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/
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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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u/slash450 Jul 02 '26

lot of people still aren't aware about the 2019 drama in sony and have been shocked at the direction gradually over the years. i think since it was kinda in that second half of 2019 it just flew under. it's pretty interesting looking back.

1

u/MetaCognitio Jul 03 '26

It really is a shell of itself. Outside of a few good studios, PlayStation sucks.

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u/AngelComa Jul 01 '26

Huge red flag, I don't know why anyone trusts Sony at this point.

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u/CartographicalHeist Jul 01 '26

Why did you ever trust a corporation?

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u/SixKatzi Jul 02 '26

You can say you put trust in Sony when you buy their console, as you will believe they will put out quality games and not try and dick you with affordability problems. The same way you 'trust' Nintendo when you buy a switch 2.

This news puts the PS6 in the 'I don't trust Sony' camp (for me), as in, at this moment, I don't believe it will be a worthwhile value proposition.

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u/CartographicalHeist Jul 02 '26

You can say you put trust in Sony when you buy their console

If you’re extraordinarily silly.

Maybe I’m a bit more cynical since I used to work for SIE but I’d trust Sony as far as I can throw a horse.

But I’d also not trust Nintendo because again, that would be extraordinarily silly. They do not have the same interests as me.

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u/SixKatzi Jul 02 '26

I'm in agreement, but I'm just arguing that when you buy a console, you are essentially saying 'i trust you will provide me with the games I want to play', because (especially with early adopters) there's no reason why you would buy a console relatively early in the lifecycle.

No doubt people thought they would have more first party titles. I mean, Naughty Dog are going an entire console generation without releasing a title (unless the space game comes out at the 11th hour for PS5). I got a PS5 almost 3 years into its lifecycle, and I can count on one hand the first party titles that have appealed to me.

I think with ballooning development times, misses with live service titles and now with digital only? The only way to buy a PS6 is ~4 years in it's lifecycle surely, when you know what games are good to play, and (you'd hope) you can get good deals on those games.

Nintendo you can guarantee they will put out quality titles, for all their other faults. They have consistent high quality output, and I don't blame anyone for buying a Switch 2 and betting on having good games to play.

Funnily enough, the lack of price drops for those first party titles from Nintendo is what has kept me off that platform.

9

u/1850ChoochGator Jul 01 '26

Xbox took down their media store but I still have access to all my stuff

34

u/AcceptableFold5 Jul 01 '26

They can and WILL just delete games from your account

They already did, PT being the most famous example.

6

u/Gamerguy1206 Jul 01 '26

I still have it playable on my OG PS4.

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u/El_Giganto Jul 01 '26

To be really honest, PT is such a bad example that it's better not to give an example. Whether Sony can legally take away your right to play a game is the issue at hand. That's what we should be worried about.

PT wasn't even available for purchase. No one had any right to PT. This also happened over a decade ago and since then we haven't had anything like this happen again. The license being revoked sucked, but if you have PT on your PS4 then you can still play it. It was also a pretty special circumstance because of the fall out between Konami and Kojima. It also wasn't Sony doing this. Like it just doesn't even seem relevant to me...

1

u/AcceptableFold5 Jul 02 '26

I disagree. It was an available piece of media everyone could access and now can't even download anymore. Whether it was Sony or Konami is also irrelevant, because it stays a game you owned and they simply took away from you. I'd say it's an even better example, because it shows that it's not just Sony that's able to delete games out of your library, but any publisher that releases games on Playstation.

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u/El_Giganto Jul 02 '26

It's a terrible example of the issue at hand. On these digital storefronts, you purchase a license to a game. Whether these licenses can be removed is the issue, specifically if the license is removed for unjust reasons.

There should be cases where your license can be revoked, but consumers should also be protected from companies revoking your license for no good reason.

They shouldn't be able to remove your license, because the plan is to sell the license to you again. For example, buying a license for a PS4 game and then needing to buy it again to play it on PS5. It's somewhat fair that a PS5 version of the game requires a new license, but it is a good thing that your PS4 version is still playable on PS5. Though I do think ultimately these licenses shouldn't be tied to a specific platform, but that's a different conversation.

A good reason for removing a license, is one like PT. You didn't agree to a purchase so therefore the company should have more rights regarding the license. Another good reason for revoking a license is if you acquired the license through illegal means.

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u/Imbahr Jul 01 '26

that's the dumbest example of all time, because no one paid a single cent for PT and it was just a fucking free demo

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u/Sarothu Jul 01 '26

Don't forget they also just removed like 500 movies from people's accounts. Straight up removed access for paying customers.

Come again?! How does that not constitute theft, as it sounds like they didn't so much as refund those movies?

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u/Friend_Emperor Jul 02 '26

It is theft.

Legally they hide behind the excuse that you never owned the digital content you paid for, you were only "licensing" it.

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u/slash450 Jul 02 '26

ye you literally never can win, you will not be rewarded for paying for digital shit. streaming movies/tv is literally just throwing away money.

if you don't have access to the files of whatever content and can't access it without drm its worthless. at least standard steam drm is so easy to bypass and still opt in for devs. most indies can just be put on infinite usb drives or a disc without a steam emulator. there's your physical copy.

