It's officially over.

[weirdfeline]

https://blog.playstation.com/2026/07/01/physical-disc-production-ending-in-january-2028-for-new-games-releasing-on-playstation-consoles/

[dhaabi]

In time, a lot of other related things will eventually cease. Video games having a retail presence, the limited print industry (for discs at this time, anyway, though it remains to be seen with Nintendo's future as they currently manufacture cartridges), and—much later—dedicated brick-and-mortar stores. I can easily envision consumer prices for the secondary market becoming even more expensive than they already are.

[telekill]

Aaannnnnddd.... the nail in the coffin. PS5 is confirmed to be my last Playstation. Congrats Sony.

The question for the last two gens has been... "What will you do when gaming becomes digital only."

My answer.... I walk away.

[sworddude]

Can't say I'm playing allot of modern aside from nintendo anyway but  gaming is gonna get pricy in this digital only future 

piracy and jailbroken consoles like in the good ol days might actually peak again if digital only will keep prices sky high.

truly the end of an era, gen z consumers have spoken

[weirdfeline]

I was actually going to comment earlier how I noticed Xbox already had their video game selection wiped out at both Walmart and Target. The titles they carry are the latest entries for: Battlefield, Madden, Call of Duty, Forza, NBA 2K and EA Sports FC. One little row of shelf space. Nintendo has a ton of shelf space at Walmart in particular as well as their own aisle at Target.

DVDs are still being made and sold alongside Blu-rays and 4K but PlayStation and Xbox games won't be.

I think Sony thinks GTA VI will pave the way for this digital future they envision but I think GTA VI could potentially be the stopping point for hundreds of thousands of gamers if not millions of gamers. The next generation is going to price out so many already and now without even a library to be physically invested in that could easily be something that breaks the magic for lots of people.

If you don't care about collecting but live paycheck to paycheck you're looking at $80 games and you can't sell it to make some money back to pay for the next game after you beat it over the weekend. Plenty of other things to get entertainment out of for less.

If I'm Nintendo I'm going back to having two consoles. Keep the Switch line as the handheld and return to GameCube power parity era while being the exclusive home of physical games. They might even be the only console with a physical store presence outside of gift cards.

[sworddude]

tbf xbox was losing the battle anyway and their games physically where almost worthless. and with gamepass being that cheap most of their consumers just stuck with that. they killed it fast although probably by design now with their gamepass not being as good of a deal, since they can inflate prices and consumers can't buy cheap physical xbox games anymore.

If you don't care about collecting but live paycheck to paycheck you're looking at $80 games and you can't sell it to make some money back to pay for the next game after you beat it over the weekend. Plenty of other things to get entertainment out of for less.

there is one way for you to sell your digital games. it's by selling the entire console with it. but far less convenient. or perhaps you could sell your account but even that not really convenient but there might be ways although really at that point piracy is gonna increase tenfold if it's digital only and if prices are kept high. people gonna get money for those services guaranteed

[dhaabi]

If you don't care about collecting but live paycheck to paycheck you're looking at $80 games and you can't sell it to make some money back to pay for the next game after you beat it over the weekend. Plenty of other things to get entertainment out of for less.

If I'm Nintendo I'm going back to having two consoles. Keep the Switch line as the handheld and return to GameCube power parity era while being the exclusive home of physical games. They might even be the only console with a physical store presence outside of gift cards.

I'm sure Sony has acknowledged that internally to some effect. They'll just keep pushing subscription models as they bleed out remaining subscribers as more and more unsubscribe.

At the very least, Sony will maintain some sort of in-store retail presence so that hardware and accessories can be sold. But they could also just package all games in empty cases once 2028 comes, like Take-Two is doing now with Grand Theft Auto VI.

[Cartagia]

I'm not going to say that I'm done gaming, because that would be silly.  But I am absolutely not paying $6-700 for console where I can't own the games.

[telly]

I encourage everyone here to comment on that blog post and let them know what you think. I know I will not be supporting Sony once this goes into effect. I will just play older games and stick to PC for newer releases.

