Sony Discontinuing Physical Media for PlayStation Consoles
In a somewhat expected and inevitable move, Sony has announced that starting in January 2028 they will no longer be releasing any of their games on physical discs. Even though I don’t own a PlayStation 5, this is probably the beginning of the end for physical media for other consoles, as all it takes is one company to get the ball rolling.
From the statement put out by Sony on July 1, 2026:
As consumer preferences and the broader entertainment industry continue to shift away from physical discs to digital, physical game disc production for all new games releasing on PlayStation consoles will be discontinued starting January 2028. Following this date, new games will be available on PlayStation Store and at retailers in digital formats only. This transition has no impact on games that already released, or will be releasing, prior to January 2028 in disc format.
This is a natural direction for Sony Interactive Entertainment to adapt to consumer trends as the general preference for digital media significantly outpaces physical discs. This transition will enable us to align more closely with how most of our community prefers to access and play games today.
This is a serious problem for people who live in areas with poor internet connections. Modern games are massive and can be upwards of 100GB or more for a AAA game. Physical media is an easy way to get the game up and running, and providers can keep them up to date once they are installed. Just to put it in perspective, here is the disk usage for Halo MCC on an Xbox One Series S:
And for Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade:
Connection speeds and disk usage is not the issue, the actual issue is the ownership of games. What is happening is that Sony is pushing for an all-digital experience for their consoles, which means that people no longer own their games, they just own a license. Digital licenses can be revoked at any time, and because Sony owns the digital storefront, they completely control the experience. This also prevents the reselling of games, which puts all control into Sony’s hands. It also plays into the entire issue of game preservation, which becomes close to impossible if there is no physical media to collect for games.
Even though I was a huge fan of the original PlayStation, I mostly abandoned the platform after the PS2 and moved entirely to Xbox. The next generation consoles from both Microsoft and Sony will probably be announced within the next 12 months, and it is likely that all future Xbox releases will only be digital.