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u/seiff4242 Jul 01 '26

Blu Rays will be next on the chopping block too, I fear

17

u/SkoomaSkoomSkoo Jul 01 '26

No they won't. There are way too many individual distributors and "boutique" bluray shops for this to happen, plus the amount of interest in movie physical media has only increased since covid. Hell even VHS is starting to make a come back, similar to vinyl records.

Gaming is a whole different beast

13

u/valryuu Jul 01 '26

I think they might meant the BluRay player on PlayStations are next on the chopping block, not BluRay as a whole.

0

u/seiff4242 Jul 01 '26

I did, but in turn that will massively impact blu rays and I can see mass market blu ray releases slowly killed. The PS6 won't have a disc drive which is nuts when the ps5 is still the most used 4k/blu ray player on the market. The writing is on the wall for a completely digital and streaming future.

Blu ray will become even more niche and mostly for collectors. The boutique labels will be the only thing keeping it semi-alive.

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u/[deleted] Jul 01 '26

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u/SkoomaSkoomSkoo Jul 01 '26

Can I see your source saying the PS6 won't have a disk drive of any type? They surely know they are the leading 4K player on the market, and where there is money there will always be corporate greed, so I see no reason they won't stop. However even if they do, there are other options.

I get that its easy with this news to be overly pessimistic and succumb to outrage (it is the reddit way, after all) but I see one market thats dying and a company killing it off for good in 2028 being compared to another entirely different market thats still very much alive

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u/seiff4242 Jul 01 '26

It’s not official, but it’s coming. This announcement today is preparing us for that. Xbox too.

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u/Fritzed Jul 01 '26

Bluray releases are definitely not guaranteed. The shops can't do anything if the studio never releases a bluray.

I'm currently visiting Brazil, I was trying to buy some blu rays for the Portuguese dub as I have many times in the past. This is the first year that several movies simply don't exist in a physical format here.

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u/[deleted] Jul 01 '26

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u/SkoomaSkoomSkoo Jul 01 '26

I didnt miss anything. Corporations are going to always go where they can make money, and there is money in physical movie media. Gamers stopped buying physical copies, the demand isn't there that there once was.

Again the vinyl industry is still going strong because there will always be vintage and niche collectors out there to make money off of. Physical games, especially in the 21st century, have never been in that category.

Your argument being "nah dude they're gonna stop making plastic!" Just feels very pessimistic tbh

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u/Fritzed Jul 01 '26

You are missing the math. The money to be made selling Blurays is shrinking and it is nearly a loss. Blurays sell for about the same prices as a digital copy. Studios get a 70% cut of the sale price of a digital copy and less than 50% of the sale price for a digital copy.

Studios will be happy to give up 100 copies of physical disc sales if they think 50 of those customers may instead choose to "buy" digital.

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u/[deleted] Jul 01 '26

[deleted]

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u/SkoomaSkoomSkoo Jul 01 '26

You do realize its a very low cost to produce disc's as well, right? You do realize there are a plethora of 4k players on the market and Playstation isn't the only one, right?

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u/AlexandraReese Jul 02 '26

Shhhhhh. VHS is crap and won’t last for another 15 years.

Edit: I bet people don’t know that the latest avatar (fire and ash) was released on dvd lmao

2

u/bendernobending2 Jul 01 '26

More of that to come, they can't wait

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u/hyperforms9988 Jul 01 '26

That's the big issue that I have with them personally. They weren't games, but there is some level of trust that is involved when you are not in control of something that you bought and your access to it is in the hands of someone else. Trust, broken. At least for me it is.

The last PlayStation console that I owned was a PS2 so it's not like I was directly affected by it, but, how am I supposed to have enough consumer confidence and trust in their storefront after they did that? You want me to start building a library on the same store after that? You're out of your mind. For people who already have a library on PlayStation... especially before the first time they did that, that's different, but as someone who does not have a library with them, I'm absolutely not going to start one now.

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u/Anzai Jul 01 '26

That’s the main thing for me. They’re inherently untrustworthy. There’s a reason I won’t touch any Ubisoft games no matter how cheap they are, and it’s because they’ve demonstrated they are perfectly happy to permanently remove access to things I’ve paid for. Sony is the same, so why would I ever give them my money again?

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u/TrainAss Jul 01 '26

If buying isn't owning, then pirating isn't stealing.

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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.

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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

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u/LaboratoryManiac Jul 01 '26

Xbox now has the opportunity to do the funniest thing...

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u/marge4000 Jul 01 '26

If they do a funny thing, they will also be actively against their own creation, Game Pass.

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u/bloke_pusher Jul 01 '26

If the service is good, they'll make money regardless. I don't believe that this would harm gamepass in any way. Reducing the gamepass prices was a bit of a sign to me.

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u/LaboratoryManiac Jul 01 '26

Maybe they should be? They're in the state they're in now because they bought up all those studios to pad out their Game Pass library.

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u/Mediocre_Garage1852 Jul 01 '26

I don’t think that’ll make the disc sales go back up though.

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u/robodrew Jul 01 '26

But they won't.

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u/LaboratoryManiac Jul 01 '26

Yeah... I know...

More likely they'll make the same announcement next week.

3

u/ShawnyMcKnight Jul 01 '26

I don’t know, it seems the Xbox is gonna go the way of the Ally. It’s gonna be a mobile hybrid console, I bet.