The irony of the statement that they are also shutting down the PS3 and Vita stores with the switch to all-digital for new games is just too unbelievable.

[ssj4yamgeta]

Well, there goes my hope of the PS5 getting a physical port of the next Monster Hunter Stories game. Looks like my decision to stop collecting new games at the end of 2027 was well founded. If anything, I'm glad they had the decency to give us an actual date instead of leaving it up in the air. Now if I see a PS5 game dated past 2027, I'll know to ignore it. Physical releases have been getting really spotty for the past couple of years anyhow, and I've had to pass on more than a few games I wanted because they ended up being "game key discs" (Doom: The Dark Ages, Crimson Desert, Oblivion Remastered, etc). Speaking of that Oblivion remaster, I don't know how they can manage to put the whole game on a 64GB Switch 2 cart but couldn't put it on a 100GB Blu-Ray...

Thankfully there's still the Evercade, Neo Geo AES+, and ModRetro to carry on the torch of physical ownership. I'm really hoping Blaze Entertainment will make a more powerful Evercade console and start doing compilations of 6th and 7th gen games.

[dhaabi]

I encourage everyone here to comment on that blog post and let them know what you think. I know I will not be supporting Sony once this goes into effect. I will just play older games and stick to PC for newer releases.

I don't think that sort of action will make any difference, but people are certainly free to do that. Whenever news like this is announced that some people won't support, companies expect some sort of immediate backlash but know that it will quiet down in time. Sony's market statistics support that those complaining are in a minority, anyway. In the end, it all depends on consumer trends. Younger generations have become or are soon becoming adults, and they've long lived with the idea that media isn't tangible or something to own. So unless that perception changes, I don't think this decision will either.

Why wait to cease support until this goes into effect? If there comes a time when a Sony-published game releases that you're interested in, wait a while and then buy it from the secondhand market instead of buying a new copy that directly benefits them.

[dhaabi]

I'm not going to say that I'm done gaming, because that would be silly.  But I am absolutely not paying $6-700 for console where I can't own the games.

That is a very generous price point you're estimating for next-generation consoles. But I absolutely agree—there are still plenty of games to play, both new and old. Hopefully some people realize that and expand their tastes.

[kashell]

I just posted about this in the general topic, haha.

I'm surprisingly not as upset as I thought I'd be. Going pure digital isn't my MO. I won't buy a PS6. (I haven't even thought about M$ for years.)

I have a lot of games that I have yet to play, and a lot of games that I want to replay. And, there are times I learn of new series' out there that look interesting that have physical releases. I'll still be gaming no matter how much the industry changes.

[bizzgeburt]

They hate us ... but they love our money 

[telly]

I encourage everyone here to comment on that blog post and let them know what you think. I know I will not be supporting Sony once this goes into effect. I will just play older games and stick to PC for newer releases.

I don't think that sort of action will make any difference, but people are certainly free to do that. Whenever news like this is announced that some people won't support, companies expect some sort of immediate backlash but know that it will quiet down in time. Sony's market statistics support that those complaining are in a minority, anyway. In the end, it all depends on consumer trends. Younger generations have become or are soon becoming adults, and they've long lived with the idea that media isn't tangible or something to own. So unless that perception changes, I don't think this decision will either.

Why wait to cease support until this goes into effect? If there comes a time when a Sony-published game releases that you're interested in, wait a while and then buy it from the secondhand market instead of buying a new copy that directly benefits them.

Oh I'm aware that it probably won't change things, but like you said as consumers our right to voice concerns should always be exercised. To be fair at least the backlash to the delisting of the PS3/Vita PSN store a few years back did make them delay things (not that it matters much now) 

Your second point regarding secondhand market is partially why Sony is doing this, though. They lose too much money by people waiting. For me I have bought many games Day 1 or new over the past few years because I want to support physical releases, and purchasing a game new helps show Sony that it's still worth supporting. If I feel like the price is justified, at least. I plan on still doing that.