Since Sony announced it will no longer produce new PlayStation games on disc after January 2028, criticism has come from many quarters. Players have started petitions, retailers are warning of the consequences for brick-and-mortar stores, and consumer organizations are speaking of a loss of choice. But those who should be most affected are remaining silent: the publishers.
No major game publisher has publicly opposed Sony's decision. Neither the major Western publishers nor the Japanese corporations are calling for a change of course. This silence is remarkable. After all, they too are losing an established distribution channel that has shaped the industry for decades.
So why is the industry silent?
The most important reason is likely that publishers' interests have long since changed. A digital future offers them significant economic advantages. Digital games incur no production, packaging, or logistics costs. Price promotions can be centrally controlled, and sales are made directly through the PlayStation Store instead of brick-and-mortar stores.
However, another point is even more important: the used market is losing significance. A disc can be resold or lent at will. The publisher earns nothing from each resale. A digital license, on the other hand, remains tied to a user account. Every new player has to buy the game again – a model that is significantly more attractive from the companies' perspective.
Conflicts with Sony are avoided.
Added to this is the dependence on Sony. For many publishers, PlayStation is the most important or second most important platform. Marketing partnerships, exclusive content, and prominent placements in the PlayStation Store are economically valuable. Therefore, hardly anyone is likely to risk a public conflict with the platform operator – especially since the decision seems to have been made anyway.
Strategically, a protest would also have little chance of success. Sony has published a concrete timeline, is already investing in restructuring its production capacities, and is increasingly aligning its hardware strategy with a digital future. Even if individual publishers were to harbor internal doubts, there would be hardly any realistic leverage to stop this development.
What is remarkable, therefore, is not only that the publishers are silent, but also who is leading the debate. Consumer organizations are warning of the loss of property rights. Retailers criticize the impact on retail. Players are worried about the Preservation of physical collections and the long-term archiving of video games. The actual producers of the games, however, remain completely uninvolved.
This is unlikely to be a coincidence. The disadvantages of a disc-based demo primarily affect consumers and retailers. The advantages lie mainly with the platform operators and the publishers themselves. So why fight against a development that makes one's own business model more efficient and controllable?
This very silence, therefore, perhaps reveals more about the future of the gaming industry than Sony's announcement itself. It shows that the industry's economic interests have long since diverged from the expectations of many gamers.
As long as digital sales promise higher margins, more control and less competition from the used market, there is little incentive for publishers to publicly oppose Sony's course – even if it means the disappearance of a piece of gaming culture.
I've been buying digitally for ages anyway, I couldn't care less if that's the only way it works now 😅
That's the digital age for you. ☝️
The problem is the high production costs compared to digital. Development and marketing costs aren't even included in that figure. I personally prefer buying the disc, but that's progress for you. People are partly to blame themselves; enough people bought the digital version of the PS5, bought it digitally from the store, and more than enough Xbox users subscribe to Game Pass. A small percentage might also buy the game on a disc separately. Furthermore, the disc format hasn't been further developed; it only holds a fraction of the content, the rest has to be downloaded. Licenses can be revoked even if you own a disc, or the servers can be shut down, as happened with Anthem, The Crew, etc. You can't find certain Spider-Man games in the store anymore, not because Sony doesn't want them there, but because Activision, the publisher, didn't renew the license. So, as a provider, you're forced to remove the game, etc. And some people are just being dense right now, talking about boycotting and canceling PS Plus, while the majority are happily pre-ordering GTA 6 and buying Black Ops 1. And they release two games in incredibly cheap ports and spend huge sums on them just for nostalgia, which is also digital. So they're doing the exact opposite of what they actually want to achieve. It's the same issue with streaming services. To really cause damage, people should have boycotted digital purchases of Black Ops 1 and 2 and GTA 6. That would have had a much greater impact. But the matter is settled anyway; the EU Commission isn't intervening because a company can do exactly this sort of thing, even after the fact. Now everyone's complaining, but in a few years nobody will be talking about it anymore.
Honestly, I don't understand why some people are acting like Sony's decision is the end of the world. We've been living in a digital age for years—music, movies, software, games. Everyone saw it, everyone knew where things were headed. And yet, some people are reacting as if Sony has personally taken something away from them. Physical discs aren't a fundamental right. They're a product that's been on the decline for a long time. Game stores have been struggling with declining sales for over a decade, and that's not because of Sony, but because most people have long since switched to digital. Anyone who's surprised now simply hasn't been paying attention for the last ten years. What really irritates me is that many people are clinging to discs as if they were a symbol of "real gaming." It's often less about the discs themselves and more about the fact that some people simply refuse to accept change. But digitalization can't be stopped just because a few people are making a fuss. Sony is making a decision that fits its future. That's their right. Those who don't like it don't have to buy the products—but expecting a global company to adapt its strategy to the personal preferences of a small group is simply unrealistic. It's perfectly fine to be nostalgic. But one shouldn't act as if progress is an insult. The world is changing, and at some point, one has to accept that.
I haven't read so many antisocial comments in a long time as in this post. People are being insulted here, told to cry more quietly, asked how desperate they must be to cling to physical games, or whether they need a tissue. I can't understand how anyone can have so little empathy. Everyone should just buy what they want; no physical collector has dictated to digital collectors what they should buy. Instead of simply acknowledging that they understand an important part of their hobby is being lost for many, but perhaps they should adapt, people are mocking these individuals for being so stupid. All major titles still sell at least half of their copies physically. Over 80% of PlayStations sold have a disc drive. Only about 17% are purely digital. Why should people spend an extra €100 for a disc drive that, according to Sony, they apparently won't use?
The claim that 85% of all game purchases are now digital is completely distorted. Every microtransaction, every download, every DLC is included in the calculation. Therefore, this statistic cannot be trusted at all.
I also think arguments to cancel Spotify or Netflix are completely wrong. Why can I still buy CDs, books, or movies physically when they're available digitally?
Why should third parties side with the players? They're letting Sony take the heat.
I haven't bought a disc in over 10 years, why would I?
Anyone who believes this move will not only harm disc fans doesn't understand how the industry works, and especially not the executives who are comfortably ensconced in top positions…
Think about it, read something, do some research instead of yelling about how stupid others are. Especially the constant comparison with streaming services… It's precisely these small legal details that, for example, make the difference to your streaming account. What happens there when movies disappear?
Often it is smarter to take small steps than to immediately lay all your cards on the table and slowly erode the resistance of a community.
I think the option to upgrade a digital console with a disc drive could have been retained for those who want to buy physical games. And physical games could have been offered only as pre-orders, so publishers could better plan their sales.
Clearly, digital sales are more profitable than physical sales, despite Sony taking a 30% cut of each digital sale!
The CD is 44 years old.
Even the Blu-ray is already 20 years old.
How desperate must one be to cling to something like that?
Then be consistent and cancel your subscriptions to Netflix and Spotify too, you hypocrites.
I never had Spotify anyway, I thought it was nonsense. I only still have Netflix because unfortunately not everything is available on disc, otherwise I would have cancelled it long ago.
ᛈᛖᛏᛖᚱ ᛊᛟᛗᛗᛖᚱ You are at the end because you have understood nothing.