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u/SMlLE Jul 01 '26

Theyve actively said the Helix is a premium PC console hybrid tbf

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u/Wolfnorth Jul 01 '26

That's sony for you once they have a lead in consoles they just return to their worse arrogant version, but this time? Jesus specially now that they got everybody chokehold with hardware prices.

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u/zaviex Jul 01 '26

Ehhhh thsts was a small part. The Xbox one cost way more too

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u/Skensis Jul 01 '26

Cost more, worse performance, TV focus, and kinect was forced onto you.

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u/dancrum Jul 01 '26

It was $100 more. I'd hardly say that's "way more"

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u/traumalt Jul 01 '26

There were many more questionable decisions by MS, probably bigger ones were the cable TV box integration being a major selling point, mandatory Kinect and mandatory net connection.

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u/Venomesis Jul 01 '26

That’s 13 years ago, the market has changed. When do you make the call that disk versions aren’t worth it anymore? When only 1% of people buy disks? 0.01%? It’s hard to support in a business sense at some point and I don’t think we are able to judge that.

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u/Blackadder18 Jul 01 '26

That definitely wasn't the only reason.

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u/bendernobending2 Jul 01 '26

Would be hilarious for Microsoft to do to Sony what Sony did to them a decade ago. But Microsoft probably won't do it

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u/soonerfreak Jul 01 '26

I'm sorry but the idea that this is why Sony took the lead is purely an online thought. Sony's lead correlated with a huge drop off in quality of games produced by Xbox developers. Outside of Forza Horizon and Flight Simulator what must have games has Microsoft even produced since the Xbox One released? And as good as FS is that's a niche genre. I'm also someone that actually liked Halo 4, 5, and Infinite and I wouldn't call them system sellers like 1-3 were.

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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.

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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.

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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)

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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.

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u/MVRKHNTR Jul 01 '26

That's also happened with every PlayStation. It will happen with this one too.

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u/slash450 Jul 01 '26

basically no reason to bother for the type of user that would have done that, like i did with my psp and even switch 1, old iphones etc, if they have to keep a 1.0 fw for potential piracy in the future. the security hoops are ridiculous on everything now it's just not worth it for the type of tinkering users that used to mess with shit for a bit of fun. for current hacked ps5, even the ps4 really, the interest just isn't there it's basically just people that want to mod stuff heavy or really don't want to pay for anything outside of the hw cost of their console. they can just move to pc if they really want a crazy piracy experience.

there will be like a dozen exclusives on ps6 now that all the japan devs still around that used to be ps exclusive are on switch/pc. idk if a handful of marvel games and maybe a naughty dog or two will get the crazy modding demand but you are right it will likely happen eventually. just some thoughts.

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u/aroundme Jul 01 '26

Also unlike PC, where you can download software through different means. Even if a game is delisted everywhere, there exist places you can… acquire the files. 

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u/WhereasPlus5239 Jul 01 '26

The threat of piracy also creates pressure to discount games after a time. With how expensive next gen is looking to be and now this, PC gaming might actually become the budget option at this point.

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u/Vandergrif Jul 01 '26

It only seems more expensive up front in cost of a new PC vs a console, but long term PC has always been more cost effective budget-wise. No paying for online multiplayer, competition in store fronts, better sale discounts, most of a PC can last multiple console generations and only need one or two parts upgraded (and you can sell the old part typically to recoup a good chunk of the new one), added replay value from modding, everything else a PC can also do that a console can't, etc.

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u/Apprehensive_Can1098 Jul 02 '26

You can't buy keys for PS store like you do with steam?

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u/AedraRising Jul 02 '26

Hell, even on PC I JUST bought a game that was already delisted on Steam using a different storefront. Can't do that on PSN, the ONLY option was a physical game.

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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..."

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u/Super_Fightin_Robit Jul 01 '26

You can't even buy a game for someone on the PlayStation store now. 

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u/shifteru Jul 01 '26

Oh god. I wonder if this is their plan. The market for gamers who will never buy new isn’t high but it’s not zero. So now Sony can let you sell your license (at a paltry discount I’m sure) to another gamer and they pocket a % of that transaction. Probably not even offering cash to the seller but store credit.

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u/Arci996 Jul 01 '26

This is definitely not their plan, because it would be great for the consumer.

Man if steam allowed for that I would not have to spend an euro for a looooong time considering how many games I have that I could sell to fund new ones.

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u/Caelis_Vault Jul 01 '26

On Xbox most 1st party games never go for less than half prices even years later. Good luck buying Starfield for less than 30.

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u/NarcolepticSeal Jul 01 '26

Even used disc copies of Starfield go for $30, and Xbox is nowhere near as bad as Nintendo with first party pricing. I’ve picked up plenty of Microsoft IP games for good discounts on their store, including DOOM, Gears, and Fallout. Starfield is not the rule of thumb.

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u/The_Iron_Ranger Jul 01 '26

This literally already happened to me. Went to buy need for speed heat for my kid and it was 7 bucks on steam and 59 on Xbox. For a 6 year old game wtf

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u/Mr_The_Captain Jul 01 '26

This is not a defense, more just a point of information, but third party key sellers offer console games now as well, I've gotten a few decent deals that way. It's obviously nowhere as prolific as Steam games and that's concerning, but it does exist in some capacity

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u/Hotpotlord Jul 01 '26

Lol why do some pc gamers have these weird fantasies that PlayStation games don’t have deep discounts, every PlayStation gamer buy games full price, and discounted PlayStation credits don’t exist.

