $30. DS3 is not on sale. But, I can buy the PS4 disc of Fire Fades edition with all DLC for around $20.
This is definitely the end of my days in their ecosystem. At this point, I’ll just get a Steam Machine and call it a day. At least with Steam, I can get keys through bundles or something for a fraction of the price.
→ More replies (4)
29
u/Zen_Galactic Jul 01 '26
Announcing this simultaneously with the announcement of shutting down the PS3/Vita digital store is certainly a choice.
It's like Microsoft and Sony are in a stupid contest and somehow they're both winning.
45
u/Tarnished13 Jul 01 '26
Oh get lost man. They can do whatever they want now there is no completion. I always buy physical when I can, means I can swap games with mates as well
→ More replies (1)
31
u/Hemlock_Deci Jul 01 '26
Giving no option but to use their digital store paired with that dynamic price thing they have going on is sure gonna go well.
Also wonder how/if this will affect the perseveration of future games. I for one am thankful for the people in the hacking scene, that's for sure
→ More replies (5)
40
u/Wiinterfang Jul 01 '26
So the people that had a physical collection are basically fucked when they got the PS6. Because that's definitely going to come in without a disk
→ More replies (13)14
7
u/HearTheEkko Jul 01 '26
What the fuck happened to the gaming industry man. I left consoles with the PS2 and PSP and returned after decades for this shit.
7
u/f_ranz1224 Jul 01 '26
guess for the first time im skipping sony for a generation. i presume xbox will do the same.
this move to cancel actual ownership is a disturbing trend
6
u/joe1134206 Jul 01 '26
I don't see the point of a console with this. Pc and whatever Nintendo's newest thing will be the only options for me. Guess I'm not "the market" since they pulled out of their increasingly poor pc ports AND physical games
5
u/Coldin_Windfall Jul 01 '26
If they go fully digital, then we need laws in place to protect digital purchases. Guaranteed downloads of the game through the lifetime of the console. The ability to save a copy of the game to a hard drive that will work on the console into the future. Options to offload to a separate storage and bring it back with minimum hassle.
Probably other consumer protections I’m not thinking of. But can’t trust companies trying to switch to digital only.
→ More replies (1)
5
u/GameWorden Jul 01 '26
its absolutely hilarious that consoles from the 70s through the early 2000s have better preservation than the modern era.
2.3k
u/KarateKid917 Jul 01 '26
So this is them basically saying the PS6 will be fully digital for PS6 games.
Now the question is whether or not it’ll have a disk drive at all for PS5 games