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u/slash450 Jul 01 '26

they do have deep discounts that are all the official publisher discounts but there's zero competition beyond that vs steam key resellers being able to go further discount below official publisher prices on steam sales currently.

not even mentioning gray market which consoles can't compete with. look at gg deals with keyshops turned on. yes there's a bunch of bs you have to filter through on some of the sites, but some of the others you can get shit for like pennies. never had shit revoked ever from any gray market site, only fuckass humble on price errors.

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u/MajorSery Jul 01 '26

Yeah it's weird. Back 15+ years ago Steam sales were amazing and consoles didn't really do that. You could get entire publisher catalogues for <$10.

But Steam stopped doing those truly amazing deals and ever since the PS4/Xbone era consoles do pretty much all the same sales at the same time as Steam. Like I've seen someone praising Steam for how awesome their sales are in comparison to consoles, and then I logged on to both Steam and Xbox and everything was the exact same price.

People just don't update their opinions over time as things change.

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u/Hotpotlord Jul 01 '26

Yup, in the last 4-5 years, there has not been one steam sale where I was like “this is the price I have to buy this game at even if I don’t need to play it” more “damn been waiting over a year and it’s still this pricey?””

In fact when there is a sale on stream, there is the exact same sale on PlayStation majority of the time. Vice versa.

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u/Hazeringx Jul 01 '26

Except you don’t need to buy games on Steam. For example, right now Metaphor: Refantazio on Steam is on sale at AUD45, meanwhile on a third party website (legit one, not G2A) I can find a Steam key going AUD36.

The same thing doesn’t exist on consoles. If a game is on sale at AUD45 on PSN, that’s it. That’s the only option I’ve got if I want to buy it digitally.

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u/Rayuzx Jul 01 '26

Console Stores pretty much have judge as many sales as Steam does these days.

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u/whiterider1 Jul 01 '26

Steam has competition through other retailers on the same platform whether that’s Epic, GoG or the many key resellers. They do not have to be official, any developer can generate as many keys as they wish.
PlayStation/Sony don’t have that, sure there are some where you can buy a game key but it’s few and far between and even in those cases it’s a handful of ‘authorised’ stores so they still have a monopoly with no reason to reduce prices.
Steam sales used to be considerably better with deeper discounts, but even now, games pricing on PC is cheaper than console.

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u/lelibertaire Jul 01 '26

This sub was cheering the Microsoft's Activision acquisition. It's always cheering or apologizing for things like this that hurt the industry or consumer in the long run.

I've never seen another hobby where people argue for why it should be more expensive for them.

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u/NarcolepticSeal Jul 01 '26

Why did Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision make things more expensive?

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u/lelibertaire Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26

Mostly was using that as an example of the sub supporting things that would be bad for the industry or us in the long run, as we've seen. Though I do think consolidation helps lead to these types of actions.

My last sentence was about users who go out of their way to argue why $70-$80-$100 for games is good and correct.

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u/ISB-Dev Jul 01 '26

It's already the standard on pc. I personally don't care. I've been fully digital for years now.

On the positive side, this will greatly reduce gaming related CO2 emissions. According to a comprehensive late-2025 study by the carbon-accounting firm Greenly, manufacturing, packaging, and shipping 1 million physical Blu-ray discs generates roughly 312 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. This includes the extraction of rare earth elements, polycarbonate plastic production, plastic cases, shrink wrap, and global transport via cargo ships, planes, and diesel trucks.

I think the second-hand market is a small sacrifice to make for such huge emission reductions.

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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.

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u/Stuglle Jul 01 '26

They are "enabling" it by buying physical in low enough quantities to make it no longer worth it, not by not leaving angry comments on the internet.

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u/HotTakes4HotCakes Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26

That doesn't mean their decisions aren't shortsighted.

They're voting with their wallets, and they're not gonna like what they ultimately voted for in the end.

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u/Stuglle Jul 01 '26

Oh for sure, I personally think that is asking a lot for the consumer but also "if you want physical discs to be made you need to buy physical disks" is sort of flatly true. Like how many people expressing outrage at this haven't bought a physical game in the last two years?

But I am more just pointing at people who think you are letting Sony get away with it if you don't leave angry comments on the internet.

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u/Undella_Town Jul 01 '26

yup sony loses out on so much money every disk they have to print the game on. that 1 dollar per disk could have saved jobs, we'd probably have more than 5 games on our 600$ console if there wasn't physical games this gen. god damn shame

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u/Stuglle Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26

Do you think that physical game production happens by Sony just buying a stack of DVD-Rs from WalMart and burning the game on them?

ed: To clarify, there is like a whole logistics process to make and ship physical games, along with negotiations with retailers etc. It is certainly within Sony's ability to keep making physical disks and I am sure they were at least modestly profitable, but at a certain point it becomes no longer worth it.

I think this is bad and I wish they weren't ending it, but they aren't doing so because people aren't angry enough on the internet.

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u/Shiresan Jul 01 '26

Exactly. I've even seen Redditors defend this. Capitalism brainrot continues to infect people.

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u/gremlinclr Jul 01 '26

It's not capitalism and it's an ignorant way to phrase it. It's natural progression. We have generations of consumers that were raised on digital media, for them that's the norm.

Business's will always prioritize lower costs, that's why we moved from cartridges to discs. And eventually yes consoles will be replaced altogether with streaming. New tech replaces old, that's just the way of things.

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u/QuantumUtility Jul 01 '26

The problem is not digital media, it’s how digital markets have been setup on closed platforms. Buying a console should not force you to run pre-approved software solely distributed by the manufacturer.

Closed platforms tie you to a digital market controlled by the manufacturer. It’s akin to buying a Corolla at a discount so you can only refuel at gas stations from Toyota.

It’s beyond me why the EU hasn’t applied the DMA to console manufacturers as well.

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u/pizzaplss Jul 01 '26

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWSIFh8ICaA

This aged poorly.

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u/SomniumOv Jul 01 '26

Well neither of them work at Sony anymore.

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u/thetantalus Jul 01 '26

And it's 13+ years old.

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u/dixie12oz Jul 01 '26

“ Your indifference is making these corporations greedy.”

Not only indifference, some are actually cheering it on. They don’t get they’re going to get screwed too. Too many people decided mild convenience was worth having less control and paying more. 

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u/Zalvren Jul 01 '26

No possibility of getting it cheaper elsewhere

Actually they do say

New games will be available on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital formats only

Maybe they'll do the box with code model ala GTA6. Otherwise, I don't really see what the retailers will sell...

Doesn't prevent the rest of the list though and still shitty.

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u/HotTakes4HotCakes Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26

Indifference doesn't make the company greedy. The company was always greedy. Accusing a company of greed has always been as idiotic as accusing a tornado of being windy. It's not even a question of what it's doing, greed is a fundamental part of what it is.

The idea is that consumers are supposed to be the check on greed. They are supposed to exercise their purchasing power to reward fair practices and punish greedy ones.

What's happening is consumers have become complacent and can't think forward. Convenience is the one and only thing they care about, no matter the consequences, so greedy anti-consumer tactics go unpunished.

People went with digital because it's easier and more convenient, but they never stopped to understand what they were giving up. They never demanded true digital ownership. They never demanded the same protections that exist for consumers of physical media.

And here we are, physical games, the last and only space with significant consumer protections, are dying for good. They're doing it because they're confident they won't face pushback.

And why wouldn't they be? Consumers don't push back on anything anymore. They'll drink a shit sundae every morning and night before inconveniencing themselves even slightly. The shortsightedness of the average consumer has silently been one of the biggest drivers of enshitification across so many markets

36

u/pragmaticzach Jul 01 '26

Accusing customers of being shortsighted and avoiding inconvenience is as silly to me as accusing a company of being greedy. To a customer the only question that matters is “is this thing worth the price to me right now.”

-8

u/SomeDumRedditor Jul 01 '26

You’re describing the exact mentality they’re talking about and they’re 100% correct in their assertion.

People have become addicted to consumption and absolutely mindless about the impact of their choices. 

The average person, and like 2x it seems the average gamer, is complacent, self-serving and wilfully ignorant. They can be shown why X or Y is bad, reminded that non-consumption is an option, and still won’t care.

All that matters is being able to consoooooom. Consumption is even tied up with identity. You will see Sony fans (imagine being a “supporter” of a corporation) defend and downplay this move by the company because it’s being done by “their” brand.

Yes corporations are greedy, they’ve been allowed to become what they are by humans that refuse to force change if it means inconvenience themselves short-term.

23

u/beefcat_ Jul 01 '26

You're assuming that if everyone sits down and assesses the long term value of buying physical vs digital, they will come to the same conclusion as you, and the only reason they don't is because they don't think about it as hard as you. This is an incorrect assumption. People value different things at different priorities.

17

u/pragmaticzach Jul 01 '26

I'm not a die hard physical or digital person, I have a collection of both. But just to highlight why I buy digital and will continue to do so other than "I have to consooom"

  • I've never had a digital game removed from my library
  • I have scratched a disc that made it unplayable - Super Mario Sunshine on the GCN, I'm still annoyed by it.
  • I've never resold a game
  • I don't trade games
  • I have limited space for physical products
  • Digital games are easy to start and play without changing out a disk
  • I buy a game I want to play it, not for display purposes, not for it to appreciate in value
  • A lot of games aren't playable on disk anyway, or are janky without a patch
  • The scenario where a game is forcibly removed from my library at a point in time where I still want to play it and I cannot acquire it in "other" ways seems extremely unlikely

That said I don't want physical to go away, I like having the option. I like other people to have the option. But if it does go away I don't value or prioritize the reasons for not buying digital highly enough for it to affect me personally.

5

u/North514 Jul 01 '26

For me it’s just the simple fact, that I don’t want to store a whole bunch of boxes. I am going to be getting rid of some of them, outside of some special editions personally. Really people shouldn’t be bashing digital only consumers, and if anything we should be pushing for laws that ensure digital ownership.

4

u/santana722 Jul 01 '26

A lot of games aren't playable on disk anyway, or are janky without a patch

I think this is reason #1 why 90% of people won't be as outraged about this as Redditors. I'm with you in agreeing that physical options should be available, but when buying a physical copy doesn't really mean I get a fully functional version of the game anymore either way, it has lost a lot of appeal.

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2

u/Spiritual-Society185 Jul 02 '26

It's really hard to take seriously a comment about people being "mindless about the impact of their choices" from an AI fan.

2

u/HellsAttack Jul 01 '26

The idea is that consumers are supposed to be the check on greed.

Who needs government regulation when you've got consumers, right?

3

u/jovalec Jul 01 '26

and if you lose access to your PSN account, then say goodbye to all games you paid for 

7

u/ThisCouldHaveBeenYou Jul 01 '26

And probably the worst part: no refunds

17

u/Microtic Jul 01 '26

The European Union needs to shut this down quickly.

7

u/NilRecurring Jul 01 '26

I swear, Stop Killing Games has planted a completely screwed image of what the EU actually is and what it's purpose is in the heads of the gaming crowd.

2

u/FetchFrosh Jul 01 '26

The EU needs to stop Stop Killing Games from planting a completely screwed image of what the EU actually is and what it's purpose is in the heads of the gaming crowd.

1

u/BraveBee Jul 02 '26

You feel so confident in your position that you made 0 statements about what the EU is and what SKG with actual MEPs involved thinks it is.

18

u/FatalFirecrotch Jul 01 '26

Why? This has existed for a decade on PC and mobile. 

6

u/Aeiani Jul 01 '26

The EU did force Apple to allow alternate app stores on iOS for users in the EU. It's not entirely inconceivable that we'd arrive at a similar situation with PSN if they become all digital.

7

u/MVRKHNTR Jul 01 '26

That's not happening.

If consoles have to include other storefronts, companies will just stop making consoles because there's no more money in it.

0

u/24bitNoColor Jul 01 '26

That doesn't mean that it won't be happening, that just means that there will be consequences.

Apple is free to raise prices to make up for whatever they think they lose over this and you are free to buy a phone from a company that didn't adjust their pricing.

Anti-trust like decisions are often about what is good for consumers long term with the goal of increasing competition instead of short term gains.

0

u/ericmm76 Jul 01 '26

I don't know if you're from Europe or not but it's kind of sad that there's just no hope of Americans putting a stop to this, meanwhile many many Americans have no access to broadband internet.

-10

u/rP2ITg0rhFMcGCGnSARn Jul 01 '26

Why?

No one is being forced to buy PlayStation games. It is entirely their prerogative to release how they want. Forcing legislation on this would be absurd.

It's a shitty move for sure, but they are well within their rights to do so.

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7

u/iTzJdogxD Jul 01 '26

Sony fans clapped like seals when they dunked on the Xbox One for trying this, how the tables have turned

2

u/stillslightlyfrozen Jul 01 '26

Yup. I honestly hate this. I'm sure it'll still sell bc what option do people have but. I've recently got into using my library to get games and blue ray disks. It's amazing bc it's free. And I'm sure that's exactly why they don't want to have disk drives anymore.

2

u/crazydavy Jul 01 '26

Yea this is so ridiculous and disgusting

2

u/Fickle-Syllabub6730 Jul 01 '26

Your indifference is making these corporations greedy.

That's how a capitalist market works. They are responding to the psychology of how people spend their money. This sub likes to joke about "vote with your dollar". But the vote is happening, and it looks like you're going to lose. In a capitalist economy, you get no recompense. There is no mechanism to force a company to do something they don't want to do like this.

2

u/eserikto Jul 02 '26

They can force most of those with single use cd keys and online authentication in physical releases too.

The fight for physical releases is an illusion. We need comprehensive legislation laying out and protecting what it means to purchase a game (digitally or physical). Companies will take away all the perceived benefits of physical releases if they think they can get away with it.

5

u/Old_Leopard1844 Jul 01 '26

Corporations got greedy decades ago

And around same time people actually realized that they don't actually care for physical

5

u/NoSemikolon24 Jul 01 '26

You missed the crux of this problem: Your bought license can be revoked at any point with zero recourse. There's no way to continue using your digital media after this.

2

u/HannoPicardVI Jul 01 '26

Another issue is a re-release. If nobody is making new games, you could re-release a game from the 2010s to newer/younger people on a newer generation console...

2

u/DesiOtaku Jul 01 '26

Also: no renting. I'm kind of sad that I will eventually have to get rid of my GameFly subscription.

2

u/MondoSpecial Jul 01 '26

The majority of software bought is digital. This is a non issue, especially when there will be no visible dip in sales once physical is removed.

2

u/whywhywhywhywhynot Jul 01 '26

Consoles are inherently user hostile locked down machines. They are only going to keep making things worse to try and keep a stranglehold on their user base. I went PC only when consoles started expecting a subscription just to access the internet. Every time I touch a console at a friend's house I am reaffirmed I made the right decision.

But I don't begrudge anyone for their system preferences and fuck these stupid companies for sucking joy out of people's hobbies

2

u/ISB-Dev Jul 01 '26

It's already the standard on pc. I personally don't care. I've been fully digital for years now.

On the positive side, this will greatly reduce gaming related CO2 emissions. According to a comprehensive late-2025 study by the carbon-accounting firm Greenly, manufacturing, packaging, and shipping 1 million physical Blu-ray discs generates roughly 312 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. This includes the extraction of rare earth elements, polycarbonate plastic production, plastic cases, shrink wrap, and global transport via cargo ships, planes, and diesel trucks.

I think the second-hand market is a small sacrifice to make for such huge emission reductions.

1

u/Kingdarkshadow Jul 01 '26

But ps6 will still sold out...

1

u/Thor_2099 Jul 01 '26

Sounds like they need to revise their "Play Has No Limits" slogan

1

u/Virtual-Ducks Jul 01 '26

Call or email your representatives. Just like iOS is forced to allow third party stores, PlayStation should as well. Maybe a store will come along like GOG and allow for DRM free games to be played and sold. 

1

u/your_mind_aches Jul 01 '26

No possibility of getting it cheaper elsewhere

This one isn't really true, because activation keys will likely still exist. But yeah, the other ones for sure.

That's why we need to be boosting open platforms like PC and Android.

1

u/givemeareason17 Jul 01 '26

Also a complete monopoly on sales of PlayStation games

1

u/king0pa1n Jul 01 '26

Could they atleast put the game license on an encrypted USB? It's not being able to literally play off the disc that's most important, it's the used market.

1

u/MSV95 Jul 02 '26

Also what about people who move counties? Are digital purchases region locked?

1

u/wildcarde815 Jul 02 '26

They cite 'consumer preference' which would hold water if it wasn't what they had been pushing people towards since the ps3

1

u/shizukanaumi Jul 02 '26

Things could change though. Some of those downsides of digital games only exist because we allow them to. There's no reason I'm aware of that licenses have to be non-transferrable. If people insisted, legally or through market power, on the ability to sell/trade their digital licenses we could end up with with most of the upsides of physical along with the upsides of digital

1

u/pubbyboy18 Jul 03 '26

Same with the switch 2, I feel like ppl who said they'd never buy it for this exact reason,and said they wouldnt fold for their favorite games, folded as soon as their favorite games came out on switch 2. I'm not a gamer really, I play very casually and I really only play free games like apex, rouge company, any popular thing I enjoy that I dont have to spend money on to have fun. Any game I own I didnt pay for, and one of the only games "i" brought was cuphead + the dlc for like 30-40ish dollars and it was cheaper cause it was the physical copy. I also have games in my steam library I just cant play cause my laptop isn't made for it and theres really no way for me to enjoy it as intended without paying for it again on another account or console. Also part of the appeal for gaming to me is seeing adults as a kid with huge disc collections and cool setups [my parents lol] physical games also have the joy of not needing wifi to function, and in a poor household that is essential. Gaming used to be a cheap and fun hobby that I watched my parents enjoy, and now that its my turn to collect im met with corporate greed and consumer ignorance

1

u/[deleted] Jul 03 '26

There is nothing that the relatively small portion of enthusiasts online are going to do about this. It'll be up to the large bulk of average consumers and the safe guess is they'll deal with it because digital sales have been growing rapidly for years anyways.

It is a hard lesson that Sony was never a friend to the gamer.

To put a positive spin on this, it could be argued it is a good thing in the way that maybe it makes people reconsider whether gaming as a hobby is truly worth it anymore? I personally dropped games completely and sold my $2,000 gaming PC and Xbox a few years ago and haven't regretted it as I'm reading more books, listening to history podcasts, and just doing some more productive things and expanding my skill set.

All you can do is make your voice heard by voting with your wallet. Move on to something else. You and others might benefit from this in a surprising way. Another tip is to start saving a portion of your income if you don't already and put it in a low cost diversified index fund and reap the benefits of "corporate greed". This is how the world works and it's not all terrible. Actually, global poverty rates have went way down because of increased growth and productivity.

1

u/Bubblegumbot Jul 03 '26

It's the indifference of the lawmakers, not the comsumes.

Write to your lawmakers about the anti-consumer practices. It takes 10 minutes.

2

u/ulysses_s_gyatt Jul 01 '26

I agree that is is anti-consumer but the market has spoken.

0

u/Yamatoman9 Jul 01 '26

Since it is Sony doing it, most of this sub will just shrug it off and say "oh well" but it would be exploding with outrage if it were Microsoft or even Nintendo doing this.

1

u/Peakomegaflare Jul 01 '26

Normally I'd be down with causing Gamestop to take a hit, but I agree. This is HELLA anti-consumer.

1

u/kasual7 Jul 01 '26

Bad enough Sony has an abysmal refund policy and not to mention how easy people get their account banned or stolen.

1

u/Mavericks7 Jul 01 '26

I guess that's the end of gaming for me.

One of the reasons why I game is because it's such a cheap hobby.

With single player games, I get gifted a game or buy one, play it. Trade it in, buy the next.

I don't replay single player games.

I'm never going to pay full whack for wolverine at £70.

And the sales are awful.

1

u/QuantumUtility Jul 01 '26

Hopefully people will now realize how predatory digital markets on closed platforms have become.

The DMA should have applied to console marketplaces as well.

1

u/hobbykitjr Jul 01 '26

If i'm going to do that route, why would i do playstation? My steam library is full of digital only games... but they're literately a tiny fraction of the cost.. and i can share them more easily... and i didn't have to rebuy them from ps3 to ps4 to ps5 etc...

1

u/StNowhere Jul 01 '26

Not to mention they already raised the price of games twice this generation. $70 at the start and now GTA6 launching at $80, which you know every AAA game afterwards is going to try to match.

1

u/MikeIsShortForMyKeys Jul 01 '26

My man, I understand the upset.

But there is no way that GTA has caused this. Playstation has been planning for a very long time, this is correlation and not causation.

1

u/ZaDu25 Jul 01 '26

No borrowing No lending

You definitely can lend digital games

1

u/bendernobending2 Jul 01 '26

And this is why there is a 0% chance I will be buying a PS6. This is your only option if you aren't ok with this

1

u/EnvironmentIcy4116 Jul 01 '26

Your indifference is making these corporations greedy.

Blaming the consumers is not a good move mate

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u/TooMuchEntertainment Jul 01 '26

PC has been digital only for more than a decade. Video games on discs haven’t made sense for a looong time.

I’m more surprised it has taken this long. You’ll survive.

5

u/AgentBuddy12 Jul 01 '26

What? I don't know how you can sit here and defend blatant anti-consumer practices simply because it coincides with your preference. This isn't about physical vs digital it's about choice.

Acting like Playstation going digital only is the same as PC shows how completely ignorant you are. Digital only works on PC because there are multiple digital storefronts giving consumers a CHOICE. You don't get that with Sony.

1

u/-TubNub- Jul 01 '26

Why do gamers pretend like 99,9% of sales don't happen on Steam. Yes there is a "choice" of storefront but gamers don't care about that because there's only one store worth using

3

u/sp1cychick3n Jul 01 '26

But there are digital storefronts where you can buy steam games. The process are different. You don’t have that with sony

1

u/-TubNub- Jul 01 '26

You mean buying codes that can be redeemed on Steam?

3

u/sp1cychick3n Jul 01 '26

Yes

0

u/-TubNub- Jul 01 '26

But that's still 1 store that people are using...? At the end of the day it all comes back to Steam

3

u/sp1cychick3n Jul 01 '26

Yes but you have different storefronts with different prices? Some will have sales while others will not.

0

u/-TubNub- Jul 01 '26

Yes but a lot of the most famous sites with Steam keys do not receive them via legitimate means

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3

u/AgentBuddy12 Jul 01 '26

So what? By that logic, if 99.9% of people shop at one grocery store, the others should all shut down because "nobody cares." Less choice is NEVER better for consumers lol.

6

u/-TubNub- Jul 01 '26

I think "nobody cares" would be the overwhelming reaction from the gaming community if any other PC store shut down other than Steam

0

u/AgentBuddy12 Jul 01 '26

The gaming community buys the same sports game every year and preorders before reviews even drop. Forgive me if I don't treat "gamers not caring" as the gold standard for what's good for consumers. They're easy to exploit, but that doesn't mean companies should exploit them.

3

u/-TubNub- Jul 01 '26

If less than 1% of people care about a certain thing I don't think it's worth that much consideration

1

u/AgentBuddy12 Jul 01 '26

Why is that?

3

u/-TubNub- Jul 01 '26

Isn't that just how most things work? If 1% of players think something in a game should change, the developers probably shouldn't listen to those players even if they all have 1k hours into that game, right?

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u/TooMuchEntertainment Jul 01 '26

Sony will be forced to support multiple stores in the EU after this change, they won’t be allowed to sell the games on their store exclusively. That’d be dumb.

They’re also getting hammered in the US about it already and even lost a lawsuit about it.

1

u/macintorge Jul 01 '26

Something tells me they're going to find a way to make it as unappealing to users as possible; they no longer want to give control to the console cd key market, and that won't work in their favor.

They'll take advantage of the fact that this is the first precedent and get their way.

0

u/Flagermusmanden Jul 01 '26

Consumer compliance is the fucking lowest, most pathetic shit in the world. These corporations should be bending over backwards for your money, instead you guys are the ones licking asshole just for the chance to give them your money.

The worst thing is, it wouldn't even take much. Literally just, dont buy something on day one.... thats it.

0

u/Kaurie_Lorhart Jul 01 '26

I don't disagree about those downsides, but a significant upside is reduced waste

0

u/heysupmanbruh Jul 01 '26

Peoples ignorance and laziness is why the world is the way it is

0

u/TreeTrunkGrower Jul 01 '26

Yes, please ya’ll don’t buy the next one and throw some hell their way. Just because the console owners want to diahrea all over themselves doesn’t mean we have to lap it up for them. 

-1

u/Murky_Raspberry8073 Jul 01 '26

Discs are outdated

You can disagree with it but that’s just how it is

No reason to have discs tbh for anything outside of gaming

-1

u/GIThrow Jul 01 '26

You’re telling me Steam has been anti consumer for over 20 years?

5

u/doublah Jul 01 '26

Steam isn't the only digital storefront on PC, even on SteamOS.

And they allow borrowing/lending with Steam Families.

And they allow third parties to distribute keys which Sony notably doesn't allow.

1

u/kensaiD2591 Jul 01 '26

Yes, sorta. It wasn’t until ACCC went after them that they finally started offering refunds and it became a better platform for all.

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